Ivory Coast’s Biama boom: TikTok trend gets the nation’s youth dancing

Born barely five years ago in Yopougon – the poorest, but also the liveliest area of Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan – Biama has got the whole of Ivorian youth dancing. Faster than coupé-décalé, this newer musical and choreographic genre borrows many of its codes. But unlike its older sibling, which is associated with trendy nightclubs, biama is danced in the streets and on social media, making it more easily accessible to its young, working-class audience.