“Ameyatchi” by Mathey

Mathey has a very-sparse internet presence, which logically would be the result of a couple of factors. First of all, by the looks of things she is Ivorian, i.e. hailing from Côte d’Ivoire (aka the Ivory Coast), a country which in general is not online as much as others. Secondly, it appears that her heyday was around the turn of the century, i.e. before the internet really caught on in Africa anyway.

What we have been able to readily ascertain is that Mathey specializes in a genre known as Afro-zouk. Zouk being a style of music developed in the Caribbean during the 1980s, and the “Afro” designation part of the aforementioned subgenre is an acknowledgement of it being also influenced by a Congolese style known as soukous. 

Also, Mathey was once reportedly a member of the Ivorian army, likewise serving as a singer therein, before switching over to music full time.

As for “Ameyatchi”, it looks as if this is a song that first came out as part of an LP Mathey dropped in 1996 called “Clepo”, which appears to have been her first studio album. Said project was apparently put out through a label called Melodie.

In more recent times, i.e. circa this writing in February of 2023, it appears that “Ameyatchi” has achieved some level of TikTok virality. The main TikToker who seems to be propagating this trend is one Sonia Marac (@soniamarac16), who currently has about 700,000 followers. Indeed the clip of her bustin’ moves to Ameyatchi, though only being uploaded a week prior to this writing, has already garnered 5,600,000 views and is one of her most popular videos to date.

“Ame yaki oh, oh, oh, oh”

Lyrics of “Ameyatchi”

The Ivory Coast was once colonized by France, so as it currently stands, French is the official language of that country. That may be how Sonia, who may be a French speaker (considering for instance there is actually a part of France known as Marac), picked up on this song, as some parts of it are in said language.

But as fate would have it, most Africans probably know more than one language anyway. Indeed African artists, such as the Afrobeats musicians who are popular these days, often flow in between languages (i.e. African and European) at will. And so it is apparently with “Ameyatchi”, as the majority of its wording is in a dialect(s) that Google cannot accurately detect. And since information on Mathey is virtually nonexistent, at the time, we cannot ascertain the specific tribe that she came from.

The one passage of the song which is wholly translatable (from French) speaks of ‘foxes passing one after another’ – or something to that effect – in addition to the vocalist making the observation that “happiness is everywhere”.

There are also certain lyrical clues earlier on which may suggest that this song has a romantic subtheme. In fact based on initial research, it was assumed its title, “ameyatchi”, was supposed to be a Swahili phrase which, rendered in English, reads “he left it”. But this apparently isn’t the case.

But all of that said, the short snippet of the song that Sonia Marac utilized on TikTok doesn’t feature any lyrics anyway. So it may be that she, as well as many others who have now picked up on “Ameyatchi”, don’t fully know what it’s about either. But the instrumental, it can be said, is slappin’ and is obviously one that people such as herself can groove to.

What Language is “Ameyatchi” sung in?

It has been brought to our attention that the song is sung in the Baoulé language. Baoulé is one of the major languages spoken in the West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The language is part of the Niger-Congo language family, more specifically from the Kwa branch.

Song’s Success

Thanks to TikTok, this song became globally famous. For example, it can be classified as one of the most popular songs on the said platform in 2023. Thanks to its virality, it enjoyed a substantial increase in streams and downloads on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes, which we hope leads to a significant increase in revenue for Mathey.

With over 4 million streams on Spotify as of May 2023, this song is by far the most successful song of Mathey’s entire career as a singer.

The song’s social media success also significantly boosted Mathey’s popularity all over the world, leading to opportunities such as show bookings and interviews.

What Style of Music is “Ameyatchi”?

Mathey’s style of music is called Afro-Zouk. This style of music, which can also be simply called Zouk, actually originates from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. It has strong roots in various African musical traditions, influenced by styles like soukous and makossa, and is noted for its fast tempo.

This music style is popular in many parts of Africa, the Caribbean, and anywhere there are sizable communities from these regions. It is also quite popular in France – a country where a large population from the French Caribbean resides.

The Baoulé people, who are the native speakers of this language, are one of the largest ethnic groups in Ivory Coast, primarily residing in the central region of the country.

The language and the ethnic group both derive their names from Queen Abla Pokou, who led her people to their current location in a historic migration from Ghana in the 18th century.

“Baoulé” means “the son is dead”, a reference to a story about the queen having to sacrifice her son to cross a river during the journey. Baoulé is a tonal language, meaning that changes in pitch can alter the meaning of words. It has a rich oral tradition, including proverbs, stories, and history passed down through generations.

That being said, it should be noted that despite the prevalence of French, the official language of Côte d’Ivoire, as a language of education and government, Baoulé continues to be widely spoken and is used for daily communication by the Baoulé people.

Several singers from Côte d’Ivoire perform songs in the Baoulé language. Some notable names include: Amédée Pierre, Ernesto Djédjé, Aicha Koné, Meiway and Monique Séka.