Lyrics, Laughter, and Lessons: Inside Jacqueville’s Zouglou Quoting Showdown

Beneath skies brushed with streaks of cloud and the call of distant gulls, Jacqueville came alive with the gentle energy of a beachside festival. Traces of sun painted the sand golden, and the echoes of zouglou’s rhythms mingled with laughter across the breeze. In this open, hopeful space—where a ferris wheel meets the sea and even the air feels patient—a unique kind of contest unfolded: the first Zouglou Quote Masters Competition.

Zouglou: Echoes of Everyday Life

Zouglou is music, but also a mirror for the Ivory Coast soul. Born among students, now pulsing through every street and heart, its proverbs capture life’s ironies with a playful wave, like a windsurfer tracing the line between water and sky. On this day, the city’s wisdom—the kind learned under palm trees and sunset skies—was to be tested.

Quarterfinals: Ripples of Irony

Eight contestants lined up before friends and strangers, each standing steady, much like a paddleboarder finding balance in the surf. Each had to recite two zouglou quotes and reveal their meaning, letting the words settle like sand after a wave.

AKA spoke of patience and hidden reasons:

• “Meat that’s spent a long time in the freezer can’t be eaten all at once; it needs time.”
  Goodness reveals itself slowly, like a tide coming in.
• “The goat doesn’t like to bathe—only it knows why—but we see it drinking water.”
  What we see is never the whole truth.

Koffi spoke of illusions and cycles:

• “The zebra has stripes, but they don’t appear in its shadow.”
  What defines you can vanish when the light changes.
• “When it’s time to sleep, you must sleep.”
  Trust life’s rhythms—rest, because the world will wait.

Kassy looked into gradual change and invisible pain:

• “It’s little by little that cassava becomes thick porridge.”
  Great things rise grain by grain.
• “Among all those crawling yesterday, you never know which one had a stomach ache.”
  Hidden struggle lives in every crowd.

Ahmed called out the danger of illusion:

• “A laugh outside does not last in life. Don’t let your mirror make you believe you’re a twin.”
  Image is fleeting; truth is not in mirrors.
• “If you live in illusion, life will take you like a television. Wake up.”
  Dream too long, and reality will catch you unprepared.

Suleiman reflected on hardship and purpose:

• “When hardship knocks at the door, love escapes out the window.”
  Trouble clarifies who stays and who leaves.
• “If everyone were useful for what others think of them, no one would serve anyone.”
  Self-worth cannot be borrowed.

Digbeu warned about hidden dangers and underestimated strength:

• “Even a rat in milk can look like a fool to a cat.”
  Comfort can bring risk you don’t see.
• “Strength may reign, but it will always bow before intelligence.”
  The mind always shapes the world, softly, like water on stone.

Paul taught lessons on humility and blindness:

• “He who works for the boss does not automatically become the boss.”
  Proximity to power isn’t power itself.
• “No one is more blind than the one who refuses to see.”
  Refusal to face truth darkens the mind.

Jean chose lessons of transformation and regret:

• “There are two ways to face difficulties: either you transform them, or they transform you.”
  We shape our trials, or are shaped by them.
• “If you walk the road of ‘I don’t care,’ you’ll end up in the village of ‘If I had known.’”
  Indifference today can turn to sorrow tomorrow.

As the sun tilted west, cheers rose and votes were counted—Kassy and Digbeu caught the city’s imagination, with Jean and Paul not far behind. Waves of applause took the other four competitors home, gracious and grinning in the salt air.

Semifinals: Endurance Carved in Sand

Now only four remained, their quotes like lines sculpted in a sand dune: fragile, but lasting.

Kassy reflected on innocence and authentic power:

• “A baby carried on the back doesn’t know how long the road is.”
  Those shielded from life miss its true weight.
• “Just because the hands are raised doesn’t mean they rule over the feet.”
  Leading isn’t simply about position.

Digbeu explored shifts of fortune and the test of hardship:

• “If you see a bone in the trash today, remember it was once in oil and onions yesterday.”
  Honor the past—everyone was valuable once.
• “When hardship knocks at the door, love escapes out the window.”
  Difficulty reveals the truth of a bond.

Jean brought patience and self-reflection:

• “Let time reveal what it has in store for you; give time the time to show you its lessons.”
  Answers come to those who wait.
• “If I regret my past and my present worries me, then maybe my future scares me a bit.”
  Peace grows from making peace with yourself.

Paul, still full of humor and humility:

• “Even a drunken mouse knows the cat’s intersection.”
  Even the lost sense the edge of danger.
• “Diarrhea doesn’t choose its toilet.”
  Luck and misfortune visit everyone.

Crowd voices soared—fishermen, families, and dancers all lending their sound to the moment. Digbeu (152 votes) and Kassy (145) advanced as the firm finalists, while Jean and Paul faded back into the crowd, sunlight on their faces.

Finals: The Spirit Beyond the Tide

For the last round, two voices remained, clear as surf on sand. Each chose two quotes, then—like the lone bird cutting through the sky—named what they believed was the Quote of the Year.

Kassy:

• “No one is more blind than the one who refuses to see.”
  Denial binds tighter than any night.
• “If I’m no longer your friend, it’s because I never truly was.”
  True colors come with time.

Digbeu:

• “It’s despair that drives the monkey to eat chili.”
  Desperation carves strange paths for us all.
• “Strength may reign, but it will always bow before intelligence.”
  Brains guide the ship, even when muscles row it.

Quote of the Year:

• Kassy: “It’s little by little that cassava becomes thick porridge.”
  Patience and repeat effort build greatness.
• Digbeu: “If you walk the road of ‘I don’t care,’ you’ll end up in the village of ‘If I had known.’”
  Carelessness today, regret tomorrow—a universal lesson.

As dusk deepened, the audience—the city—voted with raised hands and laughter. Digbeu edged ahead, just four votes past Kassy: 173 to 169.

As the night settled, music and wisdom mingled in the Jacqueville air. The sand sculpture, like the contest, remained—a brief shape against the sky, a testament to how words, like the sea, leave their mark long after the tide goes out.

MB… disclaimer: All the quotes are from famous Zouglou artists and the competition is purer fiction.