- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Vietnam, China to expand rail links, cross-border payments
- Americans get their belief back as Pochettino makes his mark
- Vietnam, China to boost economic, defence cooperation
- Winning start for Pochettino's American adventure
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- US firms brace for more tariffs as election approaches
- Winning start for Poch's American adventure
- Morocco's tribeswomen see facial tattoo tradition fade
- Centre-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
Gabon artists dream of taking music born in prison to global stage
In a bar in Gabon's capital Libreville, revellers get up and dance as soon as the DJ plays N'Tcham -- a local rhythmic genre born out of the city's prisons.
Among young Gabonese, N'Tcham has dethroned Nigerian afrobeat and South Africa's amapiano, both of which have made an impact on the global stage.
"In slang, N'Tcham means brawl," said Essone Obiang, of Gabonese music streaming platform GStore Music.
"Basically, it's a dance born in prisons which expresses all the violence that there is in the working-class neighbourhoods. The robberies and assaults," he said.
The genre began with the dance, Obiang said. The music came afterwards, inspired by rap, afrobeat and traditional Central African music.
N'Tcham artists such as L'Oiseau Rare, Eboloko or Fetty Ndoss, who notch up millions of streams on music platforms, are the country's new music greats.
It's the "pop of Gabon", says Obiang. But musicians hope to take the sound well beyond the country's borders.
- 'Generational conflict' -
With over 40 million streams, L'Oiseau Rare is proud to represent the heritage of his small French-speaking Central African country with two million inhabitants.
"N'Tcham has its own instruments: zithers, flutes and brass instruments and above all an accelerated afrobeat or dancehall rhythm," he told AFP.
While artists use French in their lyrics, N'Tcham is principally based on slang -- an advantage for the artist who has mastered the "language of the ghetto in Gabon."
Having spent time in detention, he recounts his experiences in his lyrics and hopes to counter prejudice.
"N'Tcham is seen as noisy music that is all about partying. For me, the aim is to get a message across," he said.
"It is a little complicated with the purists," said L'Oiseau Rare, who regrets a disparagement of a type of music "most of whose artists come from the ghetto."
In Gabon, the rejection sometimes comes from the rap scene, which makes a point of disassociating itself from that style of music.
"There are rappers who consider that the messages conveyed in N'Tcham are an apology for bad morals," said Fallone Endambo Makata, who directed a documentary on the genre.
Obiang, of GStore, said N'Tcham artists are "heirs of what rappers built".
"Today they have their own language, their own attitude, their own codes and in the end, their own music, which has little to do with what was done before.
"It's a kind of generational conflict," he said.
- 'Leaving Gabon'-
In a studio in Libreville's Alibandeng district, 22-year-old Dementos has recently thrown himself into the movement and seen his career take off at full speed.
"I've really had a boost to my career. I didn't even understand it myself," he joked.
His music has gained hundreds of thousands of listens in just a few months -- leaving the artist dreaming of "taking N'Tcham out of Gabon".
"We're listened to at home, that's good, but we need to discover other countries, other horizons. That's really what I'm fighting for," he said.
To grow, N'Tcham artists are developing promotional strategies that rely almost exclusively on social media.
"These young people have totally understood the internet. As soon as a sound is released, it goes viral," said Clancy Bissela, co-founder of Bweli Tribe, a media outlet specialising in African urban music.
N'Tcham might be homegrown but would resonate beyond Gabon, Bissela said.
"It's very Gabonese but has a message that can be heard all over Africa, even all over the world. It just needs to reach people's ears," he said.
A.Rodriguezv--AMWN