Mixing components of hip-hop, Afro-pop, dance music, and more into his kinetic dance-pop songs, the Ivory Coast's Debordo Leekunfa started his musical career as a DJ in the mid-2000s. With knack for free-flowing anthems and raps, he emerged as a pop artist with eclectic tracks ranging from 2005's "Kpangor" (with DJ Arafat) to 2009's "American Soldier." His many subsequent hits included the party anthem "Shake Your Body," originally released in 2015, and Leekunfa continued to attract millions of clicks into the next decade with songs like 2020's "QDS (Que du Saal)." Born Patrick Tanguy Séry Digbeu in Abidjan in 1984, he started working in night clubs as a DJ in the mid-2000s. He soon started a dance craze with 2005's "Kpangor," a collaboration with DJ Arafat, following it up with a quick series of hits that expanded his fan base across West Africa. Tracks including 2008's "Suis Moi" arrived under alias DJ Debordeau. As Debordeaux Leekunfa, he issued such exuberant material as 2009's "American Soldier" and 2011's "Rien Que la Nation," collecting those songs and others on the album Opah à la Nation in mid-2013. In 2015, Leekunfa was featured on the Will Deekoine track "On S'en Fou" as Debordo, releasing his own "Shake Your Body" and "Apéritif Yamoukidi" that year as Debordo Leekunfa. Continuing to focus on singles and collaborations, some of his many hits over the next few years included 2017's "Pikimin," 2018's "Agaza Gaza," and 2020's "QDS (Que du Saal)," all celebratory dance-pop tracks. ~ Marcy Donelson