People forget that way before Coupé décalé, the rise Mapouka was initially a threat to Congolese music. Artists collectively and effectively fired back with Ndombolo.

When I was Côté d'ivoire during that time, you would hear the songs everywhere, but videos weren't aired because nearly all of them were censored.

Ironically, Ivorian DJs, who were adolescents at time, were teaching themselves lingala and how to be an atalakou, and years later, coinciding with the Ivorian civil war, Coupé décalé quickly rose and spread. They copied their names from Congolese figures, atalakou styles, and mabanga, combining that with beats created predominantly by Max Aero and DJ Mix.