Croquemort: A biographical journey in the context of Chad

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N’Djaména livelihood I returned from Chad on 1 March 2015, where I had shared life with the N’Djamenakois—a daily life that is fed by hidden emotions that have to do with anger and the wish to live a decent life, one that is so blatantly denied to the population. I […]

Chad and la peur: a painful path

tagged Chagoua / Déby / la vitrine d’Afrique / N’Djaména / oppression / peur / voices

The Dawa Mobile-Health project After he went to Pala, capital of the Mayo-Dallah department in south-western Chad, to give a concert in 2013, Didier/Croquemort discovered his ‘home’ region anew and was shocked by its poverty and need for development. Being a medical doctor, he recognized the high child mortality caused […]

Medicine and entrepreneurship

tagged entrepreneurship / m-health / medical doctor / mobile / N’Djaména / Pala / technology

Didier is always on his phone. He assured me that this phone is, in fact, his livelihood. He does not use it for making phone calls but rather as a tool for accessing the Internet and social media. The networks on Facebook and WhatsApp keep him always on the move; […]

Internet and the android youth in Chad

tagged Android Youth / communication / Dawa / entrepreneurs / Facebook / ICTs / Internet / m-health / mobile / N’Djaména / phone / smartphone / social media / terrorism / youth

>> Read the full biography >> Read about Croquemort, slam artist Although his songs appeal in the first place to the Chadian public, Croquemort is one of the few artists in Chad who are connected to an international network and able to reach a wider audience. Today he is an important […]

An international voice

>> Read the full biography Didier and Croquemort have a deep feeling for justice, in contrast to injustice—and especially to a particular aspect of injustice: betrayal (trahison). Trahison is a word that comes up regularly in our discussions. In a society where daily life has to deal with oppression and constant […]

Justice?

tagged Chagoua / Habré / medical doctor / oppression / protest / youth

>> Read the full biography >> Read about Croquemort, slam artist Inspired by political events and everyday life, Croquemort’s songs deal with socio-political themes from both a personal and collective perspective. His texts refer to the daily life of Chadians, a life that is recognizable in other African countries and, of […]

“En colère”: to illustrate N’djamena in slam

tagged youth

>> Read the full biography Until the last century in Belgium, the word croquemort (lit. ‘corpse biter’) designated the gravediggers who, fearing to bury a person alive, used to bite the corpses’ little fingers in order to wake up those that only seemed to be dead. Inspired by this metaphor, Croquemort […]

An artist “en colère”: meet Croquemort, slammeur

tagged ICTs / la peur / N’Djaména / slam / voices

Didier Lalaye, alias Croquemort, is an engaged slam artist from Chad. He is also a medical doctor in Chad and a PhD student at the University of Utrecht. Didier does not spend his life in one place but is often on the move. In recent years he has been living […]

Didier Lalaye, alias Croquemort

tagged Facebook / itineraries / m-health / medical doctor / N’Djaména / Pala / slam / Tchad Plus

Reflections of Mirjam Didier Lalaye and I have now, in November 2016, reached the conclusion of an ever-continuing anthropological journey—a journey which started purely by chance. I quote Didier: ‘You know, we could just as well not have met. When you called at the beginning of March 2014, I did […]

Nomadic minds

tagged co-creation / communication / Facebook / ICTs / itineraries / itinerary / m-health / medical doctor / mobile phones / N’Djaména / nomadic mind / oppression / Pala / phones / scenario / slam / smartphones / Tchad Plus / voices

January 2015, N’Djaména. Didier Lalaye a.k.a. Croquemort is writing his slam in a bar close to the Preston studio, which produced his last CD, Apprenons à les comprendre. The song Prisonnier speaks about how we are all our own prison, how we make our own borders. It is too easy […]

Croquemort, the slam artist