Tsapika can be thought of as heavily caffeinated Malagasy country music. Since the 1980s, as the island's northern salegy music has earned the respect of the recording industry in Antananarivo, this fast, rowdy dance pop genre has developed in beach-side towns and mining camps in the poor, neglected south of Madagascar. Some say that tsapika is so fast because people in that region talk fast. One northerner explained the genre's speediness as a reflection of the fast footwork young Bara men must master in order to start a family--Bara tradition originally required that a boy steal a zebu, a curved horned cow, in order to marry.

What is sure is that tsapika is electric guitar pop boogie that has origins in the traditional kabosy bands that fire through the night in villages across southern Madagascar, and also in South African pop music, which can be heard on the radio in south-west coastal towns like Tulear. The South African influence is expressed in the music's stomping, 4/4 groove, its use of swelling organ parts--and more recently that woozy keyboard sound popularized by South African reggae man Lucky Dube--and in the genre's favoring of shrill, female vocals, rather like the backing vocals found in Shangaan pop by artists like Obed Ngobeni and the Kurhula Sisters.

Central in every tsapika band is one madly finger-picking electric guitarist. The style is picked with thumb and forefinger only and has a maniacal start-and-stop quality. A tsapika guitarist may hang out in silence for awhile, and then race in with a ferocious, and distinctly Malagasy cluster of notes. Guitarists like Jean-Noel, Bloko, and Said Alexis are local legends, and their groups are in high demand at the sapphire mining camps and other rural work camps where people have money, time on their hands, pent-up energy and nowhere to go.

Tsapika has yet to make it to any international CD, and even in Madagascar, Mars Records is just discovering the genre. They released two cassette compilations in 2001, and have put out a few titles by the band Tirike. For the most part, though, female tsapika singers like Bodida and Mizeha, and groups like Jean-Noel's and Said Alexis's have so far released only low-quality cassettes, mostly on the Or Musique label. This is undoubtedly a trend to watch, however. With a little arranging and production help, tsapika could be the next worldwide Afropop sensation.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre