Biography
Having acquired guitar skills during childhood, Simplice relocated to Abidjan in 1966. There he partnered with Pierre Amedee to merge rumba elements with local folklore traditions. During the mid-'70s he joined Ernesto Djedje in originating the ziglibithy style, one of the earliest indigenous Ivorian musical idioms to achieve wider resonance. Forming the band Les Freres Djatys in 1977, Simplice explored fusions centered on the gbegbe dance rhythm and maintained this direction across nearly the entirety of his subsequent career.