Tchink System

Tchink system is the popular dance music of Benin created by *Stan Tohon*, who modernised tchinkoumé, the funeral music of the Fon people played on water percussion, for the electric band format. Calabash water drums, electric guitars, bass and keyboards interlock in fast cyclical patterns while a singer and chorus trade praise, satire and moral commentary in Fon and French. Fostered by the cultural nationalism of the Kérékou era, when the Beninese state promoted indigenous folk forms, tchink system became one of the country's signature popular styles, and its inventor its most durable exponent.