At a time when Côte d’Ivoire was experiencing a military-political crisis and was split in two (2002), the Coupé-Décalé appeared as a real innovation in the Ivorian musical universe. It caused a “sensation” with cultural practices, a dress code, choreographic concepts and musical forms that were atypical of the time. While pre-existing genres, such as Reggae, Hip Hop and Zuglou, are positioned as “committed” music, Coupé-Décalé, on the other hand, is in a completely different register: that of bringing joy, setting the mood, forgetting the sad reality of this difficult period. Nearly two decades later, the Coupé-Décalé continues to enjoy great popularity among a community of fans who are sensitive to the ideology promoted and the social practices that derive from it. This study develops a reflection on the Coupé-Décalé, a form of cultural mediation that consolidates a subcultural identity. It aims first to show the pictorial and imagined representations of the youth subculture through musical content, then to examine the actors, practices and interactions that lead to the development of the musical work, and finally, to demonstrate how the public and the producers, through the reception of the music and the identification with the Coupé-Décalé, constitute a subculture. In short, the Coupé-Décalé is a subcultural identity. It specifies a new relationship to politics, to social norms and, above all, a quest for pleasure, endangerment and amusement.