Espoir 2000 is a zouglou music duo formed in the late 1990s in Koumassi, a neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Abidjan. The duo is made up of Ossohou Hugues Patrick, aka Pat Sacko, the group's singer and songwriter, and Valéry Théa Dugbo, who goes by Valéry. When the group was formed, there was a third member, Shura, who left the group at its peak in 2001 to move to Paris with his wife. The duo, in the tradition of the genre, is above all festive and danceable. But zouglou is also used to talk about the daily lives of Ivorian youth, and political and societal problems. Their first album, Éléphant d'Afrique, released in 1997, helped them make a name for themselves. But it was with the release of their second album, Série C, and the hit song of the same name, that the group established itself as a reference in Côte d'Ivoire. The album sold over 200,000 copies in Côte d'Ivoire. In 2001, with the release of Quatrième Mandat, the group toured Europe and throughout Africa. With the political upheavals in Côte d'Ivoire, Espoir 2000 took a break, returning in 2007 with a gospel-influenced album, Gloire à Dieu. The track "Abidjan farot" remains their biggest hit. In 2014, Génération consciente is released, along with a two-volume best-of. Following Valéry's health problems, the group has to take a break again, with Pat Sacko taking on dates on his own.
