TRK is an Ivorian rapper from Abidjan, working in the rap ivoire and coupé-décalé tradition and signed to Diby Production, the label the veteran rapper and Kiff No Beat co-founder Didi B built to develop a new generation of Ivorian talent. He broke through in 2024 with the EP "B4 ROTY," and by early 2026 the "Golden Boy" nickname from his breakout single had turned into an Apple Music Côte d'Ivoire chart run long enough that streaming catalogues are still sorting out which older tracks belong to which release.
How It Started
Ivorian outlets place TRK's roots in Louga, a neighbourhood of Abidjan, and describe him as part of the generation that grew up alongside rap ivoire's rise rather than one of the movement's founders. Zappingmedias frames him as the genre's newest figurehead, someone who "imposed himself in a short time as an essential artist" without coming out of the older nouchi-rap lineage that shaped the scene's first stars. In an interview with Laura Dave Media, TRK said he had been writing music since secondary school and put his professional career at two years old by mid-2026 - pointing to a public start close to "B4 ROTY" in 2024, even if the private one began earlier.
His signing to Diby Production put him on the label's 2025 compilation "Babi Tape Vol.1" alongside labelmates Ameka Zrai and Sindika, a project Ivoirap.com described as the moment Didi B's shift "from established performer to label builder" started showing results - with TRK named as one of three artists the outlet was waiting to see turn a group platform into "fully affirmed individual trajectories." A later single, "La Vie de Louga V2," pairs TRK directly with Didi B and folds his home neighbourhood into the title - one of the more concrete threads tying his biography to his catalogue.
The Sound: Rap Ivoire With a Melodic Lean
TRK plays rap ivoire and coupé-décalé, tagged on his Mood profile alongside "new wave," and he has described his own range in blunter terms than any label copy would: "Je peux faire de l'afro comme de la trap. Ce que je préfère, c'est tout ce qui est très musical, très mélodique" - he can do Afrobeats or trap, but what he prefers is whatever leans hardest into melody. He names Drake, Burna Boy, Ninho, Tiakola and Central Cee as reference points, a spread that runs from West African pop through French and UK rap rather than staying inside one scene.
Mood's own artist data backs the melodic self-description more than it backs a "hard" rap tag. TRK rates 65 out of 100 on commerciality and 60 on both energy and polish - a profile that sits below labelmate Ameka Zrai, who scores higher on commerciality (70), polish (70) and fashion (60 against TRK's 45), despite TRK currently being the bigger chart story of the two. Read against each other, the numbers suggest TRK's breakout hasn't depended on a more done-up image to travel.
From "B4 ROTY" to "Golden Boy 2"
The discography, cross-checked across Apple Music and Deezer's catalogue listings, runs in a tight two-year arc. "B4 ROTY" (2024) is the project outlets credit with putting TRK on the map, praised at the time for "originality and energy" rather than for one specific hit. "Golden Boy" followed in 2025 as the record that turned a one-off line into the nickname the press still uses. Early 2026 brought "La Vie de Goacho," released across an "LVDG PACK" and later an "LVDG PACK 2 (Deluxe)" - a title borrowed from Ronaldinho's nickname "Gaúcho," not from anything Ivorian. Deezer's catalogue also lists an "ArtChives 2" EP dated 2022 under the same artist entry, two years earlier than any other account of his public start; no source resolves the gap, so it is flagged rather than folded into the timeline as fact.
The two songs driving TRK's current chart presence are "Comment" and "Golden Boy 2," both 2026 releases, alongside "Jumanji," "Numero Uno" and the featured cut "Nouchi in Paris," on which he appears with Ameka Zrai. None of these read as one-off singles in isolation - together they read as a working artist releasing at a pace few of his rap ivoire peers are currently matching.
The "Comment" and "Golden Boy 2" Chart Run
By February 2026, TRK held both the number one and number two positions on Apple Music's Côte d'Ivoire songs chart at once - "Jumanji" ahead of "Golden Boy 2" - a placement independently tracked by the chart-monitoring site kworb.net, which also shows both singles, along with "Numero Uno," charting simultaneously in the Republic of the Congo, Niger, Mali, Benin, Cameroon and Senegal. That is a wider footprint than most rap ivoire acts manage outside Côte d'Ivoire, and it sits oddly next to Mood's own locality reading for TRK, which at 65 out of 100 still leans local rather than regional - a case where the chart data and the artist-level score point in slightly different directions, worth flagging rather than smoothing over. One separate loose end: an Apple Music artist bio field lists TRK as based in France, against every Ivorian-press account of his Abidjan origin - most likely a distribution or rights-territory tag rather than a nationality claim, but worth naming rather than quietly overriding.
Where to Find TRK on Mood
TRK's artist page on Mood is, for now, the most reliable place to track him: it carries his profile, genre tags and the enrichment data cited above, and will surface any live date once one is confirmed. As of this writing, Mood lists no upcoming shows for him, and public coverage adds little beyond a single reference to a performance in Burkina Faso with no date or venue attached - so his verifiable live history is best described as regional but thinly documented. The wider rap ivoire circle is easier to follow on the platform: labelmate Ameka Zrai has his own Mood artist page, as does Himra, another name in the same Diby Production cluster. For readers in Mood's own markets, francophone rap's touring circuit runs most visibly through Paris's hip-hop listings on Mood, where the genre TRK draws from is a fixture rather than an import.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is TRK?
TRK is an Ivorian rapper from Abidjan, signed to Diby Production, the label built by Didi B. He plays rap ivoire and coupé-décalé and broke through with the 2024 EP "B4 ROTY," before the 2025 single "Golden Boy" turned into the nickname still used to describe him.
What is TRK's real name?
Sources disagree. Zappingmedias reports his real name as Tarek Ismaël Koné, while a rap ivoire media outlet's artist listing gives it as Tariq. No single source both names and sources a civil name with certainty, so it is treated here as unconfirmed rather than settled.
Where is TRK from?
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire - specifically the Louga neighbourhood, per Ivorian press coverage. One Apple Music artist field lists him as based in France, which most likely reflects a distribution or label-territory tag rather than nationality; every dedicated Ivorian-press account places his origin in Abidjan.
What is TRK's biggest song so far?
"Comment" and "Golden Boy 2," both 2026 releases, are his largest chart entries to date, with "Golden Boy 2" reaching number two on Apple Music's Côte d'Ivoire songs chart in February 2026 behind his own "Jumanji." The "Golden Boy" nickname itself traces back to the 2025 single of the same name.
Is TRK touring or playing shows in 2026?
No confirmed dates are listed on his Mood profile as of this writing, and public reporting on his live shows is thin - one report places him performing in Burkina Faso without giving a date or venue. Following his Mood artist page is the most direct way to be notified if a concert or festival booking is announced.
