Sega is the 2/4 dance-song tradition developed by descendants of enslaved East Africans and Malagasy people on the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues. The core instruments are the ravanne (a large hand-struck goatskin frame drum, 50–70 cm across), the maravanne (a seed-filled rectangular shaker), and the triangle. A lead singer calls in Mauritian or Réunion Creole and the group answers. Tempo runs 110–140 BPM in 2/4; the dance features a low, grounded hip-rotation with the upper body still and the lower body driving the movement. Lyrics treat labour, love, and social critique. Sega is deliberately distinct from its Réunion sibling maloya (3-beat, ritual-descended) — sega is the dance-hall form.

Under French colonial rule from the eighteenth century, Mauritius (formerly Île de France) received large numbers of enslaved people from East Africa and Madagascar. Their imported rhythmic vocabulary and camp-work songs fused into the sega prototype by the late eighteenth century. After emancipation (Mauritius came under British rule in 1810 and abolished slavery in 1835), sega continued as central Creole community music. In the early twentieth century, Ti Frer (1900–1992, born Alphonse Ravaton) most systematically performed and recorded the tradition. Mauritian independence (1968) elevated sega to national-identity status; UNESCO added Mauritian sega tipik in 2014 and Rodriguan sega tambour in 2017. The 1999 police-custody death of Kaya, the seggae (sega + reggae) pioneer, remains a defining trauma of modern Mauritian history.

Locate the ravanne's beat-2-and-beat-4 accents. The player holds the drum vertically on the lap, striking the centre firmly with the right-hand fingers on beats two and four, and tapping lighter eighths on the off-beats with the left. Then the maravanne's continuous eighth-note shake and the triangle's steady pulse fill in the frame. Vocals proceed as call-and-response, the lead in Creole and the group answering with punctuating exclamations. Ti Frer's 'Séga Ravanne' (1970s archival recordings) is the cleanest traditional entry. Kaya's 'Racinetatane' (1990) marks the historically important sega/reggae fusion moment.

Start with Ti Frer's archival 'Séga Ravanne' recordings — the pre-electrified, minimum-ensemble form. Then Serge Lebrasse's 'Madame Eugène' for the golden-age electrified dance-hall sega. Kaya's 'Racinetatane' (1990) is essential context for understanding modern Mauritian music, and knowing his 1999 death in police custody transforms the listening experience. Bruno Raya's 2010s traditional-style recordings tie back to the UNESCO-recognition context.

The name's origin is uncertain — proposed derivations include a Bantu source (Mozambican sega meaning 'skirt') and a Malagasy source (saika, 'dance'). Ravanne drums are traditionally re-tuned mid-performance by holding them near a fire; the skin tightens and loosens with heat, and the drum's pitch drifts across a night. Kaya's death on 21 February 1999 sparked riots across Mauritius; his death date is now observed as an informal Kaya memorial day and his seggae is still a national touchstone. Rodrigues Island's sega tambour uses larger barrel-style drums and forms a locally distinct sub-tradition from mainland Mauritian sega tipik.