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Bouyon and kwéyòl: the genre speaks Creole

Bouyon is sung first of all in kwéyòl, the Creole language of Dominica, mixed with English. This language is not a decoration: it is what carries the calls, the jokes, the social commentary and the energy of chanté mas.

A language of celebration and commentary

Since cadence-lypso, Dominican music has told the story of island life in its own language: the politics, the village stories, the carnival rivalries. Bouyon has kept that function, with a faster flow and a style close to the shout and the toast.

Creole as a passport

Dominican kwéyòl is close to the Creoles of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia. It is this linguistic passport that allowed bouyon to cross the sea and become the jump up of the French Antilles.

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