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Bouyon in Guadeloupe: the genre’s second home

Guadeloupe is the second home of bouyon. The island shares Creole with Dominica, and its audience has adopted the sound to the point of creating its own branch: bouyon gwada.

From jump up to bouyon gwada

At carnival and at parties, Guadeloupean audiences call bouyon jump up. Then the musicians of Gwada, in collaboration with Dominicans, hardened the sound: that is the birth of bouyon gwada, more electronic and rawer.

An audience that makes the hits

Guadeloupe’s bouyon DJs and pages play a decisive role: it is often their choices and their networks that turn a riddim into a carnival track, then relayed on to Martinique and Paris. See also bouyon in Paris.

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