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Bouyon-muffin: when bouyon crosses ragga

Bouyon-muffin is one of bouyon’s first children: from the 1990s, Dominican singers lay voices inspired by Jamaican dancehall and raggamuffin over the fast rhythms of bouyon. The result is a very recognizable vocal style, between singing, shouting and toasting.

The Jamaican influence

Bouyon draws from chanté mas and the tradition of the carnival cry, but the 1990s generation also listens to Kingston dancehall. Bouyon-muffin owns that mix: raggamuffin-style voices, lyrics that comment on everyday life and island politics, laid over the rhythmic machine of bouyon.

A style that shaped modern bouyon

Bouyon-muffin installed a way of singing over bouyon that still influences the current scene: fast delivery, chanted refrains, Creole and English mixed together. It is one of the bridges between the bouyon of the live bands and the bouyon of today’s producers.

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