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Bouyon vs shatta: old and new, same family

Bouyon and shatta are often set against each other like two generations. In reality, shatta is the family of modern Antillean sounds fed among other things by bouyon, and shatta bouyon is their direct meeting point.

Bouyon, the historic genre

Created in 1988 in Dominica, bouyon has more than thirty years of history: live bands, carnivals, branches like bouyon soca and bouyon gwada. It is a genre with creators, classics and a clear territory of origin.

Shatta, the riddim generation

Shatta means the aesthetic of today’s Antillean producers: short, hard riddims, made for dance and social media. When these producers work the bouyon material, Dominican keyboards, tempo and Creole, it is called shatta bouyon.

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