Bouyon vs zouk: cousins, not twins
Zouk and bouyon are the two great musical inventions of the Creole-speaking Caribbean of the 1980s. The first comes from Guadeloupe and Martinique, the second from Dominica. They know each other well: zouk is even one of the ingredients of bouyon.
Zouk, the sound of the French Antilles
Popularized in the early 1980s by groups like Kassav, zouk becomes the sound of the French Antilles all over the world: clean, danceable, romantic in its zouk love version. It is in this landscape dominated by zouk that Dominican musicians look for their own path.
Bouyon, the Dominican answer
Bouyon takes the opposite stance: faster, rawer, more carnival than lounge. It borrows certain codes from zouk, but runs them through the Dominican machine of jing ping and lapo kabwit. Where zouk seduces, bouyon shakes.
Listen to bouyon now
The Bouyon Road Mix by Bouyon Shattaz collects new bouyon releases and carnival classics on Spotify and YouTube.
Open the bouyon playlist - Follow @bouyonshattaz and comment ROAD MIX to get it by DM.
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