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Old school bouyon: the original sound of the 1990s

Old school bouyon is the bouyon of the live bands that ruled Dominica in the 1990s: WCK, Roots Stems and Branches, First Serenade and their heirs. A sound of the stage, of carnival and of village fetes, which purists cite as the reference for the genre.

Bands, not files

Old school bouyon is played in a full line-up: rhythm section, keyboards, guitars, brass sometimes, and singers who work the crowd like in chanté mas. The songs are long, built to last a whole night of partying, not for a thirty-second format.

Why the fans defend it

For fans of the first hour, old school keeps what modern bouyon risks losing: the traditional instruments of jing ping and lapo kabwit, Dominican Creole, and the direct link with Roseau carnival. It is this rawness, this raw and real side, that Bouyon Shattaz puts forward.

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