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What is bouyon? The simple definition

Bouyon is a musical genre created in Dominica, a small Caribbean island, in the late 1980s. It is fast-tempo party and carnival music that mixes Dominican traditions with keyboards and electronic rhythms. In Guadeloupe and Martinique, it is also called jump up.

The bouyon recipe

Take jing ping, the traditional Dominican accordion music. Add cadence-lypso, the danceable sound of the 1970s. Put in traditional drum rhythms like lapo kabwit, elements of bèlè, kwadril, chanté mas and mazurka, a little zouk, then plug in electronic keyboards and a drum machine. You get bouyon: in Creole, the name of a soup where everything mixes together.

Who created it, and when

Bouyon was created by the band WCK, Windward Caribbean Kulture, formed in 1988 in Roseau, the capital of Dominica. Roots, Stems and Branches and First Serenade are among the other original groups. From the 1990s, bouyon becomes the dominant music of Dominican carnival.

How to recognize a bouyon song

A fast tempo that never lets up, a catchy keyboard loop, a heavy synthetic bass, percussion that recalls the traditional drum, and a voice in Creole or English that talks to the audience more than it sings. If the song makes you want to jump, you are probably listening to bouyon.

Frequently asked questions

Which country does bouyon come from?

From Dominica, an English-speaking and Creole-speaking Caribbean island, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic.

What does bouyon mean?

In Antillean Creole, a soup, a gumbo: the symbol of the mix that defines the genre. See the page on the meaning of the word bouyon.

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