Zouk

Zouk is a musical movement in the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique popularized by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the 1980s. Too fast, it faded away due to the strong presence of Compas. Over time, zouk has become undistinguishable with compas.[1]

Zouk
Stylistic origins	Cadence rampa compas cadence-lypso bélé biguine gwo ka other Caribbean-African music styles
Cultural origins	Early 1980s; French Antilles (esp. Guadeloupe and Martinique)
Typical instruments	Traditional: Gwo ka tibwa shak shak brass synthesizer guitar bass Contemporary: Synthesizer drum machine
Fusion genres
Bouyon groovy soca gumbe soukous
Regional scenes
French West Indies Dominica Haiti Central Africa Brazil France

Music of Martinique
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Bélé Biguine Chouval bwa Hip hop Jump up Kadans Mini-jazz Quadrille Zouk
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	La Marseillaise
Regional music
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba and the Dutch Antilles Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bonaire Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic French Guiana Grenada Guadeloupe Guyana Haiti Jamaica Louisiana Montserrat Panama Puerto Rico St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Virgin Islands

Music of Guadeloupe
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Balakadri Biguine vidé Bouyon gwada Cadence-lypso Gwo ka Hip hop Kadans Mini-jazz Zouk
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	La Marseillaise
Regional music
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba and the Dutch Antilles Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bonaire Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic French Guiana Grenada Guyana Haiti Jamaica Louisiana Martinique Montserrat Panama Puerto Rico St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Virgin Islands

Music of Dominica
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Bélé Bouyon Bouyon soca Cadence-lypso Chanté mas Jing ping Kadans Mini-jazz Quadrille Zouk
Media and performance
Music festivals	Carnival World Creole Music Festival
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	Isle of Beauty, Isle of Splendour
Regional music
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bonaire Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominican Republic French Guiana Grenada Guadeloupe Guyana Haiti Jamaica Louisiana Martinique Montserrat Panama Puerto Rico St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Virgin Islands

Zouk in the 1990s - present day

The 1990's was the confirmation of the success of Zouk in the Caribean.
The main difference with the 80's is the progressive disappearance of the brass instruments, and the slow-down of the tempo.
This Zouk is called Zouk-love, currently the main type of Zouk.
However, zouk musicians are very creative. We can list other "fuzion" :

• Zouk-love (Patrick Saint-Eloi, Real limit, ...)
• Zouk-R&B (Jean-Michel Rotin, ...)
• Zouk-Africain (Oliver Ngoma, Monique Seka, ...)
• Zouk-Rock (Volt-Face, Gilles Floro, ...)
• Zouk-Compas (Kwak, Harmonik, ...)
• Zouk-Chiré (Frédéric Caracas, Luc Leandry, ...)
• Zouk-Gwoka (Sartana, Dominique Coco, ...)
• Zouk-Symphonique (Dissonance, ...)
• Zouk-Ragga (Shango, ...)

And many others types like Capverdian Zouk
[2]

See also

• Caribbean music
• Music of Martinique and Guadeloupe

References

1. Peter Manuel, Music of the non Western World
2. Gérald Désert, Le Zouk. Genèse et représentations sociales d'une musique populaire, préface de Apollinaire Anakesa Kululuka, Paris, Anibwe, coll. Liziba, 2018 ISBN 9781234567897