Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about Zouk music and showcases five YouTube examples of Zouk music.
Selected comments from some of these examples are included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the founders of Zouk music and thanks to all those who have contributed to that music form. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
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This post replaces a March 2012 pancocojams post on Zouk music and Kassav (band).
By showcasing examples of these types of Zouk music, I don't mean to imply that these are the only types of zouk music.
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INFORMATION ABOUT ZOUK
From https://www.britannica.com/art/zouk
Zouk MUSIC
WRITTEN BY: Shannon Dudley
"Zouk, popular dance music associated mainly with the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, as well as Saint Lucia and Dominica, all in the French Antilles (French West Indies). The music blends a variety of Caribbean, African, and North American music styles. It is characterized by frequent use of French Antillean Creole language, the prominence of electronically synthesized sounds, and sophisticated recording technology.
The French Antillean Creole term zouk was first used on the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique to refer to nightlong dance parties. The collective label for the various types of Caribbean music played at such parties was mizik zouk. Included in the mizik zouk rubric were the Haitian popular music styles known as compas and cadence, beguine from Martinique and Guadeloupe, and cadence-lypso, a hybrid of Haitian cadence and Trinidadian calypso popularized in Dominica in the 1970s.
In 1979 Guadeloupean sound technician and bass player Pierre-Edouard Décimus and guitarist Jacob Desvarieux formed Kassav’, the group that integrated the diverse styles of mizik zouk, injected the mixture with a contemporary urban, studio-produced sound, and marketed the new music as zouk. With the overwhelming commercial success in 1984 of the group’s song “Zouk-la sé sèl médikaman nou ni” (“Zouk Is the Only Medicine We Have”), zouk was firmly established as a new and viable Caribbean dance music genre.
Kassav’ found its principal audience among the French Antillean Creole-speaking population of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Dominica, and Saint Lucia. Within this community zouk emerged as an emblem of cultural pride, owing first and foremost to the music’s use of Creole lyrics. By projecting the unofficial common tongue of the region in a modern and cosmopolitan musical setting, zouk appealed to the ideology of créolité (“creole-ness”), a concurrent literary and cultural movement that strove to recognize the language and culture of the French Antilles as legitimate hybrids, both related to and distinct from their predominantly African and European (particularly French) parent cultures.
Aside from its use of the French Antillean Creole language, early zouk was distinguished from its Antillean relatives by its studio sound, including the extensive use of synthesizers, as well as by its female lead and backup singers, a precedent for which existed in calypso music. Moreover, zouk used instruments and rhythms that drew from local traditions, further elevating the status of French Antillean cultural practices. For example, Kassav’ used the distinctively Guadeloupean gwoka (or gwo ka) drums and drum patterns on its early recordings. This helped to bring attention and respect to an Afro-Caribbean drum dance tradition that had previously been disparaged as crude and uncultured. The more broadly Caribbean heritage of zouk was evident in the music’s guiding rhythm, a repeated pattern of two long beats followed by a short beat (a 3-3-2 rhythm, written, for example, as two dotted eighth notes followed by an eighth note in Western music notation). The rhythm was also heard in most of the musics that were played in the mizik zouk context. In zouk music the rhythm was usually carried by the hi-hat cymbals.
For French Antilleans zouk spoke back not only to cultural and political domination by France but also to musical domination by genres from other regions of the Caribbean. Although zouk possessed an undeniably local French Antillean character, it also had an international orientation that enabled it to compete commercially with foreign genres such as reggae, soca, and especially salsa, which enjoyed a strong appeal in the French Antilles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Indeed, the founding musicians of Kassav’, although from Guadeloupe, were well connected internationally. Décimus had toured extensively in France and in the Caribbean beyond Guadeloupe, while Desvarieux had lived and performed in France and Senegal. The band’s later membership even more clearly reflected its international orientation. Martinican singer Jocelyne Béroard, for example, had previously performed with Cameroonian bandleader Manu Dibango. Martinican keyboardist Jean-Claude Naimro had performed with both Dibango and South African singer Miriam Makeba. The group’s horn section (including saxophones, trumpets, and trombones), moreover, consisted of Paris-based musicians with international recording and performing credentials. Such connections to African musicians and styles has remained an especially rich resource for zouk and for French Antillean music in general.
The success of Kassav’ opened a space in the international music market for zouk artists of diverse origins. Typically marketed as individual singers rather than as bands, these artists included Soumia, from France; Kairos, from the French overseas department of Réunion, off the east coast of Madagascar; as well as French Antillean singers Medhy Custos, Orlane, and Jean-Marie Ragald, among others. Along with this diversity of participation, substyles of zouk developed, including zouk love, with romantic themes and slow tempi, and the faster-paced zouk béton (hard, or “concrete,” zouk)."...
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Excerpt #2
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouk for the Wikipedia article on Zouk.
"Zouk is a fast jump-up carnival beat originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, popularized by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the 1980s.[1] Very rapid in tempo, the style lost ground in the 1980s due to the strong presence of Compas / kompa and kadans, the main music of the French Antilles. Today, zouk is the French Antilles compas (Kompa),[2] also called zouk-love.
Etymology
The Creole word zouke, sekwe, or zouke, etc. from the French verb secouer meaning "shake intensely and repeatedly" was used by Haitian artists who toured the French Antilles during the late 1970s and 1980s. It is pronounced to rhyme with "juke", an American style of music which is similar.[1][3]
The word zouk has, over time, come to mean "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French.
Zouk today
Zouk was an attempt to develop a proper local music that would lessen or even eradicate the meringue-kadans or compas influence from the French islands. When the MIDI technology came out, Kassav' used it fully, creating new sound in both their fast carnival beat and compas. The Antilleans were all over with zouk but as other bands from the Caribbean and Africa added the MIDI technology to their music and people got used to it. Because it was a jump up beat the fast zouk béton faded away In the same 1980s and Antilleans would continue to play and dance meringue-cadence or compas. After all, French Antilleans and Dominicans are important players of the style. However, the problem is that musicians from Martinique and Guadeloupe have calculatedly labeled compas as zouk in order to remain on the map (keeping in mind Compas was created in 1950 by Haitians); creating a big confusion in Africa, Cabo Verde, Angola, Brazil, Portugal and other places. Kassav', the originator of the zouk béton, is a compas music band that has taken compas to many places, and is the only band that continues to include zouk béton in its repertoire, though to a lesser extent."
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Excerpt #3:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Zouk
"Zouk versions
Are there different versions of Zouk? I know there are numerous styles, but is there a Caribbean version versus say, a Euro version? I'm only familiar with the Zouk that I've heard from Africans. And, when you write "Afro-Zouk", what do you mean? Does that limit it to francophone countries (like Burkina Faso)? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rajpaj (talk • contribs) 17:11, 21 May 2011 (UTC)"
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"No. The first paragraph does not even mention that it's a kind of music. It says that Zouk is a "jump-up carnival beat". Is that like a heartbeat? Would cardiologists read this article? Or is it violence; are cops beating up black kids again? Carnival - you mean like Cirq du Soleil? 'Jump Up'- there's a lot of reasons for people jumping up - especially in Cirq du Soleil.
I know that you mean it's a style of music - it's just that you didn't say that, and that's the most important thing about what 'zouk' is.
What's a better word for what you mean - is it 'musical cadence'? A kind of rhythm? Whatever phrasing you use, make sure the word 'music' is in there. Imagine the person reading it, doesn't know english very well, and they pick out words that they recognize, and try to figure out the meaning. They get lost really easily if you leave out the obvious.
You mention a couple of other styles of music, I never heard of any of them. Nor that band you mention. Nor, Zouk itself. I'm just into other kinds of music, a lot of hard rock, philip glass, NIN, Björk. I actually flunked music in junior highschool. Never took it again.
OsamaBinLogin (talk) 03:14, 3 July 2016 (UTC)"
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"Zouk vs Africa
Please do not write aberrations. Was African styles that influenced the creation of Zouk, and not vice versa. Besides all the styles shown, as supposedly having origin or influenced by Zouk (which I obviously deleted), are styles that have existed long before the Americas had been discovered.
And please don't confuse Zouk with Kizomba, the styles are similar but they are not the same.
And the rare bird who wrote that Kuduro was influenced by Zouk-love has never heard kuduro in his life. lol Zorglub-PRV (talk) 18:25, 22 June 2012 (UTC)"
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Excerpt #4
From http://www.tropicalbass.com/2013/03/15-retro-zouk-tunes-you-should-know/ "15 (retro) Zouk tunes you should know
Posted on 30 March 2013 by Marflix
"As the new music hype “Zouk Bass” is flooding the music blogosphere, the origins of “Zouk” might be unclear to many. So let’s open the book and digg some history knowledge. For a start we go back to the motherland of Zouk – the Caribbean island Guadeloupe.
Although all french creole speaking islands – Haiti, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique and St. Lucia – are part of the story, it was mainly Guadeloupe where Compas (Haiti), Cadence / Cadence-lypso (Dominica) and local traditions (Gwo-ka, Beguine,..) merged into a new sound.
The Cadence band “Vikings de la Guadeloupe” of the 70s is the precursor of the band Kassav (Pierre Edouard Decimus founded Kassav later in Paris together with Jacob Desvarieux), which is said to be the inventor of Zouk. The word “Zouk” though is derived from a dance which came from Poland – mazurka/mazouk.
The classic Zouk sound (nowadays called “Zouk retro”) had it’s peak in the late 80s and early 90s, so no suprise most of the featured songs here are from that period."....
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Thus far, this is the only article on Zouk music which indicates that the word "zouk" comes from "a dance which came from Poland – mazurka/mazouk." I consider this etymology to be questionable.
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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES- Zouk Retro
Example #1: kassav' - syé bwa
Jimmy B, Published on Dec 18, 2007
Genre : Zouk
Label : CBS
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Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with Google translate to English is given below some comments and numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. landryrita, 2010
"damn! non seulement j'avais jamais vu ce clip, mais je savais pas qu'ils l'avaient tourné à kinshasa!!! trop fracassant le clip!! la joie du peuple c incomparable Afrique-Antilles: memes racines, meme soul, meme feelings"
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"Damn! not only had I never seen this clip, but I did not know they had shot it at kinshasa !!! too smashing the clip !! the joy of the people c incomparable Africa-West Indies: same roots, same soul, same feelings"
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2. Traoré Mamady, 2014
"Super, ça rappel du bon vieux temps de la jeunesse,ils sont et restent les meilleurs car toutes les générations y trouvent son compte."
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"Super, it's a reminder of the good old days of youth, they are and remain the best because all generations find it."
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3. Shaddy Raddy922, 2016
"Video filmed in Kinshasa, D.R.C, pretty cool. During this period, due to regional concerts from Kassav in various countries, including the Lusophere (Cape Verde, Angola), new sub-genres emerged such as Cabo-Zouk (Cape Verde), Kizomba (Cape-Verde, Angola, Sao Tome), and Afro-Zouk (Francophone). There has been a paradigm shift focusing more on the sensual and romantic Zouk-Love (95 and 110 BPM), but zouk-beton is still there.
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REPLY
4. Traore Mamady, 2014
"Well, it reminds me of a lot of things, remember it remains an excellent band and even artists pray individually. Very very great"
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5. Mario Boston, 2016
"The music went back home"
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6. laer, 2016
"somebody help me. Wich one is the original version? This one of kassav? or the Chayane version "este ritmo se baila así"...Regards from México!!!!"
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REPLY
7. Benoit Rhumier, 2016
"+laer Kassav is Original Version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayanne_(1988_album)
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Example #2: La Medicina - Zouk La Se Sel Medikaman Nou Ni
sonnowak, Published on Nov 19, 2009
By Kassav.
--- Lyrics:
Kijan zot fé
M'pa ka konpran'n
Zot ka viv' kon si
Pa ni pwoblém'
Poutan zot sav'
Lavi la réd
Kijan zot fé
Pou pé sa kenbé
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
M'pa té konnet
Sécré lasa
Ban mwen plan la
P'mwen pé sa konpran'n
Ban mwen plan la
M'poko sézi'i
Si janmé on jou
Mwen tonbé malad
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Si sé sa mwen an nou zouké
Mi'i kon sa ... Mi'i kon sa ...
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
Zouk la sé sel médikaman nou ni ( sa kon sa )
An malad An malad An malad
An malad An malad An malad
sonnowak, Published on Nov 19, 2009
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Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only):
1. AC Downloads101, 2015
"This song is from Guadeloupe, but the kompa mixes in it or from haiti. But legit everyone in the Caribbean loves this song. It should be the national anthem of every island in the Caribbean lol. I loved this song growing up and I still do. They're speaking in patois, but its very similar to Creole."
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2. Paradise Slaay, 2016
"all the Haitians know this"
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REPLY
3. ThePrincessLabelle, 2017
"I from the french caribbean and Kassav is a guadeloupean group not haitian, they are singing in guadeloupe creole not haitian creole"
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REPLY
3. Stanley Dougé, 2017
"The languages differ but minor differences unless you speak both and French then you can tell me how Haïtians don't understand Guadeloupean créole because I understand it completely fine and I'm not even from Guadeloupe"
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REPLY
4. shaniel fo real, 2017
"Paradise Slaay in Surinam we play this also on parties"
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5. Cocoa Puff, 2017
"All West Indians tbhh, this gets played at everyyyy family function !"
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tbhh= My guess is this means "to be honest here"
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6. M'caiah Jewels, 2017
"the group is st lucian"
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REPLY
7. Topaz Citrine, 2017
"No, they are from Guadeloupe. Though as a Lucian myself, I heard it so much as a little girl that I thought they were Lucian too lol"
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REPLY
8. Trey Johnson, 2017
"Forget all that y'all talking about... EVERY CARIBBEAN PERSON KNOWS THIS SONG!!! I'm bahamian and vibe to this just fine! Granted, my husband is haitian, but I've been listening to this looooooong before I met him.
#CaribbeansStandUp"
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9. A Google User, 2018
"Dogegista Dog be quiet this isn't Haitian. Some members of Kassav are Guadeloupeen and others are Martiniquais. I have family from Haiti, Martinique, and St Martin (Gwada)..I know because I'm all of them and can tell the difference in the pronunciation of each Creole. Jacob the singer of this song is singing in Guadeloupeen Creole"
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REPLY
10. OG509, 2018
"I'm haitian and i know that Kassav are not haitians but they performed a lot in haiti and even lived there at some point"
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Example #3: Kassav' - Oh Madiana
hermespty, Published on Feb 7, 2011
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Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with Google translate to English is given below some comments and numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Rabina Blackshear, 2014
"Love this music"
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REPLY
2. Carlos Vieira, 2015
"IN ANGOLA, WE LOVES THIS SONG SINCE 19WÁWÉ! AH AH AH"
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3. Vladimir Alviz Velez, 2014
"Mucho sabor ese tema!"
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Spanish to English: "I really like that theme".
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4. Saxemard Dyandrah, 2014
"Ce n'ai pas de ma génération mais j'ai toujours aimé Kassav .."
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"This is not my generation but I always liked Kassav .."
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5.gabriel vandune, 2014
" Tempo bom e boas muicas"
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Portuguese- "Good time and good music"
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REPLY
6. acedivaful, 2015
"muy buena musica"
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Spanish to English "very good music"
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7. Shanyce Cetoute, 2017
"hummmm cela me rappelle quand j'étais toute petite et que je regardais ma mère se déhancher sur ce son là. ah lala bon souvenir. Merci pour tout ce bonheur KASSAV😍."
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"hummmm it reminds me when I was very small and I watched my mother wiggle on this sound there. ah lala good memory. Thank you for all the happiness KASSAV😍."
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8. avaholic67, 2017
"ça me rappelle mon premier voyage en afrique..bon temps!!!"
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"it reminds me of my first trip to Africa..good time !!!"
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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES OF ZOUK LOVE
HARRY DIBOULA (Tu me manques)
974MARIE13, Published on May 24, 2011
ZOUK LOVE (Harry Diboula)
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Selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with Google translate to English is given below some comments and numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Ahoutou, 2017
"SOUVENIR SOUVENIR ANNEE 1994 QUI DIT MIEUX?C'ETAIT LE ZOUK LOVE LE PLUS DANSE ET IL EST RESTE INTACT."
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"SOUVENIR SOUVENIR YEAR 1994 WHO SAID BETTER: IT WAS THE ZOUK LOVE THE MOST DANCED AND IT REMAINS INTACT."
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2. Ninis Bens, 2017
"Les anciens son sont les meilleur ❤️❤️❤️"
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"The old ones are the best ❤️❤️❤️"
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Tu es mon soleil
Ginno Regales, Published on Oct 14, 2008
Princess Lover Parole
Tu es mon soleil, éclaires mes jours, mes nuits
Tu es mon soleil, tu es lhomme de ma vie
Tu es mon soleil, illumines mes jours, mes nuits
Tu mémerveilles, tu nourris mes envies
C nest plus pareil, depuis que tes parti
Toute seule jessaye, mais seul ne me poursuit
Je donnerais ma vie tu sais, pour te suivre
Je ferais changer le passé, je veux vivre
Auprès de toi je resterai, je mennivre
De toi et des tous les secrets, qui nous lient a jamais
Tu es mon soleil, la lumière qui me guide
Dans mon sommeil, tu dessines mes rêves aussi
Tu es larc-en-ciel, qui a coloré ma vie
Tu es mon soleil, tu es mon meilleur ami
Je voudrais plus quune amitié, je suis ivre
Pour toi je peux me contenter, dêtre libre
Pouvoir seulement te parler, je veux vivre
De toi, être à tes côtés, et poursuivre
Seront réalité
Etre a tes côtés.
Tu es ma destinée, ma destinée
Tu es ma destinée
Si tu veux de moi (x6) Emmènes moi
Si tu veux de moi, si tu veux de moi
Si tu veux de moi, emmènes moi
Emmènes moi où tu veux, emmènes moi si tu veux
Si tu veux de moi (x4)
Je e laisserais jamais briser, briser ce qui va suivre
Si tu veux de moi, si tu veux de moi
Si tu veux de moi , emmènes moi
Si tu veux de moi(x6)
Emmènes moi où tu veux, emmènes moi si tu veu
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Here's a comment from this video's discussion thread:
gary durand, 2015
"Faut pas chipoter longtemps pour entendre que Princess Lover à crée le morceau de zouk love complètement ultime. C'est le plus beau zouk love en français à jamais, enfin mais c'est quoi ces paroles et ce dub de ouf?! Le pire c'est quand on le danse avec une inconnue... Frisson an tchou' aw!!!"
-Do not quibble long to hear that Princess Lover to create the piece of zouk love completely ultimate. This is the most beautiful zouk love in French forever, but what are these words and this dub of phew ?! The worst thing is when you dance with an unknown ... Frisson an chou 'aw !!!"
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