Earl Augustin, April 26, 2019
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about the Caribbean music group Kassav and showcases a video of the group performing their 1985 hit song "Zouk La Sé Sèl Médikaman Nou Ni" ("Zouk Is The Only Medicine We Have").
Lyrics for this song are included in this post along with selected comments from the discussion thread of a sound file of this song. These comments document some of the global reach that Kassav' s song "Zouk La Sé Sèl Médikaman Nou Ni" has had and continues to have.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Kassav for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of this video and this sound file on YouTube.
INFORMATION ABOUT KASSAV
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassav%27
"Kassav' is a French Caribbean band formed in Guadeloupe in 1979. The core members of the band are Jocelyne Béroard, Jacob Desvarieux, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Patrick St. Eloi, Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur and Georges Décimus (who left to form Volt Face and returned). Kassav' have issued over 20 albums, with a further 12 solo albums by band members.
[...]
History
Kassav' was formed in 1979 by Pierre-Edouard Décimus (former
musicians from the Les Vikings de Guadeloupe) and Paris studio musician Jacob
F. Desvarieux. Together and under the influence of well-known Dominican,
Haitian and Guadeloupean kadans or compas bands like Experience 7, Grammacks,
Exile One, Les Aiglons, Tabou Combo, Les Freres Dejean, etc., they decided to
make Guadeloupean carnival music recording it in a more fully orchestrated yet
modern and polished style. The name of the band is Antillean Creole for a local
dish made from cassava root.
Kassav' is the creator of the fast carnival zouk style. The French Antilles' Kassav' was the first to apply the MIDI technology to cadence and fused the genre with funk, and Makossa.
Music of Guadeloupe and Martinique:
The gwo ka, traditional music of Guadeloupe, of which there are 7 versions (rhythmic).
The bélé, traditional music from Martinique, of which there
are 11 variants (rhythmic).
The biguine music of Guadeloupe
The chouval bwa, traditional music of Martinique associated
with the city of Saint-Pierre.
The mazurka and quadrille, European music of the French
Antilles.
The Compas, modern Haitian méringue popularized by Nemours
Jean-Baptiste in 1955.
The cadence rampa (kadans), alike compas, a modern Haitian
méringue popularized by Webert Sicot in the very early 60s that spread to the
Caribbean.
[…]
Kassav' continued to gain popularity both as a group and by
several members' solo recordings, eventually peaking in 1985 with Yélélé, which
featured the international hit "Zouk la sé sèl médikaman nou ni"
(meaning "Zouk is the only medicine we have" in French Antillean
Creole). With this hit song, zouk rapidly became a widespread dance craze in
Latin America and the Caribbean, and was popular in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Zouk performers became known for wildly theatrical concerts featuring special
effects, stage spectacles and colorful costumes. One important contribution of
Kassav' in concert was the appearance of featured dancers on stage with the
band; these dancers were in many ways as much a part of the band as any
musician. Kassav' has been noted by its acolytes and aficionados as a dance
band par excellence."...
****
LYRICS - Zouk La Sé Sèl Médikaman Nou Ni"
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
-snip-
These lyrics are in French Antilles Creole. "French Antilles" is a referent for the Caribbean nations of
I used Google Translate for these lyrics and got results for these lyrics in Haitian Creole. However, a number of commenters in the discussion thread for a sound file of this song wrote that Martiniquen and Guadelopean Creole isn't the same as Haitain Creole.
****
SELECTED COMMENTS
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vv1wxZAR1k&ab_channel=sonnowak
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
1. Jennell, 2014
"Im jamaican and i like this song. I have no idea what theyre
saying tho lol"
**
Reply
2. Lis Louimeus, 2014
"It's say zouk is the only medicine we neither nd bunch of
other stuff it's pretty much saying the same thing over nd over again"
**
3. 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."
**
Reply
4. HoneyHo, 2015
"I thought the band is from Martinique. Considering 'Zouk' is
music from Martinique."
**
Reply
5. labeau brice, 2015
"@Catrinaboox zouk is a music from guadeloupe and
martinique"
**
Reply
6. Witteny Cineus, 2015
"+Catrinaboox You are right, it is not from Guadeloupe,
that's the group Kassav which is from from Martinique, the head singer was born
in Haiti, but move to Martinique at a young age. Now zouk music is all over the
carribean"
**
Reply
7. Guyver-971, 2015
"+Catrinaboox Zouk is from Guadeloupe !"
Reply
8. Witteny Cineus, 2015
"
**
9. Luciansunset S, 2015
"Never gets old. Since
the 80s we're playing this in St Lucia.
Lucians love it."
**
Reply
10. Farah Joseph, 2015
"+Luciansunset S We
creoles love this song in general i am haitian btw"
**
Reply
11. mochabetty, 2016
"+Farah Joseph Yess! haitians LOVE this , heard it at every
house party, wedding, communion parties since I was a child!!"
**
Reply
12. k v, 2017
"growing up I used to hear this song alotttt"
**
Reply
13. XXX Vibez, 2018
"Luciansunset S all the way❤❤❤ cant have no fet without
this......Ayo"
-snip-
"fet" = party, social gathering
Reply
14. Tabitha SwaNN, 2018
"
**
Reply
15. Luciansunset S, 2019
"@Tabitha SwaNN . Very true"
Reply
16. Valencia Alvarez, 2019
"
**
17. Walt Slominski, 2016
"Us Honduras love this song especially in the islands with
the Garifunas!!🇭🇳💙"
**
Reply
18. Destiney G, 2018
"Walter Slominski Garifuna
Guatemalan we salud al de islanders out there. Big unu self DjAfrochapin"
**
Reply
19. Destiney G, 2018
"Yes mon we garifuna from Guatemala love
zouk musique. We salud you all. DjAfrochapin502 connection"
**
20. Max antoine Cajuste, 2016
"If your Haitian you know this song. All my West Indian
stand up. 🇭🇹🇭🇹"
-snip-
"HT"= nation abbreviation for "Haiti"
**
21. Luv Lyfe, 2017
"Growing up in the West Indies everyone sand this song not
knowing a word they were saying. We used
to sing "Zouk la sister say she gonna marry me"😭😭😭😭"
**
Reply
22. Valerie Renee, 2018
"LMFAOOOOO WEAKKKKKK"
**
Reply
23. la mama de Mandy, 2018
"😂 I did the
same for years not same lyrics as in your country in Spanish 😆"
**
Reply
24. Wolf Lauren, 2018
"We always thought the ladies singing at 1:38 were saying
"ALL MY LIFE" so that's what we would sing 😂"
**
25. Tafari 98, 2017
"This jam was a big hit in Kenya and African continent late 80s and it brings beautiful memories! 😎🙌🙌🙌"
**
26. The star Squad, 2018
"IT DONT MATTER AS LONG AS U FROM THE CARRIBEAN U KNOW THIS 🇭🇹"
**
27. Joe Niati, 2018
"…even we Congolese know this too!!!
**
Reply
28. Fred Warsaw, 2018
"We Liberians know this song too. Our parents played this
song a lot in the 80s."
**
Reply
29. a chicken company, 2018
"Haitians adopted this song , but they low key from
Guadalupe"
**
Reply
30. Tim Gustave, 2018
"Martinique, fam!"
**
Reply
31. Simone Moss, 2018
"Max antoine Cajuste I’m from Miami of Jamaican and
Grenadian decent and I know this song. Don’t know what he is saying but I love
this song"
**
Reply
32. Wolf Lauren, 2018
"Sak Pasé Haiti from 🇨🇺"
-snip-
Sak Pasé" is a Haitian Creole greeting that means "What's happening?".
"CU" = country abbreviation for Cuba
**
Reply
33. P. Daulton Spencer, 2019
"Antigua. 🇦🇬. Spent time
with a couple of friends from Guadeloupe. This was 🔥.."
**
34. Aboubacar Bah, 2018
"Where my Haitians and Africans at!?🙄🤪"
**
Reply
35. Mariam Jacobs, 2019
"Hereeee 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬...I
remember hearing this song at so many Nigerian parties growing up and never
knew the name...so glad I found it..."
**
Reply
36. BANGA2TIMEZ, 2019
"Aboubacar Bah 🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩🇨🇩"
-snip-
CD = Democratic Republic of the Congo
Reply
37. Marcus Sanon, 2019
"
**
Reply
38. Happy Angel101, 2019
"🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹"
**
Reply
39. Mauricio Trujillo, 2019
"@Ishraaq
Ramdianee Wow...que curioso saber que
existe un país con mi nombre...soy de México🇲🇽"
-snip-
Google translate from Spanish to English: It is curious to know that there is a country with my name ... I am from Mexico🇲🇽"
-snip-
This commenter is probably saying something like "It's funny that you forgot to mention my country". In the context of this comment, the "x" at the end of the word "Mexico" probably comes from the sign for "kisses" but means something like "Best wishes".
**
Reply
40. wihelmina20, 2019
"Ivory coast🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮🇨🇮"
**
Reply
41. Damian Mahabir, 2019
"Suriname here🇸🇷☝"
*️*
Reply
42. Drew Norek, 2019
"DRCONGO 🇨🇩 🇨🇩
we here"
43. Nun0tha _SLC, 2018
"
**
Reply
44. Annaya Akeim Musa, 2019
"Yesssss"
**
Reply
45. kornel'sfish tank productions, 2019
"This isnt a haitian song
though😭"
**
Reply
46. Anderson Louis, 2019
"@kornel'sfish tank
productions zouk and kompa are our
culture, the same for guadeloupe martinique guyane, kompa is their culture too.
Salsa is from cuba but can you say is not Dominican music ?"
**
Reply
47. Anilyaah Glow, 2019
"It's not kompa"
**
Reply
48. Flo Panaminho, 2019
"NedaBoo its not from haiti"
**
Reply
49. Brenda Frederic, 2019
"Im American and still
jam to this song in 2020❤"
Reply
50. Solène Gaston, 2019
"I
51. MegaDiva1999, 2019
"
**
52. King King, 2019
"Yo this song got me dancing in my room trying to
practice for a Haitian wedding or a
Haitian party"
**
Reply
53. Le Gob, 2019
"Since its not an haitian song. Keep training"
**
Reply
54. Barbara, 2020
" @Le Gob we know it's not a haitian song but haitians
made it famous that's why people keep saying it's a haitian song"
**
Reply
55. Andy Chang, 2020
"@Unapologetically
Purplekissez Kassav is not Haitian but
this song is in Haitian Creole lol so ig it still technically is a “Haitian”
song"
**
Reply
56. TNR Family, 2021
"@KEXEK it’s not Haitian Creole but it’s creole lol because
we understand every words lol"
**
Reply
57. Elsa Svenski, 2021
"@Andy Chang This is not Haitian Creole but Guadeloupean
and Martinican Creole (mostly Guadeloupean) You should know that in the French
Caribbean Islands, each island has its own Creole so when you hear Creole it is
not always Haitian Creole."
56.
"in Honduras 🇭🇳on our Caribbean coasts we also listen and dance soca up the Caribbean ✌🏼"
**
57. Christina O., 2020
"Nigerian but still a bop 💃"
**
58. Romulo Silva, 2020
"Kassav my band , love this guys , big
fan all the way from Angola"
**
59. shangwe Magilani, 2020
"From Tanzania i just love haitian zouk😊❤️"
**
60. Cristian Andres Martinez Espitia, 2021
"Que bueno saber que los orígenes de la
champeta colombiana, surgió con sonidos similares y de este tipo de géneros.
Saludos desde la costa colombiana🇨🇴"
-snip-
Google translate from Spanish to English:
"Good to know that the origins of the
Colombian champeta, emerged with similar sounds and of this type of genre.
Greetings from the Colombian coast🇨🇴"
**
61. cuttyFLamm CR, 2021
"Big up from Mauritius🇲🇺"
****
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