Music of the Caribbean

Zouk
Zouk is a type of electronic music with a fast tempo and percussion driven rhythm and is inspired by
Western, Caribbean and African elements. French Antillean Creole is associated with this genre of music.
Due to the use of synthesizers and backup singers, it is discernible from other genres.

History of Zouk
Zouk was first used for night parties, where mizik zouk was used as the name for the generalized local
music being played there, such as compas1, cadence2, beguine3 and cadence-lypso.4 In 1979, Pierre
Eduoard Décimus, a sound technician and bass player formed a group called Kassav’ with Jacob
Devarieux.

Pierre Eduoard Décimus Jacob Devarieux

With different kinds of music from mizik zouk, they injected a contemporary urban, studio-produced
sounds and labelled it as zouk. It was greeted with large success with the song “Zouk-la sé sèl
médikaman nou ni” (“Zouk Is the Only Medicine We Have”), and immediately became labelled as a
Caribbean Music genre in 1984.

1
Haitian Music that combines Cuban and African rhythms
2
Rhythmic sequences or flows of sounds in a language
3
A ballroom dance similar to slow rumba
4
Hybrid of Haitian cadence and Trinidian calypso
Kassav’ fame among Guadelope, Martinique, St. Lucia and Dominica 5subsequently gave these countries
a source of cultural pride. Its use of instruments that were a part of the French Antilles’ culture such as
the Afro-Caribbean drums that were once as considered unrefined became much more reputable.

Famous Artists
Some famous artists include

Celma Ribas Fanny J Franky Vincent

Audio Representation
Zouk-la sé sèl médikaman nou ni

Souke kow

Reggae
Reggae is a genre of Jamaican music that originated from the 1960’s which combined soul and rock
music with native styles. One of these styles are ska and rocksteady. The instruments used in ska used
to create a rhythm that was said to reject Caucasian culture. The sounds produced can also be
reminiscent of the gun-shots in the ghettos, which shows reggae as the product of gangster culture.
Some of their discernible characteristics are the staccato chords being played offbeat and their slow
tempo. Many people see reggae as the voice of repressed people. Reggae is also heavily associated with
the religion Rastafarianism, with the believers saying that the music is merely a message for the religious
ideologies.

5
French Antilles
 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

History of Reggae
Ska was Jamaica’s first urban pop music that had based itself on American jazz and rhythm blues.
Rocksteady was ska’s successor and had a much slower tempo than ska but was short-lived (1964-1968).
The tone was described as fatter, more loose and slower than ska. Both of these were precursors for
reggae. Many artists started to become famous for the new style such as Toots and the Maytals (54-46,
1968), Peter Tosh and Bob Marley. Some of the people who spread Rastafarianism through reggae were
Bob Marley, the Wailers, Black Uhuru and Big Youth. The popularity grew to the United Kingdom where
there were a lot of citizens and residents of Jamaican descent. Some of them formed their own reggae
movement which included musicians such as Aswad and Steel Pulse. As reggae became world-renowned,
the original music elements started to blend with others.
 Jamaican Ska

Famous Artists

Buju Banton
 Bunny Wailer

Ziggy Marley
Chronixx
 Bob Marley

Audio Representation
Pressure Drop

Many Rivers to Cross

No Woman No Cry

Sources
Dudley, S. (2019, January 8). Zouk. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/zouk

Cooper, C. J. (2021, February 17). Reggae. Encyclopedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/art/reggae

Zouk (2021, June 14) In Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouk

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Zouk. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 14, 2021, from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zouk

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Cadence. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cadence

Reggae (2021, June 16) In Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggae