An article in honor of Bouyon Day.
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‘No CK, No Carnival’… a popular line of lyrics in a song by the Bouyon band, WCK. Well, this year 2021, thanks to the current global pandemic situation, authorities have affirmed that there won’t be any Carnival.
In December 2020, the Minister for Tourism announced that the government had taken the decision to cancel Carnival 2021. Whatever that means apart from the absence of the usual J’ouvert and two day street jump-up leading up to Ash Wednesday, no one fully knows for sure, except that it’s all in an effort to avoid mass gatherings during these times.
Carnival is an integral part of Dominican culture, and Bouyon music is an integral part of our carnival culture. Familiar songs and rhythms like ‘Kulture Shock,’ ‘BandWagon,’ and the ever popular ‘Balance Batty’ are commonly known to all who live or grew up here in Dominica. These are songs of WCK (officially meaning Windward Caribbean Kulture), formed in 1986. Several years later and with the changing style of Bouyon music, WCK added on the tag line ‘Original Bouyon Pioneers’ as they are credited with being the first band to bring this genre of music to Dominica. Bouyon music is a sweet mix of Dominica’s traditional music (like Bele and quadrille) and popular cadence genre infused with a bit of electronic music. Since then and even up until now, other bands and Bouyon artists have come on the scene.
Dominica’s current leading Bouyon band is Triple Kay International, or TK International as they have rebranded themselves. When TK International first entered the music arena approximately twenty years ago they won the hearts of a wide cross section of the population with their mellow, zouk influenced bouyon; a twist on the initial style. We also have other prominent bands and artists who are dominating the Bouyon World such as Asa Banton and ‘The Signal Band’.
The Bouyon music sound has continued to evolve throughout the decades. Present day Bouyon 2021 reflects that change. It’s now at a high tempo, energetic pace which is a break from the groovy, slow swag music we grew up with. Another noteworthy difference between Bouyon of the 20th century and the 21st century is the lyrical content. In the early days songs centered around some form of social commentary, or events which happened on a regular basis such at ‘Mete Véyé’ (a Peeping Tom), ‘Conch Shell’, which spoke to our strong fishing tradition, of ‘Kulture Nou’, highlighting our cultural practices passed down from generation to generation etc. Now, the lyrics follow a modern trend.
Something else we’ve noticed over the years is ‘who’ sings Bouyon music. When the genre planted its roots and began to grow there were bands, with a front man, who produced the music. Now, while we still have the bands, we have an ever growing number of individual artists making a name for themselves in the art form. And speaking of individual artists, we must tip our hats off to the Bouyon Queen Carlyn Xavier-Phillip, stage name ‘Carlyn XP’ one of the few lead women in that industry and Starsha who’s making a strong entrance.
Bouyon music continues to evolve and we now have another phase which has been dubbed ‘New Generation Bouyon’, which has a few of the basic elements of Bouyon music and is being pushed by a younger generation of artists.
This homegrown Dominican genre of music is gaining attention far and wide, although unfortunately, in the wider region it is being categorized as Soca music, a distinction which we have to keep reminding our Caribbean of. But closer to home, our French neighbors in Guadeloupe, so impressed by this music, have added their own flair to it, giving birth to ‘Bouyon Gwada’, extremely popular among youth there, but a few years ago had posed a problem to authorities because of the aggressive lyrics and related influence.
As was said earlier change is inevitable, hence the continued evolution of Bouyon music comes as no surprise. Some of us prefer the groovy tempos we grew up on, others this new fast tempo. How will it evolve next? Only time will tell and all we can do is wait and see. Nonetheless, we still very much appreciate this artform and its existence, a true credit to our culture. Happy Bouyon Day everyone!
Written by: Andrea Louis
For Generation Y Dominica
Generation Y Dominica 