A Brief History of Zouk Music

Smasher's new single "Pacasa"is strongly influenced by Zouk music. This short blog post will give a brief history of Zouk music and its colourful origins.

The actual word Zouk in itself originates from the French verb “secouer” which in turns mean “shake intensely and repeatedly”. Over time the term Zouk has come to mean “party” or “festival”. Zouk has for decades been an emblem of cultural pride due mainly to the use of the Creole language, as Zouk has appealed to the movement of "creole-ness" a cultural movement that strives to recognise the language and culture of the French Antilles.

Zouk is predominantly a blend of Caribbean, African and North American musical styles, further characterised by the regular use of Creole and electronically synthesised sounds.There are many variants of Zouk music such as Lambada Zouck/ Zouk Love and Soul Zouk.

Zouk music originates originally from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique,and is associated with further islands such as Dominica and St Lucia. It is noted that this carnival upbeat style of music was popularised by the French Antillean band Kassav.

Early Zouk differentiated itself from other musical styles by using instruments and rhythms that drew from local traditions further celebrating the Carribbeans French Antillean heritage. Such as the band Kassav using the gwoka drums and drum pattern. Zouk has been paramount in openly bringing attention to the cultural and political domination by France but also the domination by other musical genres. This has allowed Zouk to commercially compete with foreign genres such as reggae, soca and especially salsa.

Zouk music even to this day continues to influence the next generation's music and social scene within the Carribbean.

CREDITS:

En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Zouk. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouk [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Zouk | music. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/zouk [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].