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Zouk

French Antillean music genre

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated May 2, 2026

Zouk is a musical movement and dance pioneered by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120-145 bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm, and a loud horn section. Musicians from Martinique and Guadeloupe eventually added MIDI instrumentation to their compas style, which developed into a genre called zouk-love. Zouk-love is effectively the French Lesser Antilles' compas, and it gradually became indistinguishable from compas.

01Zouk béton

The original fast carnival style of zouk, best represented by the band Kassav', became known as "zouk béton", "zouk chiré", or "zouk hard". Zouk béton is considered a synthesis of various French Antillean dance music styles of the 20th century, including kadans, konpa, and biguine.

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This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Zouk”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

Brazilian Zouk

Brazilian Zouk is a partner dance which began in Brazil during the early 1990s. Brazilian Zouk evolved from the partner dance known as the Lambada.

Music of Latin America

The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music's origins are a mix of the music of the continent's indigenous peoples with the musical traditions brought to the continent by European colonists and African slaves.

Music of Martinique

The music of Martinique has a heritage which is intertwined with that of its sister island, Guadeloupe. Despite their small size, the islands have created a large popular music industry, which gained in international renown after the success of zouk music in the later 20th century.