Alex Bruno is a researcher who focuses on politics, people, cultures and societies. He has investigated the growth of music and culture in the Caribbean and has studied political cultures and human relations in the global context. This article helps to pave the way for Bruno’s much anticipated book: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF CALYPSO AND SOCA MUSIC IN DOMINICAN CULTURE. Alex Bruno is also a trained political philosopher, an Associate Professor in the field of political science and a published author with decades of experience in field research.
The gwopwèl (tabanca) bouyon song, Someone Else, has seemingly caught the attention of Trinidadian media, but it is not the first time that Dominican music has impacted the entertainment culture in Trinidad & Tobago, the Caribbean region and farther afield. Soca, which was pioneered by Garfield ‘Ras Shorty I’ Blackman, got its musical impetus from Dominica in the 1970s. This is a well litigated and proven fact, so there is no need to revisit this argument in this article.
By way of review, however, here is an abbreviated overview of the emergence of popular AfroCaribbean, French-Creole music. The term Afro-Caribbean, French-Creole music describes a specific category of musical expressions which are manifested by people who were planted in the French-Caribbean (by birth or otherwise) and share in the African identity. This is the order in which the music evolved:
African cultural extracts: pre-15th century with European arrival in the Caribbean. Traditional rhythmic: post-15th Century intercontinental (Caribbean-African) music fusion. Colonial influences rhythms: late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, following the colonization of the Caribbean. Afro-Caribbean traditional rhythms: through the Slavery experience with an exclamation following emancipation. Calypso: (mid to late1920s) revolutionary music. Cadence-Lypso (1973): fusion dance-protest music. Soca (1975/6) and all its extracts: the musical expressions of issues and conflicts in society. Zouk (early 1980s): the French political expansion of Cadence-lypso or Caribbean pop. Bouyon (1987) with all its extracts, including power Soca etc, Nasty Business and Gwowèl Bouyon etc…
I decided not to scavenge through the French colonial abyss for every expression or claim of musical influence, because this exercise would yield similar core links as those listed in the previous paragraph. However, I must state that Haitian Compas (Kompas) is a center pillar to what is known as popular Afro-Caribbean French-Creole music. Compa drifted away from the Haitian Jazz culture in 1968, it injected dance into Cadence-Lypso and would later be cross-pollinated by Cadence-Lypso and Zouk.
Paragraph 3 lists the genres of popular Afro-Caribbean French-Creole music which had some sort of direct manifestation in Dominica. So, this article is written from a Dominican perspective, and subsequent contributors may choose to recreate the discussion. Because insularity and territorial preferences come into play when such discussions are presented, it is to be expected that ensuing discussions and arguments be accompanied by reason and supported with facts.
Let me reiterate that because of the ontological nature of music in general, no one person, group, region or country can truly claim or own the birthrights to music. However, music genres have been developed by people, over time and in places which give definition and meaning to those genres. Thus, this article documents contributions of Dominicans and Dominica to the global popular Afro-Caribbean French-Creole music consciousness.
This takes me to the subject of my article – Bouyon Music 30 Years After: The Litle Boy, Quan and Trilla-G Factor. Bouyon is “the modernization of the traditional rhythm of Dominica” (Cornell Philip, DCKHF V Citation, p. 2), and this modernization has found its way on multiple shores over the decades. Gordon Henderson stretches Phillips’ definition by including ‘carnival’ to the definition of Bouyon.
For Henderson, Bouyon is “the modernization of Dominica’s carnival music”. Henderson posits that, since there are different eras and influences of traditional music, it is important to properly define music in its true and real element. He argues that bouyon identifies with carnival music in a distinct Afro-Creole form. Bouyon is a fusion of all the musical elements which impact the people, but it celebrates what the people have become and are still becoming. Going back to the definition, it seems clear that modernization adds life to tradition, even while tradition remains a constant.
I quote from Cornell Phillip’s Dominica Calypso ‘Kaiso’ Hall of Fame induction citation where Phillip declares that “the addition of popular elements to traditional music is an inevitable act in modern music creation” (p. 3). This is the qualified answer to the origins of, and the magic in Bouyon. Let me proceed to say that, like other music genres, Bouyon has evolved in 10-year cycles. They are Original Bouyon, Bouyon Crossover and Power Bouyon.
WCK are the originators of Bouyon, while First Serenade Band infused Bouyon’s original rhythm and storytelling with jumpier drumbeat and bass. Serenade also tweaked the original storytelling component in original bouyon to a more bacchanalist torey session towards the late 1990s. The Triple K band continued the crossover attitude with even more lavwé accompanied by heavy chants and explicit lyrics that paved the way for further experimentation with the nasty business that has feasted on Bouyon rhythms in recent times. The Triple K era took off in 2003.
Asa Banton worked in tandem with Triple K to stretch Crossover Bouyon over the better part of two decades. According to his bio, Asa brought a sense of business militancy with “his high energy, fast paced, and often unpredictable on-stage performances” (asamusic.com) to the genre. Asa and Triple K focus on high velocity tempo and jivey chants; reminiscent of the attitude and desires of the Bouyon fanatic of their era.
Bouyon Nasty Business took off in 2021 or thereabout, but its seeds were planted about a decade ago. My guess is that Nasty Business will linger around, as has been the case in other music genres where smut has been commercialized in savvy and not so savvy ways. The Mighty Sparrow is a genius of satirical smut. The little pumping man, Lord Tokyo, is also a fine example of someone who cleverly disguised otherwise explicit sexual content in his mega kaiso – Tennis Shoe Tongue.
Bouyon Nasty Business is not generally shy about lyrical content, and this could be a criticism of the expression within the music. Nasty Business has its audience, and it appears as if the public spark of this aeration of Bouyon may be overridden by a new twist to the music. This is what the Litle Boy, Quan and Trilla-G Factor have so far indicated. In fact, Shelly Alfred and Signal Band have almost singlehandedly reshaped the Bouyon flavor with a sort of groovy treatment to the rhythm placed beneath palatable and socially conscious lyrics. Signal Band’s Passing (2025), I’ll be there for You (2024), Déjà Val (2023), On My Way (2022), and Ani Ba Yo Love (2018) are examples of Bouyon’s journey back to originality while maintaining the music’s contemporary rhythmic evolution.
Signal Band revisited the storytelling of original Bouyon lyricist, Deryk ‘Rah’ Peters, he grabbed the fervor of Cornell’s drumbeats and balanced it a happy place between high energy chants over beats and popularized traditional rhythm infused with popular commentary. There have always been movements within Bouyon music, and Litle Boy, Quan and Trilla-G hit a sweet spot with Someone Else.
Someone Else has raked up over 5 million views on YouTube in just over 5 months. The song is a love ballad placed over Bouyon beat, making it appealing to wider audiences in faraway places. This song places love and relationship into a genre and beat that makes the topic and story more volatile. Bouyon is about beats first and then story or a combination of both. When one masters both at the same time, magical musical moments are created. WCK’s Balance Batty is a prime example of this.
Someone Else is more than a generational hit; it is one of the songs which has navigated across generations. In fact, this song goes back to the 70s to connect with Gordon Henderson’s Tjwé Yo (Kill Them), a song which Cornell Phillip, the Bouyon beat creator, argues might very well be Dominica’s first bouyon creation. In that song, Gordon Henderson took us back to the 1940s with Tjwé Yo where he chronicled Dominica’s role in the WWII resistance movement.
The era changes nothing about music’s appeal. People will resonate to music which is relatable, and this will continue to be true in perpetuity. Immortal songs across cultures and generations share this unchanging element of relatability, but music comes through more powerfully when it connects with the people. The unchanging element in music is its appeal and the beat is a vehicle for transporting the element. This is the case with Someone Else.
Someone Else is a sad-happy song with the right musical balance. The story in the lyrics and the thought which drove the plot paved the way for this composition. The musical-lyrical interplay makes for interesting and imaginative listening. The combination of three different artists helps to lift the song.
The youthful energy and spirit which characterize the song makes it relatable to the younger music lovers, the storytelling connects it to wider and mixed audiences and the beat completes the tri-fetor impact of Someone Else. So, did Litle Boy, Quan and Trilla-G create something new with Someone Else? No. They simply returned to the essence of musical creations and pulled a trick out of the hat.
Has Someone Else changed Bouyon? No, but it has drawn attention to it in a more dramatic way than nasty business has over the past few years. This song confirms that music is a package. It is a package which sometimes comes with heavy beats or heavy lyrics. In the case of Someone Else, the creators were able to strike the happy medium. Litle Boy, Quan and Trilla-G hit the sweet spot, and they are reaping early rewards.
Music is the essence of life and Bouyon’s appeal is a continuation of the evolution of Creole music. Someone Else is the biggest Bouyon hit since Balance Batty, and Balance Batty has been holding steady since 2005. The gwopwèl or tamabka hit Bouyon, Someone Else, seems to have grabbed the attention of people in global musical space. The song is contagious in unique spaces and with diverse audiences.
Will it take another quarter century for another mega Creole hit song to emerge? Who knows, but Litle Boy, Quan and Trilla-G must seize the moment and let the current limelight count. The Creole music fraternity should rise to the moment and platform the new Bouyon jewel. Bouyon music, like Cadence-Lypso, Soca and the other Creole musical extracts, may have been birthed in Dominica, however they are now part of the global Creole music culture and experience.
References
Bruno, Alex. 2024. DCKHF V – Induction Ceremony Citation, Cornell Phillip. (Ed. Severin, F
Ph.D.) – UWI & DCKHF Archives.
Banton, Asa. Website. https://www.asabantanmusic.com/
