Zouk music or Zouk béton is a fast tempo style of rhythmic music originating from the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, popularized by the group Kassav in the 80s. The main source of zouk music is cadence/kadans which dominated the Antilles music scene during the early 1960s. Zouk music has African, European, and Caribbean musical roots. The word "zouk" means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the mazurka(mazouk), that was introduced to the French Caribbean in the 19th Century.

Elements of gwo ka, tambour, ti bwa and biguine vidé are prominent in zouk. The French Creole tongue of Martinique and Guadeloupe is an important element, and are a distinctive part of the music. In Africa, it is popular in francophone and lusophone countries. In Europe, it is particularly popular in France and in North America in the Canadian province of Quebec.

The band Kassav (formed in 1979 by Pierre-Edouard Décimus), who came from Guadeloupe and Martinique, gave zouk a pan-Caribbean sound by taking elements from compas, reggae, and salsa music, and became one of the most famous bands of the genre in the world. Décimus and Freddy Marshall decided to take carnival music and make it a more modern and polished style. Their first album, Love and Ka Dance (1980), established the sound of zouk. They continued to grow more popular, finally peaking in 1984 with Yélélé, which featured the international hit "Zouk-la-sé Sel Médikaman Nou Ni" (zouk is the medicine unique). With this hit, zouk rapidly became the most widespread dance craze to hit Latin American in some time. With Kassav's popularity, Zouk became the most widespread dance to hit the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Zouk became known for wildly theatrical concerts featuring special effects spectacles, colorful costumes and outrageous antics.

Zouk music has thrilled and inspired millions of fans from around the world. The global influence of the genre like reggae remarkable considering its roots, music coming from small islands with small populations. The islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique together cover barely 1,000 square miles, and each is inhabited by just 400,000 residents. Zouk music is steeped in the complex history of the islands, one of unsurpassed beauty, colonization, political turmoil, and the abundant fusion of bits and pieces of African, European, and Caribbean cultures. Naturally, zouk itself is the product of a combination of musical influences.

The influence of zouk or compas music has been felt in Brazilian lambada and other Caribbean styles like, bouyon, soca and combined rhythm, as well as African styles such as soukous, zouglou, coupe-decale, and gumbe. Today you can often hear it mixed with Jamaican dancehall as well as popular music from India.

Notable French Antillean zouk or compas artists and DJs

Kassav

Zouk Machine

Grammacks

Exile One

Edith Lefel

Francky Vincent

Gilles Floro

Jocelyne Béroard

Jocelyne Labylle

Joëlle Ursull

Patrick Saint-Éloi

Jade

Kaysha

Laureen

Les Déesses

Maléna

Michael

Princess Lover

Soumia

Suzanna Lubrano

Tess

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