If you’ve been outside at all this summer, I’m sure you’d agree, summer 2025 is officially the summer of bouyon. Everywhere you turn, someone’s holding up a phone with a “PLAY BOUYON” message on the screen. Tracks like “Someone Else” by Quan, and “Bouwey” by 1T1 and Théomaa have taken over the dance—and as a soca lover, I’m definitely not mad at it. Even Barbados’ own Jordan English has jumped on the wave, teaming up with Dominica’s Fresh Prince of Bouyon, Reo, for a new track called “I Do Not Know” which blends his iconic Bajan style with Bouyon beats. 

With bouyon running rampant at every Caribbean party in Toronto, I know I’m not the only one who’s been asking: WTF is bouyon, actually? Like, where did it come from? Why is it everywhere all of a sudden? And how did it go from niche to nonstop in what feels like five minutes? 

Today, we will try our best to answer that burning question. 

Bouyon is a genre that originated in Dominica, blending various Caribbean styles like Trinidadian soca, St. Lucian kuduro, and zouk. It’s defined by its fast-paced riddims and heavy bass lines, and while it’s long been a staple on its home island, bouyon is now gaining serious momentum across the Caribbean and within Caribbean diasporic communities in North America. The genre’s roots are deeply tied to Dominica’s own musical traditions, including jing ping, cadence-lypso, and traditional dances like bèlè, quadrille, and chanté mas.

In digging deeper, I learned that a band called Windward Caribbean Kulture (WCK) played a major role in shaping bouyon’s modern sound. By introducing electronic instruments and synthesizers into traditional riddims, they helped the genre break away from the acoustic-based calypso and soca styles that dominated before the 1980s. That innovation laid the foundation for the upbeat, addictive energy bouyon is known for today. Over time, sub-genres have emerged—like bouyon-Muffin, which surfaced in the mid-1990s, heavily influenced by the massive reggae and dancehall wave of that era. And of course, there’s bouyon soca, a fusion of bouyon and soca music that gives us the high-energy tracks we now hear dominating Carnivals across the region. 

St. Lucian artists and producers have been experimenting with bouyon-esque sounds for decades, blending them with local genres like dennery segment and kuduro. Songs like Mighty’s “Kedek Kedek” and Freezy’s “Split in De Middle” (and yes, even in 2025, I know people’s knees are still recovering from that one) have been staples at Caribbean parties for years.

Bouyon has always been a unique and distinguishable genre in its own right, with a rich history and sound that sets it apart. Artists like Reo and Triple Kay International continue to carry the torch, dropping tracks that are impossible not to move to. People might be surprised to learn that iconic songs like “Famalay” and “Conch Shell” by regional heavy hitters, Skinny Fabulous, Bunji Garlin, and Machel Montano, can actually be considered bouyon-soca, thanks to their use of bouyon riddims. This is truly a testament to just how influential Dominica has been, and continues to be, within the wider soca music landscape.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bouyon, but hopefully we now collectively have a better understanding of WTF bouyon really is and where it comes from. Everyone say Thank You Dominica!