Zouk music began in the West Indies in the early 1980s. The band Kassav is widely credited with creating the first popular zouk songs. The group was formed in Paris and combined traditional Caribbean rhythms like gwo ka beats from Guadalupe, Haitian compas and Trinidadian calypso with synthesizers and drum machines.
Zouk's roots
Zouk dance and music — born in the French Caribbean, adopted in Brazil and spread throughout Latin America and Europe — is now taking root in …