In modern Dominica, calypso, zouk and reggae are popular, along with imported soca and rock and roll, and the indigenous jing ping sound. A combination of these pop forms called bouyon has achieved some popularity, especially the group WCK (Windward Caribbean Kulture). Native musicians in various forms, like reggae (Nasio Fontaine, Brother Matthew Luke), soca (Derick St. Rose-De Hunter, Young Bull), zouk (Ophelia Marie, Exile One) and calypso (Lazo, The Wizzard) have also become stars at home and abroad.
The first internationally known bands from Dominica were 1970s groups like Exile One and Grammacks. These bands were the stars of the cadence-lypso scene, which was the first style of Dominican music to become popular across the Caribbean. By the 1980s, however, Martinican zouk and other styles were more popular. In 1988, WCK formed, playing an experimental fusion of cadence-lypso with the island's jing ping sound. The result became known as bouyon, and has re-established Dominica in the field of popular music.
The World Creole Music Festival takes place on the island of Dominica.
Popular music is widespread, with a number of native Dominican performers gaining national fame in imported genres like calypso, reggae, soca, zouk and rock and roll.
Music is evaluated based on both characteristics of the music, such as complex syncopated rhythms, as well as social factors, such as the ability of the performers to improvise and respond to their surroundings and to keep the audience excited and participating in the music.
Their music was a dance-oriented version of many kinds of Caribbean and Latin popular music, such as Cuban bolero, Brazilian samba, the merengue of the Dominican Republic and Trinidadian calypso and funk.
Folk music on Dominica has historically been a part of everyday life, including work songs, religious music and secular, recreational music [1].
The most important instrument in Dominican music is the drum, which was as a method of communication in the slave era, and was used to coordinate revolts until it was banned by colonial authorities.
The World Creole Music Festival takes place on the island of Dominica, in Festival City, Roseau, which is run by the governmental Dominica Festivals Commission [1].
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