Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

is located east of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and is a province (''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'') of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Réunion is home to

maloya Maloya is one of the two major music genres of Réunion, usually sung in Réunion Creole, and traditionally accompanied by percussion and a musical bow. Maloya is a new form that has origins in the music of African and Malagasy slaves and Indian ...

and

sega music Sega (french: Séga) is one of the major music genres of Mauritius and Réunion. The other genres common in Mauritius are its fusion genre Seggae and Bhojpuri songs while in Réunion there is also seggae and maloya. It has origins in the m ...

Genres

Sega

Séga is a popular style that mixes African and European music.

Maloya

Maloya has a strong African element reflected in the use of slave chants and

work song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. Definitions and ...

Non-traditional music

In Réunion there is a very strong

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

community and rock culture is also becoming strong on the island.

Rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

Zouk Zouk is a musical movement pioneered by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120–145 bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm and a loud horn section. The fast zouk béton of Martini ...

Ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Smi ...

and Dancehall are also popular. One popular ragga song recently is Ragga

Chikungunya Chikungunya is an infection caused by the ''Chikungunya virus'' (CHIKV). Symptoms include fever and joint pains. These typically occur two to twelve days after exposure. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and a ra ...

about the 2005 mosquito disease outbreak.

Popular musicians

The most popular sega musicians include Baster, Ousanousava, and

Ziskakan Ziskakan is a maloya Maloya is one of the two major music genres of Réunion, usually sung in Réunion Creole, and traditionally accompanied by percussion and a musical bow. Maloya is a new form that has origins in the music of African and Malag ...

. The most popular maloya musicians are Danyel Waro. Meddy Gerville and Firmin Viry. Other popular singers include Maxime Laope, Léon Céleste, Henri Madoré and Mapou, named after a kind of perfumed

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...

. Musicians from nearby Mauritius are also popular.

Popular songs

Ti Fleur Fanée

The unofficial national anthem of Réunion is a song originally sung by Georges Fourcade called Ti Fleur Fanée

Madina

The song "Madina" was chosen as the theme song by the

Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française L'Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF; ) was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1975, with providing public radio and television in France. All programming, and especially news broadcasts, were under strict control ...

in the 1950s and 1960s. The song was written by Maxime Laope, one of the island's most popular singers, and performed by another renowned singer, Henri Madoré.

Genres

Sega

Maloya

Non-traditional music

Popular musicians

Popular songs

Ti Fleur Fanée

Madina

Festivals

See also

References

External links