In short. Warm up is bouyon played slower: 117 to 134 beats per minute (BPM) across the releases in this chapter, when classic bouyon runs at 152. The word comes out of Dominica's DJ sets in 2021, becomes a single title in 2022, then reaches Guadeloupe: Krys's "God Bless" in 2024, "In Di Corner" by 1T1 and Miimii KDS in 2026, two videos with millions of views.
On 5 February 2021, DJ Taffy posts five minutes of bouyon as a free download, under a three-word title: Jouvert warm up. J'ouvert is the opening of carnival, which starts before dawn. A warm up is what a DJ plays to heat up the crowd before everything takes off.
Five years later, the word shows up in release titles from Dominica to Guadeloupe, and a national French rap outlet explains it to its readers. This chapter gives you the dates, the tracks and the numbers: enough to recognise a warm up by ear, know who made it travel, and where to start.
The same bouyon, one notch lower
The simplest marker is tempo, counted in beats per minute. Classic Dominican bouyon runs around 152 BPM. Hardcore bouyon from Guadeloupe climbs to 160. Warm up drops to between 117 and 134 across the releases in this chapter.
Brought down to the second, the gap is something you feel in your body. At 152 BPM, the foot hits two and a half times per second. At 120, it hits twice. That extra half-beat leaves room to place a step, roll the hips, sing the hook with the crowd instead of chasing it.
It is not another genre. The instruments, the Creole and the producers stay the same as bouyon. DJ Taffy, who makes fast riddims for the Dominican scene, like the Funny Riddim, also produces the first warm ups. What changes is where the track sits in the night.
In a set, the warm up opens. It welcomes people as they arrive, sets the mood, then comes back between two peaks to let the floor breathe before the next push. That is where the name comes from: in DJ vocabulary, the warm up is the part of the set that heats the floor before the big moment.
The word also has a second meaning, with two producers from Dominica: the stretch that heats up before carnival. DJ Taffy's Jouvert warm up, in February 2021, is made for J'ouvert. In 2026, Smokiller names his series of songs Warm Up Season Vol. 1, with DJ Cut on the decks, and files fast riddims made for carnival under that name. There, warm up names a time of year, not a tempo. Both meanings live side by side; this chapter mostly follows the first, the slower tracks.
Warm up takes nothing away from bouyon. It gives it a front door.
2019-2021: the word is born in the sets
The oldest online trace dates from 14 September 2019. A recording of Triple Kay, the band from Laudat, comes out that day on Audiomack under the title Warm Up (Live 2019). The word is spoken on stage, by a band that has played bouyon since the late 1990s.
On 5 February 2021 comes Jouvert warm up [Bouyon 2021] by DJ Taffy, a 5-minute-13 production. The video now has 66,729 views. The title says what it is for: a bouyon made to open carnival, at the hour the sun comes up.
The same year, the word travels. On 21 July, StratVincyBwoy posts a mix of Dennery Segment, soca, kuduro and bouyon presented as a warm up. On 27 September, producer NYZER releases Intensive Warm-Up Bouyon Riddim, an instrumental ready for vocals. On 15 November, 1T1, a beatmaker from Les Abymes, posts 1T1-bouyon warm up akiyo on SoundCloud. On 30 December, DJ Kay'J slows down Emiliana, a track by Nigerian singer CKay, and calls it Emiliana (Warm Up Bouyon).
Six traces in two years: a band live, a Dominican producer, a mix DJ, an instrumental maker, a Guadeloupean beatmaker, a DJ who reworks other people's tracks. Nobody claims the invention. The word moves from set to set before it becomes a label.
2022: KEKS MAFIA puts the word in a title
On 15 December 2022, KEKS MAFIA releases a single called Bouyon Warm Up, on the VGM PRODUCT label. It is the first release found on the platforms with the word in its title. Produced by DJ Taffy, mixed by Dj-Micky, tempo 125 BPM.
KEKS MAFIA sings with Dominica's accent, and it is a choice. In March 2017, talking to 365 Music, KEKS MAFIA already sets the course: "I want to put Dominica on the map with the accent". The models named: Asa Bantan and Triple Kay, two names who sing with the island's accent.
At 125 BPM, Bouyon Warm Up runs 27 beats below classic bouyon: slow enough for the voice to breathe, fast enough to keep the carnival percussion.
2024: Guadeloupe takes it up
On 16 February 2024, TIITII NBA releases KPT with DJ Softee. The full title carries the label: KPT (feat. DJ Softee) [BOUYON WARM UP 2025]. For TIITII NBA, a fast-flow rapper, these tempos are a puzzle at first: too slow, too much space between beats. After BAD MOOD, produced by 1T1, KPT is the track where he finds how to place his voice at that speed. Pli o follows, then DJ Softee's warm ups in 2025.
Four months later, warm up changes scale. On 25 June 2024, Krys announces on Instagram that God Bless (Ah la vie qu'on mène) comes out the following Friday, with two hashtags at the end of the post: bouyon and warmup. The single comes out on 28 June. Krys, a Guadeloupean singer, celebrates 20 years of career that year. Composed by YSN, who features on the track, tempo 117 BPM: the slowest in this chapter.
The video comes out on 8 August, directed by Zandolywood, with choreography by Madness Krew. Within a month it passes a million views on YouTube. On 1 September, Guadeloupe La 1ère calls it the song of the summer holidays, covered even by Aya Nakamura. Krys sums up its birth in one line: "God bless was born in joy". The tour follows: France, then Réunion on 13 September and Mayotte on the 14th.
Today, the God Bless video has 7.29 million views.
2025-2026: everyone has their version
On 7 July 2025, Khallion, from Dominica, opens the album 777 Di Bouyon Rockstar with a track called Warm Up (Friends Like You). Twelve tracks, on his label KhallioNation Records.
On 1 September 2025, DJ Softee releases Chodong Route Empire C.R.E. Three tracks carry the BOUYON WARM UP 2026 label, all with TIITII NBA: Ambiance Latino, More Wata at 120 BPM, and Supalova at 130 BPM, also with DJ Dirtee.
On 28 November 2025, Martinican rapper Meryl releases a second album, La Dame, on the Maison Caviar label. On it: Castries, with Miimii KDS, at 130 BPM. In March 2026, Booska-P cites the track as an example of "bouyon warm up", which it describes as "a slower style".
On 30 January 2026, 1T1 releases In Di Corner with Miimii KDS. 1T1 produces, both write, the tempo holds at 119 BPM. The video, directed by Visiona Brother, comes out the same day. Two days later, DJ MIXYS posts a version for sets, labelled BOUYON WARM UP. Eight months after release, the video passes 11 million views. On 30 May 2026, Miimii KDS opens for Aya Nakamura at the Stade de France.
On 6 February 2026, TIITII NBA releases Lésé Nou Pasé with Ma6mo and Diixly, produced by Diixly. At 134 BPM, it is the fastest warm up in this chapter.
The next season has already started. On 20 September 2026, Smokiller, a producer from Dominica, posts a bouyon warm up on TikTok built on "Nothing Into Something", a single by American rapper Coi Leray: 657,900 views three weeks later. On 2 October, in Saint Martin, BRG Hollywood and C4 release Cashin Out Warmup, seven minutes thirteen of bouyon on the platforms.
Where to start
The simplest way to feel what a warm up is: play these six tracks in order, from slowest to fastest. The tempo climbs one notch each time, without ever leaving bouyon.
Then follow with a classic bouyon at 152 BPM: the difference jumps out. For the earlier story, go back to Triple Kay's 2019 live recording and DJ Taffy's Jouvert warm up.
Warm up does not replace fast bouyon. DJs play both in the same night: one to open, the other to build. And when a 117 BPM track travels all the way to Réunion and Mayotte, another question opens: how far does bouyon travel beyond the islands?
FAQ: common questions about Warm Up
What exactly is bouyon warm up? Bouyon played slower, between 117 and 134 BPM across the releases in this chapter, against 152 for classic bouyon and 160 for hardcore Gwada. DJs play it to open a night or let the floor breathe between two peaks.
Who invented warm up? Nobody claims it. The word appears in a Triple Kay live recording in 2019, in a DJ Taffy production in February 2021 (Jouvert warm up), then with StratVincyBwoy, NYZER, 1T1 and Kay'J the same year.
What is the first official release titled "Bouyon Warm Up"? The single Bouyon Warm Up by KEKS MAFIA, released on 15 December 2022 on the VGM PRODUCT label: 125 BPM, produced by DJ Taffy, mixed by Dj-Micky.
Which warm ups have the most views? The video for In Di Corner by 1T1 and Miimii KDS (30 January 2026) has 11 million views, the one for Krys feat YSN's God Bless (8 August 2024) 7.29 million. Figures taken from YouTube on 12 October 2026.
Does warm up always mean slower? No. For DJ Taffy ("Jouvert warm up", 2021) and Smokiller ("Warm Up Season Vol. 1", 2026), two producers from Dominica, the word also names the stretch that heats up before carnival, with fast riddims. The "slower bouyon" meaning is the one used by most releases cited here, from KEKS MAFIA's "Bouyon Warm Up" to "In Di Corner".
Is warm up a separate genre? No. Same instruments, same Creole, same producers as bouyon. The word describes a tempo and a place in the night.
Is warm up only from Guadeloupe? No. The first traces come from Dominica (Triple Kay, DJ Taffy, KEKS MAFIA), and Khallion still opens his 2025 album there with a warm up. Guadeloupe follows with 1T1, TIITII NBA, DJ Softee, Krys and Miimii KDS, Martinican rapper Meryl releases one with Castries, and Saint Martin joins in October 2026 with Cashin Out Warmup by BRG Hollywood and C4.
Where to start? With these six tracks, from slowest to fastest: God Bless (Krys, 117 BPM), In Di Corner (1T1 and Miimii KDS, 119), More Wata (DJ Softee and TIITII NBA, 120), Bouyon Warm Up (KEKS MAFIA, 125), Castries (Meryl and Miimii KDS, 130), Lésé Nou Pasé (TIITII NBA, 134).
