◆ Special · Guide · Warm up
Written by TIITII NBA, artist of the New Bouyon Wave collective.
Sources: every figure links to a verifiable platform page (Shazam, Apple Music, Audiomack — full list at the end).
Position 0 — Warm up is bouyon running slower: around 120 to 134 BPM, while classic sits at 152 and hardcore at 160. The name comes from what it does — it sets the room before the fast tracks, and lets it breathe between peaks. Nobody invented it: the word circulated from 2019 before becoming a release tag.
You see "warm up" on a bouyon release and wonder whether it is another genre. It is not. It is bouyon, at a lower tempo, with a precise role in a night. This guide gives you the tempo, the function, and where to start.
A tempo, not a separate genre
The simplest marker is speed. Classic bouyon runs around 152 BPM, Gwada hardcore climbs to 160. Warm up drops between 120 and 134.
Two examples you can check yourself on the platform pages: "Lésé Nou Pasé" by TIITII NBA runs at 134 BPM, the upper edge, and KEKS MAFIA's "Bouyon Warm Up" at 125, the lower one. Everything in between is the zone.
It is not a separate genre. Same music, same producers, same Creole — played lower. What changes is what you can do with it.
What it does in a party
The name states the function: warming up. A set that opens at 160 BPM has nowhere left to climb. Warm up opens, settles the room, lets people arrive. Then it comes back between two peaks to let everyone breathe before the next push.
That is why the format took hold among DJs before becoming a release tag. A track marked "warm up" tells you where in the night it belongs. That is practical information, not a musical category.
By ear, you recognise it like this: the grain stays bouyon, the percussion hits the same, but there is room to place a step between two beats. The voices breathe too — the flow adapts to the tempo instead of fighting it.
Nobody created it
This is the part most people miss. Warm up has no inventor and no birth date.
The oldest trace is a Triple Kay live set in 2019, in Dominica. The word then moves through StratVincyBwoy, NYZER, 1T1 and Kay'J in mixes and riddims, before a release carries it in its title. That first catalogue marker lands on December 15, 2022 with "Bouyon Warm Up" by KEKS MAFIA, produced by DJ Taffy.
In February 2024, "KPT" makes the tag readable on the Guadeloupe side, and it has been recurring on releases ever since — "More Wata", "Supalova", "Lésé Nou Pasé".
A word that circulates for three years before becoming a tag is not an invention. It is a habit settling in.
Where to start
The easiest way in is through TIITII NBA's tracks, which cover the whole zone. "KPT" feat DJ Softee in February 2024, then "More Wata" and "Supalova" with DJ Softee in 2026, then "Lésé Nou Pasé" with Ma6mo and Diixly, the fastest of them. Four tracks and you have the full range of the format.
His artist profile has the whole catalogue, and his current release is the shortest path to where he stands today.
For the full story — who did what, when, and what it changed for the scene — Chapter VIII covers the seven years in detail. And if you just want to listen, the playlist mixes both tempos.
The official Bouyon New Waves playlist gathers the current releases:
FAQ — warm up
What is warm up in bouyon? A zone of bouyon that runs slower: around 120 to 134 BPM, while classic bouyon sits at 152 and hardcore at 160. The name comes from what it does in a party — it sets the room before the fast tracks, or lets the set breathe between peaks.
What BPM is a warm up? Between roughly 120 and 134 BPM. Two checkable markers: "Lésé Nou Pasé" by TIITII NBA is at 134 BPM, KEKS MAFIA's "Bouyon Warm Up" at 125.
Does warm up replace fast bouyon? No. It is one more piece in the night. Fast bouyon keeps the peaks; warm up opens, resets and lets the room breathe between them.
Who created warm up? Nobody in particular. The word circulates from 2019 in live sets with Triple Kay, then through StratVincyBwoy, NYZER, 1T1 and Kay'J, before becoming a release tag in December 2022 with KEKS MAFIA. It is a circulation, not a dated invention.
Are warm up and bouyon two different genres? No, it is the same genre. Same producers, same Creole, same grain — played slower. The word describes a tempo and a place in the night, not a separate musical family.
