Born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, on April 2, 1970, Jean-Michel Rotin made a name for himself in the music world at the tender age of 18. When he formed the zouk group Energy alongside Florent Demetrius and Guy Datil, his Michael Jackson-like look and voice attracted attention. Two years later, in 1990, the group took part in the Grand Méchant Zouk concert organized by Kassav', then released their first album, Energy. Nine tracks and a hit, "Lé Ou Lov'", whose synth notes and Rotin's light voice set the scene for a style he would later become an ambassador for: R'n'B zouk. Lé Ou Lov'" was inspired by a track by R'n'B singer Karen Whyte, "Love Saw It", produced by Babyface. In 1992, Jean-Michel Rotin followed this up with a second album, Energy, produced by Jacob Desvarieux, and featuring other zouk highlights such as "Sof Vou" and "Adie An Nou". In 1994, the singer decided to go solo with his first album, Héros, featuring contributions from Jacob Desvarieux, Manu Dibango and Jean-Claude Naimro. Jean-Michel Rotin refined his approach to zouk love and developed it further, with Solo in 1996 and especially Nation in 2002, on which the influence of hip-hop can be felt. Moving to London, where he found a music industry more in line with his expectations, Jean-Michel Rotin reunited with his group Energy for a new album under the name New Jy in 2006, entitled Recommence. At a time when zouk's creativity is losing momentum, a compilation retracing the key stages of Jean-Michel Rotin's zouk R'n'B in 80 tracks, Une Histoire De Musique : Hystory Groov, is released in 2013. After the occasional release of tracks such as "Vicious " in 2018, Jean-Michel Rotin celebrates thirty years of a career that has left its mark on zouk history in 2019.
