Jocelyne Labylle

Jocelyne Labylle was born on January 7, 1973 in Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe. Influenced by the figure of her mother, a dancer with the group Karabina, she dreamed of a similar career and joined the music world and the Mélodie group at the age of 19. Together, they released their first album, Affaire de femme (1992), before Jocelyne Labylle's departure two years later. She joined Zouk Orchestra, where she became an increasingly important vocalist, and then participated in the production of three albums. She decided to launch a solo career and met Frédéric Caracas and Liso from the Sonodisc label. With the label, she produced her first hit, "Quand tu veux" (1997), an instant commercial success and the forerunner of her first album, On verra (1998), produced by Frédéric Caracas and Jacob Desvarieux. Consecrated with the trophy for best Caribbean album at the 1998 African Music Awards, and perceived as a "zouk icon" in the late 1990s, she frequented famous Guadeloupe artists such as Kassav' and Francky Vincent, who invited her to perform on stage. Arriving in Paris in 1999, Jocelyne Labylle recorded "J'ai déposé les clés " (2000), another immediate success. The singer presents the album Ma petite lumière (2000) and works alongside Magic System. She made a further impression on French-speaking audiences with a featuring with rapper Passi, "Laisse parler les gens" (2003), which attracted a sizeable following. In 2009, she reacted to the strong mobilizations in the French West Indies with the gwo-ka track "Grèv" , followed by an album in 2010, An ti fanm gwada, and singles with Dominique Lorté ("Comme avant... Tic tac" (2012), "Allo coco décroche" (2013) and "Femmes Fatales 6" (2014)). More discreet in the second half of the 2010s, Jocelyne Labylle nonetheless represents a major part of West Indian musical history, known internationally.