Shatta music, a new space for French West Indian feminism

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of Martinican Shatta music as a space for feminism in the French Caribbean. Born in 2015 and derived from the appropriation of Jamaican dancehall riddims, Shatta music has become a field of expression for Black French Caribbean youth.Characterized by a male-dominated space in its beginning, Shatta lyrics were prominently sexual and often objectifying women. Today, young women have appropriated the movement to voice their female experience. They sing about empowerment, confidence “‘m’en fous de c’ que tu penses je suis blindée de talent”’/ in English: “I don’t care what you think I’m full of talent” (Kryssy, Shannon, Queens, 2021);, ambition “‘La vie nou G , la vie nou belle , la vie nous rose, Biensur nou ka travail red , pou nou pé sa rouler en boss”’ /in English, our life is pretty, of course we work hard to be able to drive nice cars’.” (Kryssy, Shannon, 2021); or positioning the woman as a subject and not an object (“La chou veut pas de toi, range ton slip” / in English: “(the girl does not want you, hide your underwear”). In analyzing the lyrics, videos, and performances of these female artists, this research aims to analyze how they deconstruct the codes of the patriarchal system. It is true that French West Indian (F.W.I.) women are particularly impacted as they are at the heart of an intersectional position. First, they are located on islands that experience instances of subordination because of the ambivalent relation with France. Besides, they are battling stereotypes in which they are seen as too sexually deviant or too matriarchal. Because of all these elements, Shatta music has become a field of feminist expression in the French Caribbean.