By Christine Jean-Pierre

CSMS Magazine Staff WriterIf you have been watching the latest Zouk and Konpa videos in channels such as TraceTv, MizikTv in Guadloupe, or MtvFrance in Europe then most likely you have seen the videos from zouk music rising star, Elody Marquant. She is the new rising star that has already triggered an unexpected frenzy among Konpa/Zouk fans worldwide. Although she appears like a storm striking without notice, Elody is very much rooted in the stamp of a family marked by a long-held musical tradition.Born in Clermont-Ferrand, France, to a Spaniard father and a French mother, at the age of seven, Elody fell in love with music when she went to a performing arts school in Clermont-Ferrand where she studied the flute, the cello, and performed in the school choir. So growing up, Elody was fortunate enough to be nurtured in a household of music savvy, where her mother was an opera singer and her father was a violinist who performed in orchestras all over the world.            In the summer of 2001, Elody was featured in a classical music album arranged by her father. In the album she only sung the vocals while her father and the other classical musicians would provide the music. The album reached to the top of world classical music chart and received many classical music awards in Europe.            Around the fall of 2004, famous Zouk singer and producer Ronald Rubinel discovered Elody when she performed a perfect rendition of Jalouse by Orlane at her school’s annual talent show. Elody recorded her first song Tu trouves at Studio Latitude in Martinique for the Zouk compilation record Zouk en Français vol 3.  The song was beautiful but because of low promotion, it did not make any headway, which prompted Elody to leave Rubinel to find another better deal.            In the beginning of 2005, she began working at a local Caribbean radio station in Puy de Dome, France. In the station she would host a segment called Tropik Station where she played the latest Zouk and Konpa music every afternoon and interviewed Zouk and Konpa artists whenever they were in town for a concert.            Finally in late 2005, Elody interviewed famed Zouk singer and producer Patrick Andrey, and during the interview she sung to him the song Tu trouves and within an instant she was offered to sing the song A Demi Mot for Andrey’s solo album Intimate. The song was a huge success that reached the number four spot in French R&B chart and number two in the RNJ Antilles radio top 15 list in November of 2005.            In early 2006, Elody would receive the deal of her lifetime when she was signed on to section Zouk records as a recording artist. Patrick Andrey and Jim Rama from the famous Zouk group Face à Face produced her first album Etat D’ame. The album was released in April of 2007. The first single was the smash hit Tu’n pas su that reached to the number 3 spot in EspaceFm top twenty countdown in Paris. The second single was the soft Zouk ballad Je suis seule, which was released a year after the album due to scheduling conflicts with the record company, and Elody’s constant promotion for the first single. Despite all of the difficulties the single managed to be a modern-day Zouk hit reaching the sixth spot in the RNJ Antilles top 15 hit list in July of 2008.            According to her fans and Zouk music critics, Elody is an impressive artist with a voice of angel, a face of a top model, an impressive wardrobe with an impeccable talent for making beautiful song such as Tu’n pas su. Most Zouk Love fans all over the world agree that Elody Marquant will be a great Zouk driving force for years to come.Comment this article or send to a friendAlso see Harmonik’s Jere’m: album review Jude Jean: the forgotten prince of the nouvelle generation Kenedy: La nouvelle princesse of zoukMilca: New Haitian diva crowned in Paris while Konpa is breaking new groundsDwindling record sales forces Zouk producers to call Konpa to the rescueZouk music producers have turned into Kompa to boost record sales