Kenedy: La nouvelle princesse of zouk

By Ardine IsmaSpecial to CSMS Magazine                                        If you haven’t been watching the latest zouk music videos on MTV France and MizikTv France or listening to 98.8 Espace Fm in Paris or RNJ Antilles radio in Martinique and Guadeloupe for the past six months, then chances are you never heard of the latest new zouk sensation. Thanks to the new trend of bringing Konpa into the zouk melodies, Kendy, especially with her new single Reviens moi, has managed to win the heart of many fans in the konpa/zouk world.                No one knows for sure her real name as Kenedy is son nom d’artiste. Based on what we know, Kenedy was born and raised from musical parents on the Creole/French island of Guadeloupe.  At the age of nine, she began singing professionally in a short-lived zouk group called Legend. Then around her teenage years to her early twenties, she sung back up for artists such as Jean-Michel Rotin and Sonia Dersion.            In late 2004, Kenedy scored a producing deal from SectionZouk records. The label only subjected Kenedy to sing songs for Zouk compilations and produce songs for other zouk artists such as Soumia and Tina. Failure to getting a solo album deal from Sectionzouk, Kenedy left the label and decided to pursue her dream of getting a solo artist deal from another label.            Finally, around the summer of 2006, Kenedy got the deal of her dreams when the president of Deejay Slam Productions presented her with a solo album deal.            In May of 2007, Kenedy released her debut album Mon Oasis.  Her first single Mon Oasis produced by Kenedy debuted on Youtube in July of 2007 with an estimated 41,000 hits and reached the number three spot on 98.8 Espace FM radio’s top ten weekly countdown for five weeks. Her second single Reviens Moi composed by both Charly Dicion and Kenedy herself premiered on YouTube in January of 2008 with more than 43,000 hits and reached the top of the RNJ Antilles radio top twenty-zouk countdown for seven weeks straight. Her third single Ce Mardi was leaked out on her Myspace page on May 20, 2008.The song has not yet officially premiered on YouTube, but it is predicted that it will not reach the number of hits that Reviens moi and Mon Oasis received because of how high demand the songs are and the danceable kompa rhythms in both singles.            According to her adoring fans and music critics, Kenedy is an artist with impressive choreography in her videos, top model looks, beautifully composed kompa/zouk songs such Reviens moi. Many zouk music lovers believe that Kenedy will be a consistent musical driving force in the zouk music industry for many years to come.Also see Milca: 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 Note: Ardine Isma is freshman at University of North Florida (UNF). She wrote this piece for CSMS Magazine.