Colonel Reyel - Guadeloupe's Ragga Zouk flavor in Paris

From the islands, to the street cyphers, to the mainstream, Colonel Reyel is set to bring his dancehall sound to the masses.

Colonel Reyel is a native of the Caribbean island, Guadeloupe. But being that Guadeloupe is also one of the 27 regions of France, Colonel Reyel grew up in Paris. He began his music career with a passion for rap, and in the early 2000s, he was a vocalist with a group of emcees and DJs known as the Septentorial Crew.

In 2004, the singer's passion for rap was re-routed to include reggae-dancehall after a stay in the Caribbean. Once he was back in France, Reyel Colonel peppered his flows with a lively dancehall riddim, and quickly became known to the general public through videos of his freestyles of ragga infused rap. These videos are raw - straight street cypher energy - and the Colonel is a BEAST - check it out!

Two years later, Colonel Reyel released an album entitled Boomaz Mixtape Vol 1 with the popluar song The Employment Crisis. Following that, the Septentorial Crew released a compilation entitled Sound Storm in 2010. This album contains nearly 28 tracks mixing hip hop and dancehall, with four songs from Colonel Reyel: We Must Fight, Chanjé a Tan, Lyrikal Tsunami and Text Message.

Colonel Reyel became the breakout star from the Septemorial Crew, and during the same year, he prepared a solo project - a new album called 100% Ragga Zouk. The album was released under the label Step Out, and was supported by Krys, a famous reggae-dancehall artist originally from Guadeloupe, also known by his real name, Pedro Pirbakas.

Now Colonel Reyel is breaking more into the mainstream with some high-quality glossy tunes and this sharp new video shot back in the Caribbean. While most dancehall-reggae artists have been associated with Jamaica, Colonel Reyel is defintiely doing his party to put Guadeloupe on the map! Check out the island flavor...