Medhy Custos

Born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, zouk and Afro-pop singer Medhy Custos entered a working-class household. At six he first encountered the MJC de Pointe-à-Pitre, where workshops in song, dance, and comedy ignited his passion for performance and filled much of his early years, an interest further encouraged when his mother presented him with a piano on his fourteenth birthday. During adolescence he absorbed the hip-hop and rap currents that shaped his generation. Local cafés hosted his initial stage appearances in 1989, and two years later he assembled the zouk- and hip-hop-inflected ensemble Kwebee, whose lineup included songwriter Jimmy Devarieux; the group drew on an array of popular French repertoire and soon attracted listeners across the West Indies beyond Guadeloupe’s shores. That grassroots momentum opened doors to partnerships with veteran figures such as Jean-Claude François (aka Dicktam), Christian Yéyé, and Willy Blombou. As Custos gained recognition for his behind-the-scenes contributions to zouk and Afro-pop, further guest spots and joint projects materialized, among them a national hit duet with vocalist Jane Fostin on “Pas de Glace.” His first solo outing, Serial Lover, ranked among the top-selling zouk albums of 2004 after moving more than 20,000 copies, while the self-titled follow-up introduced European listeners to his work in 2007, placing tracks such as “Elles Demandent” on Billboard’s European Hot 100.