In Guadeloupe during the colonial slave system, the masters entertained themselves with the music and dances that they had brought from Europe, which their African slaves then fashioned in their manner. This is how the European polka, quadrille and contredanse came to wed African percussion and syncopated rhythms, bringing about the Creole quadrille. The art of declaiming and the sing-talk staccato mode similar to rap music probably account for its present-day popularity. The talented accordionist Reynoir Casimir, aka Négoce, along with his band, Signatu (percussion and guitar), is an essential figure of the Guadeloupean 'balakadri'.