Zouk is a

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

located in the Clarke Quay district. Opened in 1991, the brand has since expanded to various cities around

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. One of the country's most prominent nightclubs, it has won the Singapore Tourism Board's "Best Nightspot Experience" award 6 times, between 1996 and 2007. Zouk was ranked number 10 on DJ Magazine's list of Top 100 clubs in the world in 2006, 2007 and 2010. In 2017, Zouk Singapore earned its highest ranking yet at number 3, the top entry for clubs across Asia. In 2021, Zouk Singapore was ranked number 11 while Zouk KL was ranked 33 on the

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...

Top 100 Clubs list in the world. In September 2015, one of its founders, Lincoln Cheng, sold the rights of the Zouk brand to Genting Hong Kong, an affiliate of Genting Singapore. The brand and its business was valued at S$40 million by the financial audit firm

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

in 2013. On 1 September 2020, Genting Hong Kong sold Zouk for S$14 million to Tulipa, a firm owned by Lim Keong Hui, the former deputy CEO of Genting Hong Kong and the son of Genting Hong Kong CEO and chairman of Genting Group Lim Kok Thay.

Etymology

The club is named after the

Antillean Creole Antillean French Creole (also known as Lesser Antillean Creole, Kreyol, or Patois) is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language that is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles caribbean. Its grammar and vocabulary include ele ...

word for 'party'.

History

Zouk was designed based on Cheng's travels around

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

and other Mediterranean coastal countries. The club, located at Jiak Kim Street, was housed in three restored warehouses, which were built in 1919, when Cheng acquired it. Three interconnected clubs were housed within the warehouses. * Zouk (1991), with a large dance floor, sound and lighting, catering to a variety of artists. * Velvet Underground (1994), a quieter, more relaxed lounge that plays

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. * Phuture (1996), a more

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

bar specializing in broken beats and hip hop/R&B. In December 2016, Zouk moved to its new premises at Clarke Quay. Housed in a revamped warehouse, the new space retained its multi-room concept with three club outlets and two bars: * Zouk, the largest club in the complex with a capacity of over 3,500, has a main room that regularly hosts international guest DJs, ‘live’ performances, and other events. * Phuture, an underground-esque club outlet for

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

and R&B lovers. * Capital, a dual lounge and club space aimed at older audiences with open format music nights. * RedTail Bar. * Queens, a hip-hop inspired cocktail bar inspired by the New York borough. ''(No longer operational after COVID-19; used as a storage/staff area currently.)'' In 2021 (month unknown), amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Zouk further expanded its premises by taking over its neighboring bar, Get Juiced, in the same Clarke Quay entertainment complex. This additional space housed a restaurant and another bar. * Here Kitty Kitty SG, which borrows its concept from its sister outlet in Zouk Las Vegas, positions itself as a "vice den" inspired by Shinjuku in the 1950s. Featuring Japanese-fusion bites and speakeasy cocktails, it is generally a more luxurious but more expensive place than the other sister bars by Zouk in the area. * Sushi Ichizuke, a high-end omakase restaurant with only 16 seats, featuring "instagram-worthy dishes" at a high price tag of S$450++ per person.

Other locations

Malaysia

Zouk Kuala Lumpur

In 2004, Cheng opened the second outlet of Zouk in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, together with Cher Ng, a former Zouk Singapore resident DJ. Zouk KL underwent a major revamp in 2008, and ultimately moved to newer and bigger premises in 2015 in the TREC entertainment and lifestyle precinct located in Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ng is also one of the partners of TREC. Since November 2022, it has been rebranded as Spark Club KL.

Zouk Genting

After Cheng sold Zouk to Genting Hong Kong in 2015, the new owners opened a third outlet of Zouk in Genting Highlands, Malaysia in 2019. This entertainment complex, housed within the Genting Casino and Integrated Resort, featured Zouk Group's first proper restaurant, FUHU Genting, a new club concept named Empire and RedTail Genting, a spin-off of the RedTail concept in Singapore. It also opened AYU Awana (date unknown), a restaurant within Resorts World Awana, a smaller, sister resort of Resorts World Genting just one cable car ride away.

United States

Zouk Las Vegas

In 2022, Zouk opened a fourth outlet in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Nevada, USA at Resorts World LV. The concepts present in this new outlet mirror the concepts in other existing outlets. * Zouk Nightclub, the main venue for many famous DJs. As of January 2025, Tiesto,

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...

, DJ Snake,

Kaskade Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, music producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade as "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Magazine, DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-fi ...

G-Eazy Gerald Earl Gillum (born May 24, 1989), better known by his stage name G-Eazy, is an American rapper. Based in Oakland, California, he began his career in 2006 and released two independent studio albums before signing with RCA Records to releas ...

, and

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

have all been named as resident DJs of this club. These nightclubs ran and operate by Jared Garcia, who was named director of artist relations for Zouk Group. Ronn Nicolli, CMO, Resorts World and vice president of nightlife marketing, Zouk Group Andrew Pacheco, executive director of customer development, Zouk Group Michael Waltman, executive director of operations, Zouk Group * Ayu Dayclub and Nightclub, borrowing its concept from its sister outlet in Genting. * RedTail Bar, similar to its sister outlets in Singapore and Genting. * FUHU Vibe Dining, similar to its sister outlet in Genting. * Here Kitty Kitty LV, similar to its sister outlet in Singapore, although the Las Vegas outlet opened first. In addition, it has a relatively large food hall named Famous Foods Street Eats, featuring 16 different dining concepts, in particular Singaporean and Japanese concepts.

Zouk Los Angeles

The group will be opening its sixth outlet along the La Cinega Boulevard in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The 16,500 sq ft venue will be jointly operated with SBE Entertainment Group and will then occupy the Nightingale nightclub. Zouk Los Angeles is slated to open in 2024.

Japan

Zouk Tokyo

In 2023, Zouk has announced its expansion to open its fifth outlet at the newly built Granbell Square in

Ginza Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. The club is built through a partnership with Japan's Belluna, the company behind Granbell Hotel Group. It is located at the basement level of the hotel and was opened on 6 October 2023.

ZoukOut

In 2000, Zouk started an all-night dance music festival, ZoukOut. The dance festival was held at Siloso Beach at Sentosa, Singapore. ZoukOut was held annually with the exception of 2019 to 2021, due to the festival taking a break and

COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore The COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case in :Singapore was confirmed on 23 January 2020. Early cases we ...

. The festival resumed in 2022.

References

*Boey, Dylan. Mambo Rocks in Sunday Times 8 August 2004. Singapore: SPH. *DJ Adam Low. (1998) Mambo Jambo Wednesday Night Live. Singapore: Avex Trax.

External links

*{{Commons category-inline
Official websiteZouk TokyoZouk Las VegasZouk Singapore
Entertainment venues in Singapore Entertainment companies of Singapore Entertainment companies established in 1991 Singaporean companies established in 1991 2015 mergers and acquisitions 2020 mergers and acquisitions Nightclubs Electronic dance music venues Singaporean brands Tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur Music venues in Las Vegas Music venues in Los Angeles Music venues in Tokyo