Buckwheat Zydeco is the leading practitioner of the southwest Louisiana dance music known as zydeco. He was the first zydeco artist to be signed to a major label, and he has received receiving four Grammy® nominations to date.

In 1971, he founded Buckwheat & the Hitchhikers, a funk band that he led for five years before switching to zydeco. He began backing Clifton Chenier, one of the most legendary zydeco performers. He set out on his own with The Ils Sont Partis Band; they debuted with One for the Road in 1979 and were nominated for a Grammy Award for Turning Point and Waitin' for My Ya Ya (1985) after switching to the Rounder Records label. He soon signed to Island Records, the first zydeco act on a major label, and released On a Night Like This, critically acclaimed album that was nominated for a Grammy as well. The band soon appeared in The Big Easy.

Shout! Factory is proud to release 100% Fortified Zydeco as part if its restoration of the Black Top Records catalog. Originally released in 1983, it has been named by All Music Guide as the essential first Buckwheat Zydeco purchase.