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The Promotional Network Of Haitian Music

(Haitian bloggers and business owners, send me your info)

Buyu Ambroise on Twitter: https://twitter.com/buyujazz

and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buyuambroise

(via Watch: Buyu Ambroise)

Eunide Edouarin (above), aka Princess Eud, is relatively small but she commands attention, her voice strong but easy, a sly smile spreading across her face.

“I just got out of my head any notion that girls don’t rap or whatever, and I did what I needed to do,” says Princess Eud.

She grew up in a poor neighborhood on a hillside overlooking Port-au-Prince. She was one of seven children. She sang in church, and then joined a neighborhood rap group, followed by several bands including the group Mystik 703. Then she went solo, pairing up mostly with fellow 703 member, Ded Krezi.

Her growing fame at home led to invitations to play overseas, in Cuba and Japan. No matter that she raps in Creole.

Eud is now working on her first solo album, combining rap with a variety of other styles, to show off her range.

There is another popular Haitian female rapper, maybe less polished but just as powerful.

Jean Cylien Marie Innocent, aka Captain J. Ruff (Photo: Amy Bracken)

Jean Cylien Marie Innocent, aka Captain J. Ruff made a splash in 2006, when Wyclef Jean held a hip-hop competition in her Port-au-Prince neighborhood Belair. The theme: cleaning up the streets.

Of the 12 finalists, she was the only woman.

At the time of the competition, Belair was just recovering from a period of politicized gang violence. And J. Ruff began to work with a Brazilian group, Viva Rio, working with children as young as seven-years-old who had been drawn into the violence, in her neighborhood and others.

(via blog.ipapkreyol.com and Female Rappers in Haiti Find Their Voice | PRI’s The World)

September 8 // Afro Misik DJs // 2 – 8pm // FREE

Oyasound Productions :

GetOpen Sessions :

Bamboo Sounds Entertainment

:: present ::

AFRO MIZIK An AfroHouse Excursion with Haitian Roots

with : DJ Sabine : DJ AQuaBeaT : Serge Negri

& Live Performance by The Earthman Experience with DJ Hard Hittin Harry

at Dekalb Market

Sept. 8  2pm – 8pm

: Flatbush Avenue & Willoghby Street :

A, C, F, R to Jay Street /

B, Q, N to Dekalb Avenue /

2, 3, 4 to Nevins Street

(via Dekalb Market | September 8 // Afro Misik DJs // 2 – 8pm // FREE)

Harmonik - Jere’m

caramelskyyvanilladreams:

#kompa #love #teamhaiti #legedekompa (Taken with Instagram)

inmyskyvvys:

Boukman Eksperyans #rasinmisik #kompa #zouk #fest #toronto #haitian (Taken with Instagram)

NY: Kreyolfest Sunday June 24th, Wingate Park, Brooklyn, NY 

Carimi, Tabou Combo, System Band, Felina and more..

Gates open @ 12pm and Free Entry 

leroirichie:

Les Superstars, Tabou Combo

winzaaaa:

I’ve been looking for this song for forever!!!! I used to have this CD when i was younger and i played this song OUT!!!!!!!

(Source: youtube.com)

In the 1950s, Haitian musicians were beginning to explore music seriously, giving a blank stare at parental expectations of the 6 prestigious Haitian careers (doctor, engineer, lawyer, nurse, agronomist, president). Here’s the band Jazz des Jeunes that started to make a name for itself in the 1950s

Jean Amédé Cazé is one of the most recognizable musicians on the contemporary Jazz scene. After beating out other competitors in the Thelonious Monk Jazz International Jazz Competition in 2007, Caze launched off a career that brought him on the stages of “The Today Show” to playing with Caribbean Sextet, to touring with Michael Bublé and performing with Roberta Flack. Cazé is hard at work on his second opus, a follow-up to Miami Jazz Scene, a 9-piece album that practically had some touting Cazé as a Haitian Miles Davis. Tracks like “Caravan” recalled the moods of 1960s Jazz with a little bit of contemporary thrown in, while the bouncy “Love, Love”, fused classic Jazz with just—just—a hint of pop.

tifanmkreyol:

Boukman Eksperyans is one of my favorite Haitian bands and this is one of my favorite songs by them. The song is called “Nou pap sa bliye” and it is featured on their 1991 album Vodou Adjae, a masterpiece if you ask me and one of their most popular to date. This band has been around since 1987 and the type of music they play is called Rasin, meaning roots. The name of the band stems from Dutty Boukman, a Haitian vodou priest who led a ceremony in 1791, which is believed to have signified the start of the Haitian Revolution against the French. The band typically sings about social issues including poverty, political corruption, vodou, etc.

—

The title “Nou pap sa bliye” translates to “We can’t forget” or better yet, “We won’t forget.” It refers to the day the group’s members gained consciousness and embraced Rasin music, the latter which is often linked with vodou. In Haitian culture, with great thanks to our Spanish and French colonizers, there is a general negative view of vodou culture, practice, religion and music. Often referred to as devil worshipping. Of course this was just another excuse for the French and Spaniards to justify the enslavement of the African people but sadly, to this day, very few Haitians recognize it as such. This song, is musical declaration about the band’s decision to play Rasin music. A general translation of the song’s lyrics would be that they will forever remember the day they made that decision because it was the first day they felt they were one will all their Haitian brothers and sisters. They claim is as the first day they felt liberated. In other words, the song is a statement to the world, saying that they recognize their roots and choose to celebrate them rather than shun them. It’s a musical declaration of independence. 

This song is one of my favorites of all time. I definitely get up and dance when it comes on. Put my hands on my hips, twirl and stomp around, shake shoulders and arms, let the drums speak to my soul and carry me back to the land of my ancestors. I try to imagine how my foremothers and fathers would have danced to the beat on the few hours they were off from forced labor. It reminds me that deep within me, there are chain links that tie to me West Africa. It makes me happy to know that even though the Spaniards, French, and various Christians “liberators” have done a good job trying to erase our cultural heritage, we inevitably won the war. 

Excerpt from the song:

nou pap sa bliye premye fwa nou tap jwe vodou
Yo tap di se mizik lougaroou
Men nou konen se manti
Petro, congo, ibo
Jou sa nou jwe jouk tan soley leve
jou sa nou pran konsyans

Translation:

We will never forget the first time we played voodoo
They said it was the devil’s music
But we knew this was a lie
Petro, congo, ibo [music styles from West Africa]
That day we played until the sun came up
That day we gained consciousness 

Fun fact: Boukman Eksperyans were once signed to Island Records.

Find more Boukman Eksperyans songs on Itunes and on Myspace Music.

Haitian-American singer Su “SuCh” Charles received her Golden Ticket from American Idol. This ticket is her passport to Hollywood to compete against the nation’s best to be this year’s American Idol.

From SuCh’s facebook page, she has been singing since she found out she had a voice. “I sang in the Grammy HS Ensemble, toured LA alongside music’s luminaries. Came back, was told “Get a degree and a job.” 10 yrs later I’m turning a deaf ear and coming back FULL force to my first love. Stay with me!” the description continues.

Harmonik - Sa Pa Politik