The music of Haiti combines a wide range of influences drawn from the many people who have settled on this Caribbean island. It reflects French, African rhythms, Spanish elements and others who have inhabited the island of Hispaniola and minor native Taino influences. Styles of music unique to the nation of Haiti include music derived from rara parading music, twoubadou ballads, mini-jazz rock bands, rasin movement, hip hop Creòle, the wildly popular compas, and méringue as its basic rhythm. Haiti did not have recorded music until 1937 when Jazz Guignard was recorded non-commercially. One of the most current popular Haitian artists is Wyclef Jean. His music is somewhat hip hop mixed with worldbeat. Haitian music is influenced mostly by European colonial ties and African migration. In the case of European colonization, musical influence has derived primarily from the French.
L'Arc-en-Ciel, also known as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitarist ken and drummer sakura were recruited to replace them in 1992 and 1993, respectively. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, L'Arc-en-Ciel have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. sakura left the band in 1997 and was replaced by yukihiro in January 1998, completing the current line-up.
Boukman Eksperyans is a mizik rasin band from the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Grammy nominated for their debut album Vodou Adjae. The band derives its name from Dutty Boukman, a vodou priest who led a religious ceremony in 1791 that is widely considered the start of the Haitian Revolution. The other half of the band's name, "Eksperyans", is the Haitian Creole word for "experience", and was inspired by the band's appreciation of the music of Jimi Hendrix. The band was at the height of its popularity in 1991 when the presidency of Jean Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in a military coup d'etat. Like many other artists and performers, Boukman Eksperyans fled the country to live in exile. During their time abroad, the band performed and spoke out against the military dictatorship of Raoul Cédras. In 1994, after Aristide was restored to power, the band returned to Haiti, where they continued to play concerts, record albums, and perform at the Carnival celebrations.
RAM is a mizik rasin band based in the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The band derives its name from the initials of its founder, songwriter, and lead male vocalist, Richard A. Morse. The band's music has been described by Morse as "Vodou rock 'n' roots", and has been one of the prominent bands in the mizik rasin musical movement in Haiti. RAM began performing together in 1990, and recorded their first album in 1996. The band's music incorporates traditional Vodou lyrics and instruments, such as rara horns and petro drums, into modern rock and roll. The band's songs include lyrics in Haitian Creole, French, and English.
Rasin, also known as Haitian roots music, is a musical style that began in Haiti in the 1970s when musicians began combining elements of traditional Haitian Vodou ceremonial and folkloric music with various musical styles. The late 20th century style of this music links to the roots of Vodou tradition, where it came to be known as mizik rasin later in Haitian Creole. Modern-day, the movement is often referred to simply as "rasin" or "racine".
Boukan Ginen is a mizik rasin band from the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Boukan is the Haitian Creole word for "bonfire" or "fire pit". Ginen is a specific Haitian name for the ancestral home of enslaved Africans.
Simbi is a mizik rasin band formed in 1987. The name of the band comes from the name for a family of vodouloa, or gods, called the simbi.
Richard Auguste Morse is a Puerto-Rican-born Haitian-American musician and hotel manager currently residing in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Morse manages the Hotel Oloffson, and is the founder of a mizik rasin band, RAM, named after his initials. Morse is married to the band's lead female vocalist, Lunise Morse, and has two children. Morse and his band are famous in Haiti for their political songs and performances critical of the Raoul Cédras military junta from 1991 to 1994. In the early 2000s, Morse has also criticized Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Fanmi Lavalas through his music. Morse is a United States citizen. His cousin Michel Martelly is a musician, right-wing Haitian politician and former President of Haiti. Richard Morse repeatedly expressed support for Martelly in the 2010 presidential elections in Haiti. By 2014, he had distanced himself from the Martelly government.
Rap Kreyòl, started in Haiti in the early 80s by the late great Master Dji, who witnessed how American Hip Hip gave birth to French Hip Hip while living in France. Hence, he moved back to Haiti and started the Hip Hop movement that took Haiti by storm. Consequently, many of those kids which Hip Hop spoke to in their special language for the first time continue to rap in Haitian Creole even after being in the United States the most part of their lives. Artists like Oz'mosis and Bennchoumy still rap in Haitian Creole still today. Often, hardcore beats are used while the artist raps in Haitian Creole. Rap kreyòl has been part of Haitian culture since the early 1980s with groups such as Original Rap Staff, King Posee, Rap Kreyòl S.A., Masters of Haiti, Fighters, Blackdo, Fam-Squad, Supa Deno, Prince Berlin, and Muzion attaining prominence, but lately has become very popular with Haitian youth. Another notable group from the 1990s is Black Leaders. The impact of Black Leaders and its members is lasting. Though known primarily for his role in Black Leaders, Don Roy is still an active contributor to Haitian music across many genres. Since the peak of his notoriety, Don Roy has chosen to create in other genres. While still working in a production capacity in genres such as Rap Kreyòl and Reggae, Don Roy has chosen to create and work with prominent artists of the modern roots/Rasin movement.
Compagnie des Tabacs Comme Il Faut, S.A. is an international tobacco company based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It is owned by Luckett, Inc. of Louisville, KY and is the only cigarette maker in Haiti with its Comme Il Faut and Point brands marketed locally.
Fabrice Rouzier is a Haitian pianist, producer, and entrepreneur who has been in the Haitian music industry for more than 20 years.
Misty Jean is a former Miss West Indies and singer. She sings in her native Haitian Creole / French language and also in English.
Carimi was a popular Haitian compas band assembled in New York City in 2001.
Haitian Carnival is a celebration held over several weeks each year leading up to Mardi Gras. Haitian Defile Kanaval is the Haitian Creole name of the main annual Mardi Gras carnival held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Twoubadou music is a popular genre of guitar-based music from Haiti that has a long and important place in Haitian culture. The word comes from troubadour, a medieval poet-musician who wrote and sang songs about courtly love. Like the troubadours of old, the Haitian twoubadou is a singer-composer who accompanies himself on songs that tell about the bitterness and humor of love, often using risqué or suggestive lyrics.
The Haitian Music Awards (HMA), is an annual Haitian music awards show that officially first took place on Sunday April 12, 2009 at the renowned Avery Fisher Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Haitian rock, or rock kreyòl, started as rock n roll in Haiti in the early 1960s. It was played by rock bands called yeye bands. The name yeye derives from the Beatles lyrical verse, "yeah, yeah, yeah", which took off in the United States and was listened to by upper class Haitian families who had access to the radio. Young Haitians formed small electric guitar-based bands. These yeye rock bands were short-lived, as the addition of compas to their repertoires resulted in a sound was called mini-jazz, or mini-djaz in Haitian Creole.
Haitian gospel music, began its roots in the rise of Christianity, when it was first imported to the island by Spain's Christopher Columbus in the 15th-century and again by the French during colonial years of Saint-Domingue, as Jesuits and Capuchins served as missionaries to continue the proliferation of Catholicism. The Baptist trend that had grown in the United States, had not yet reached Haiti until the western media was introduced, shaping Haitian gospel music; also known as mizik levanjil in Haitian Creole.
Arly Larivière is a Haitian musician, composer and keyboardist. He is best known as the lead singer and composer for the Kompa band Nu-Look.
T-Vice is a Haitian compas band currently based in Miami, Florida. The group has performed throughout the world, most notably in cities of Miami, New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Paris and throughout the Caribbean through various concerts, carnivals, and festivals.
