Haiti Music Video

Kompa which is also sometimes called konpa or compa is a musical genre from Haiti. It is also a dance form which involves mostly medium to fast-tempo beats created from synthesizers. The French meaning of kompa is complex. However many of us would not find it as complex as it is has explained. Kompa is an ever-changing style that originated from European ballroom dancing however a touch of Haiti's bourgeois culture may also be felt when you listen to it carefully. Initially, Haitian music consists of one or the other western dance form. Menwat (the early variation of the minuet) is one among them that still exist. Kompa has not been much dissimilar to the tradition. It has developed taking influence from multiple genres including salsa, soc, calypso many other similar.
Swinging is also one of a characteristic of kompa. In 1915, the American military occupants of Haiti brought this style of to their performances. The style was appreciated at many places and later it also influenced Haitian musician who integrated it with kompa. Kompa direct is a style that came in its existence in mid 1950.
Coronto international was a group, very famous in 1950; the group invented the Kompa direct and soon become a rage in Antilles, especially in Martinique and Guadeloupe. Two major personalities from this group who made it possible to make it a huge success throughout the Antilles were Webert Sicot and Nemours Jean Baptiste who later evolved it with zouk. However, both have their own style and identity.

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Kompa is a genre of music and a dance whose origin is from Haiti. It is usually written differently; compa or Konpa. The music has beats with tempo that is often rated as medium to fast. This kind of music genre is complex as it changes from time to time. It first came to be from a blending of European ballroom dancing and the Haiti culture.

This specific music genre arose in the early 20th century as a result of other genres like salsa and calypso among many others. The style referred to as Kompa direct was invented by a group of famous artists, however with its increasing fame it changed to the Zouk. Unfortunately the group split up and one of them improvised the above mentioned style once again. The two genres can be confused; however the Zouk has a slower tempo than the latter.

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Jim Rama, a realization for Zouk music in the Caribbean, La Reunion, Guyana, Africa, in Paris, but also in America. This new star started his musical career with the group Kanel, in Paris. His specialty was in the area of programming which helped him to find work with people such as Guy BORDEY and SLAI.

Jim Rama wrote several hit songs for Guy BORDEY and SLAI, as well as LAURY, Willy VERVERT and on the albums TRASS and SHINE. Folowing these great successes, Jim Rama released the following albums: LOV' INTENS' and NUITS INTIMES.

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Magic System is a musical group from Abidjan in the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), founded in 1996, featuring Salif "Asalfo" Traore, Narcisse "Goude" Sadoua, Etienne "Tino" Boue Bi, and Adama "Manadja" Fanny.

Magic System's recordings, in the Zouglou dance style, have featured in the charts throughout Africa (selling over 1.5 million CDs), the West Indies and in France, where the band became one of the most popular modern African artists.

Magic System Music

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We just got home from the parkway and I can tell you that although there is a lot of frustration within the band, we are happy that things ended up on a very positive note with the help of Shabba, and Wyclef...it truly wasnt about Carimi anymore, so nou tap pran plezi nou ampil... We finished the parkway, went by the juges and were still playing way after 7hpm... An official release will follow but I wanted to just clear up the air about the tet camion issue...

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Jimmy Devarieux no longer has to prove he is one of the best singer-songwriters of Guadeloupe. It has been determined for him

After five years of studies in singing jazz and varieties at the Centre for Information and Activities Musicales de Bordeaux, Jimmy Dévarieux returned to Guadeloupe in 1996 and joined the group Kwebee.

Jimmy Devarieux produced three singles "Magic Dream," "Annie" and "bye bye Baby", takes part in the soundtrack of the film "Antilles on the Seine" by Pascal LEGITIMUS in which the group made a brief appearance.

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Witness is a musical group from Martinique. What makes Witness so special is their dedication to Gospel music. They are able to give you a taste of beautiful religious songs with French Caribbean flavor. This is really extraordinary.

Som Zouk Music Videos

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Born in 1966, Tanya Saint-Val grew up in the music world. When Tanya Saint-Val was still only a little girl, she was already imitating her grandmother singing operetta. Aged nine, she sang on an album of traditional music with her father, a guitarist, singer and professional composer.

After a spell with the Vikings de Guadeloupe, she joined the Daniel Forestal orchestra, where she met Dominique Zorobabel, a future singer with Zouk Machine. At the same time, she continued singing Ella Fitzgerald songs at local dances in Guadeloupe. She then met Pierre-Edouard Decimus, manager of the group Kassav, who introduced her to the French Caribbean recording studios, where she soon got regular work as a backing singer.

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Coupe Decale is a type of popular dance music originating from Cote d'Ivoire and the Ivorian diaspora in Paris, France.

Drawing heavily from Zouglou and Congolese rhythms, Coupe Decale is a very percussive style featuring African samples, deep bass, and repetitive, minimalist arrangements

While Coupe Decale is known as Cote d'Ivoire's definitive pop music, it actually began in Paris, created by a group of Ivorian DJs at the Atlantis, an African nightclub in northeast Paris. These Djs, known as the 'Jet Set' became popular for their flamboyant style, often showing up at the club with large amounts of cash which they would hand out to audiences on the dance floor. Their aesthetic defined the early sounds of Coupe Decale, apparent in the genre's name. In Nouchi (Ivorian slang) Couper means to cheat and decaler means to run away, so Coupe Decale basically means to cheat somebody and run away. The 'somebody' cheated is generally interpreted to mean France or the West/Europe, finding parallels to the idea of "The Man" in American culture. Especially in the beginning, the songs often celebrated those who had used guile to 'make it' abroad.

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One of the most important personalities in Hip-Hop music, was born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti on October 17, 1972 and moved to the US at the age of 10. He first entered the spotlight in 1993 with the release of the Fugees debut LP, Blunted On Reality. The groups name was inspired by the plight of refugees from Haiti and other members included rapper/actress Lauryn Hill, and Clefs cousin Prakazrel Pras Michel. 1996s The Score was a huge success selling over 6 million copies and earning 2 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (Killing Me Softly) and Best Rap Album.

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