Monthly Archives: September 2010

Sep 30 2010

THE FUTURE OF WOMEN IN KONPA DIREK

Saida: former backup singer of Hangout

For those of you who may not know, Konpa Direk is Haiti’s most popular genre of music. It is the legacy of two great Haitian musicians –Weber Sicot and Nemours Jean Baptiste. This is the music the majority of the Haitian people play at social gatherings (parties) and blast in their cars. When these two men created Konpa, however, I am not sure they had women in mind. So the question is, after a little over fifty years since the creation of Konpa Direk, is there a future for women in this music business?

Konpa is yet to be a comfort zone for women. It is a male-dominated world with only a few women struggling, despite all the humiliations they are being victim of, to gain some degree of recognition. From Cleo, Georgie, Mei Mei and Saida of Hangout to Sandra of Zin and Stacey of Tempo, the women have not been given the respect they deserve. For the most part, they are being “sexploited,” sexually harassed and/or treated as second class artists.

I’ve heard many people making the argument that if you dream of having a long-lasting band, keep the women away; the moment they integrate the band, trouble will surface. The men will be competing against each other to see who will be the first to knock her out or sleep with her. And once you have band members competing against each other over matters that have nothing to do with music, unity and esprit de corps, essential elements for the band’s success, will be greatly impacted. That alone will suffice to place the band on the verge of disorganization, chaos and destruction.

If the aforementioned reality really exists inside the Konpa bands, I think management is slacking in its duty. The job of the manager of the band, if I may, is to set the guidelines as to what behaviors are appropriate and what are not. In other words, the job of the manager is to come up with policies that would praise good deeds and punish misconduct. When you have mediocre folks that don’t know what they are doing managing these bands, of course, you can expect the women to be treated like pieces of meat for all the men to prey on.

Is there a future for women in this business? I am very hopeful that things will change for the better for women. But that won’t happen until management can step up to the plate and lead these bands with an impeccable level of professionalism. I am also hopeful that things will get better for these women when they (the women) start realizing that favoritism can only take them this far. Should they integrate these bands, the decision should be made on the basis of talents and merit, not favoritism. If it is based on favoritism or solely on their good looks, they will have to sell their dignity by making hideous concessions only to secure their positions.

Sep 29 2010

KONPA NEEDS A MAKEOVER

The photo for the CD cover of the latest CARIMI album entitled BUZZ

Yes, I said it -KOMPA needs a makeover ASAP. In fact, it has long been overdue; it reaches the breaking point of boredom. Almost everybody is now playing the same thing and sounding the same. Many are asking, why is that?

KONPA artists, for the most part, are known for their conservativeness and narrow-mindedness, could that be the reason? Also, could it be that the majority of them don’t have the education background to better appreciate music and the historical knowledge of music to research and bring new materials to our musical mosaic?

As the market is changing, so should our music. In the United States, for instance, the music industry is constantly changing. Every 10 years or so, one can expect to experience a change in direction, a breakthrough or something new to go mainstream. Had it not been for JAZZ and BLUES of the 1940s and DISCO of the 70s and 80s, we would have not had the today’s R&B, one of the most popular Afro-American musical genres as we speak. All that stemmed from the competitive nature of the market environment.

The players in the American Music Industry are very aware of the negative impact of sameness and stagnancy on the market; they tend to stall market progress and development. So in such an ever-changing market environment, should you want to maintain a competitive advantage, you have got to keep moving with the flow and rhythm of the market. Otherwise, you will be left behind, and you will become obsolete overnight.

In the Haitian music environment, CARIMI is now testing the market with a new buzz in sound –a mixture of Kompa/R&B/Techno -which seems to be catching steam. So I hope they stay steady and put the right marketing behind it to force the market to follow the trend. They seem to be doing just that as evidenced by this simple observation: Now all these newly-emerged bands out of NY want to sound like them. Let’s see how far and in what direction the CARIMI experience is taking the market.

In the 1980s, when ZOUK was invading our musical sovereignty, when it almost had KONPA on its knees, it was not because it was foreign; it was, rather, because it was different and revolutionary. In reality, ZOUK was and continue to be KONPA on diet, a sexy version of the hardcore KONPA we used to be playing back then, before the introduction and marketing of our KONPA LOVE. So during its inception in the 1980s, it was looking and sounding luscious and appealing. Therefore, everybody, including our KONPA artists, wanted a piece of it. Had it not been for the combativeness of radio hosts such as FELIX LAMY of RADIO NATIONALE (a great Haitian cultural patriot; peace be upon him), today, KONPA would have probably been on the shelf somewhere in our music conservatory; we could have been playing ZOUK.

Despite the fights to rescue, protect and defend our musical sovereignty, the impact and influence of ZOUK was so huge that it did not back away without leaving a dent on our market. Yes, the danger was contained, but it led KONPA to a new and revolutionary direction. The change could be felt in the emergence of an array of new bands and solo artists – ZIN, ZENGLEN (the Gary Didier Perez version), PHANTOMS, PAPASH, TRIOMEX, ZEKLE, DIGITAL EXPRESS, SWEET MICKY, FASAD, SKANDAL, TANTAN, ETC… –to which the name new generation Konpa was going to be credited. Then, the generational demarcation line was drawn on the sand. The market was then divided between the OLD SCHOOL KONPA and the NEW GENERATION KONPA.

KONPA has traveled a long way and been through many battles. And throughout its journey it has never stopped transforming, which is the reason why it still exists today. I am for a makeover of our music while keeping the fundamentals untouched. We should not and must not be afraid of transformation. Time is doomed to change and transformation, so must be anything and everything we do in life, including KONPA. Giving a facelift to our music does not mean that it will go away and that it will be substituted with something else. If we want KONPA to survive the first half of this century, we must not be resisting the change that is now being felt brought to us by such bands as CARIMI and T-Vice. We cannot stand before the change of time.  It is either that or else.