Monthly Archives: November 2010

Nov 25 2010

A FEW WORDS TO MAESTRO ARLY LARIVIERE

Maestro Arly Lariviere of the Konpa band Nu Look

Some People, including my friend Versace, may think that I have something against Nu Look, but that is quite the opposite. I love all the bands/artists, especially the ones making great music and acting for the betterment of our music business.

I do not write to destroy; I write to correct mischievousness in the business. I have written to advice Disip, one of your stark competitors, especially after the PR deal they had with JP Relations had reached a point of no return. I had advised them to revise the decision. Now, if they did not listen to me, that is their business, not mine.

Anyhow, your album is soon to hit the streets, and I have a strong sense it will score big. How could you have a guy like Pipo singing on an album to not be expecting damage? He is one of the very few best we have in the business as we speak. But do not get too hardheaded and confident to fail to do what you are supposed to do to make the best out of this production.

Do keep in mind that great products do fail if the right marketing strategy is not being implemented. So needless to say that you are going to need to engage in an aggressive marketing campaign to get the job done. Here is what you are going to do to get Nu Look back in the lead again. You need to do two things:

  1. You need an outstanding public relations staffer. I would recommend you to contract JP Relations. Listen to me… I do not know Sasa like that. I do not know her more than I know you, and I have never met you a day in my life. She has never been my classmate in Haiti and the US. But I have been watching her. She is one of the best, if not the best, we have in this business right now. GET HER!!! You do need the best to work with and/or for you; I am sure you can afford that.
  2. Part of your marketing strategy should be to have the entire band embark on a “meet and greet with the fans” bus tour from South to North and East to West coupled with semi press conferences. Have the media to follow you at every stop, where there is a huge Haitian community. Have you ever seen the politicians here in the US going on bus tours to campaign? Well, there is a reason for that. It is all about marketing yourself and the message or product you want the people to know about. It gets media attention and publicity for free. That’s what you call free press.

Marketing is all about making noise and captivating the attention of the people. Make it a week-long or a two-weekend-long event -whichever is more convenient for the band. You will be amazed to see the result. Your band would be the first to have ever gone on a bus tour to market an album. Try to be the first or the leader in everything for the followers to follow. And at the end of the day, make sure you send me the check in the mail. My advice has never been for free. Just joking… lol 😀

Nov 24 2010

PIPO MUST SCORE BIG TO BE RELEVANT IN NU LOOK

Pipo left Beljazz, a band he helped put together from scratch with Ralph Menelas, his business partner, to integrate Nu Look -a band which was on the verge of total disintegration, following the unexpected and sudden resignation of the lead vocalist, Gazzman Couleur, almost a year ago.

The Pipo card sought by Maestro Arly Lariviere is by most people’s accounts, including mine, a well thought out or an astute move on the part of the maestro; I personally applaud him for that.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Pipo, with his pristine vocal pitch, has the credence to meet Maestro Lariviere’s expectations and get the job done. He is one of the top lead vocalists in the business, and the league he is in has very few people of his caliber. He can navigate on any track given to him –Konpa love or up-tempo.

We all must agree, however, that there can never be another Gazzman Couleur to replace Gazzman in Nu Look. So Arly is going to have to capitalize on Pipo’s unique attributes to score big with the next album should he want him (Pipo) to be and stay relevant in the band in the years to come.

Pipo already has what is needed for him to deliver exactly what is expected of him. But that will not be enough. More is going to need to be done in terms of marketing strategy to get him to be accepted as a replacement of Gazzman Couleur in the band. It is feasible, though, but this is definitely not going to be a simple task.

While we are well aware of his strengths and attributes, we cannot overlook his flaws, which, in my opinion, cause a huge problem for him to fully assume his role of frontline superstar in the band.  

In terms of on-stage performance, it has been said that he has a connectivity issue, preventing him from connecting with his crowd (the fans). In fact, that is something he has been largely criticized for. He is not as big of a people person as Gazzman is. And that could be a major setback for him in terms of maintaining the band’s leadership position in the post-Gazzman era.

Most people who have been following him in the Konpa market would tell you that he is not a guy to fully count on; he is not someone who believes in business commitment and consistency. In other words, he does not have any sense of stability in him. Fairly so, they argue that he has a track record that could prove that to be true. He has moved around quite a bit in his career -from Passion of Montreal to D-zine; from D-zine to Hang Out; from Hangout to Beljazz, his own band; and from Beljazz to now Nu Look. So they express doubts that this marriage between him and Nu Look is going to last.

We all know that perception is reality. The perception most people have of him is that he is too stiff and snobbish to make it in the entertainment world. So he has work to do to change that perception of him; he needs to work on his public relations skills. For that, I would suggest that he hire the service of an expert in personality improvement to help him out. If he can get that heavy charge off his back, he will be insurmountable.

To the prognosis that the marriage will not last long, I would say this: however long he will stay carrying the colors of Nu Look will depend on how long Maestro Lariviere will want him to. Why do I say that?

Pipo is not the type who would allow anyone to exploit and take advantage of him. He knows how to count his money and defend his interests. His days in the band will be numbered if Maestro Lariviere is not taking good care of him like a lead vocalist of his stature deserves to be taken care of. So how long he is going to stay with Nu Look will depend on how well he is being treated by the man with all the power in his hands, and that’s the one and only Maestro Arly Lariviere.

Finally, Pipo in any band will cause wonders. That’s how great of a lead vocalist he is. I don’t know one band leader who would not feel lucky to have him in their squad. He is beyond talented. He has what it takes to get the job done. But like everybody else, he has flaws to be worked on. This is, indeed, a defining moment for him. He must score big with the band’s upcoming album. If he fails, as the pressure is mounted so high on him, that will be a major blow for him and the band.

Nov 23 2010

READ WHAT OUR READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT US

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Nov 22 2010

IS RELIGION LOSING GROUND IN AMERICA?

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 -a scientific research study  -found that young Americans are remarkably less religious than their parents and grandparents were when they were their age.

The study also found that one in four American millennials -Pew’s name for those Americans who were born after 1980 and came to age around the millennium -are not associated with any religion. They see themselves as “atheist,” “agnostic” or “nothing in particular.”

When it comes to religion, these millennials have a different philosophy than most people. They believe that “there are ways of practicing faith and being religious outside of belonging to a religious organization or attending services.”

In your opinion, what has gotten the young Americans to be so less religious than their parents and grandparents were when they were young?

Nov 21 2010

CHRISTIANITY CALLS FOR DEATH PENALTY FOR GAYS

Both the Ugandan president, Mr. Yoweri Museveni, and Mr. David Bahati, a Ugandan lawmaker, are members of “The Family,” an American faith-based and anti-gay organization.

In March of 2009, after several members of the organization had traveled to Uganda for what they called the “Seminar on Exposing the Homosexuals,” containing claims that gays pose major “dangers” to society, and that a “gay agenda” was in the making to “defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity,” Mr. Bahati introduced an anti-gay legislation calling for the death penalty against gays in certain cases of same-sex intimacy.

Not only does that inhuman, cruel, insane and ridiculous legislation call for the death penalty for gay men repeatedly having sex with other men, and for HIV-positive men having sexual relations, it also calls for tough penalties for anyone who fails to report gays to the authorities.

This is what would happen to any human society where the practice of religion is not closely monitored and controlled to prevent it from interfering with the running of the state’s affairs.

This is another case of religious insanity, which we find almost everywhere around the world, particularly in the third world countries. This guy David Bahati needs to be ashamed of himself. I cannot believe he would allow these foreigners to travel thousands of miles to come order him (like a master would order his slave) to introduce a legislation calling for the death penalty for his own citizens.

Wait a minute! Let’s put things in perspective here. Don’t we have gays in the United States? How come these American evangelicals don’t push for their crazy and nonsensical agenda in their own country? They cannot be acting out of love for the Ugandan people. There is no way they could possibly love the Ugandans more than their own.

These Christian foreigners need to get out of Uganda’s socio-political life. They take it upon themselves to travel to other countries, with the complicity of their local slaves in the government, to act in ways they could have not possibly acted in their own country -the United States.

This insanity could have taken place in my own country, for these American evangelicals travel to Haiti every year to hold their “evangelical crusades” in an attempt to soil the soul of the people.

There is a good reason why you see them in countries such as Uganda and Haiti. And the reason is POVERTY -the best fertilizer for the seed of religion to grow. Wherever there is poverty, you can expect religion to mushroom.

The poverty in my country makes my people very vulnerable to the paws of these evangelicals to prey on. So we need to keep eyes on them so that, with the complicity of their political cronies in the government, they don’t turn Haiti into another Uganda, where politicians want to send gays to death row.

Nov 20 2010

I DISAGREE WITH MARTELLY’S SOCIALIST VIEWS

I am glad I spent time to carefully listen to this clip of Mr. Martelly. At the very end of it, he unveils his plan to reform our agricultural practices or means of production. His plan is pure socialistic, which we don’t need for Haiti.

I am for the state to subvention or give incentives to the farmers to help them to cultivate the lands -just like we do here in the United States. I wholeheartedly disagree with him, however, when he wants the state to run agro-credit institutions to lend the farmers money to cultivate their lands. We don’t need that. Keep the state out of the credit market. Let the private sector compete for better rates to the farmers. When it is like that, you create a competitive marketplace where the farmers can go around and shop for the institution that could give them the best deal.  

I also disagree with him in that he wants the state to buy the farmers’ harvests from them in an attempt to control prices on the national market. So if he does that, how could he expect the farmers to compete for better quality products and better prices for those products then? You cannot have players competing against each other in the sector of government. Basically he wants to do (to us) the same thing we allowed the American farmers to do to us. I say let the competition in the market dictate how prices should be fixed and controlled. In other words, let the market control itself. We don’t need the state to be like a godfather controlling the market.

Also, he talks about creating jobs in the peasantry sector, which I disagree with. Government is not in the business of creating jobs. The job of government is, rather, to enact economic policies that would encourage job creation by the private sector.  

As I said many times before, in Haiti, the biggest competitor is the state, causing a problem for the private sector to compete for greater performance and returns on their investments. The market tends to be stalled when the state gets to compete against the private sector. If anything, we need to encourage a competitive market environment, not discouraging it. That’s what capitalism teaches us. We don’t need a socialist economy in the likes of Mr. Martelly’s proposal. It is not good for business, and certainly not good for the economy.

Nov 19 2010

MANIGAT, MARTELLY, BAKER & LAGUERRE: WAKE UP!

The presidential election in Haiti is only days away, yet JUDE CELESTIN still matters. Something was not done right. I can tell you this much –it is because you guys (MANIGAT, MARTELLY, BAKER and LAGUERRE) did not play right. I would beat up all four of you for your complacencies. You failed to link him to the failed policies of the PREVAL administration.

The man in the White House, RENE PREVAL, said that CELESTIN is his man, what better evidence do you need to destroy or make him insignificant in the race? That’s exactly what you should have been wanting from him, and he delivered it to you “UPS delivery” at your doorsteps. How could you not use that to run an effective character assassination campaign against the man?

We democrats did it here in the US. How you think we literally annihilated McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign and gave Obama the election on a silver platter? We played three smart cards against him.

1. We linked him to the failed policies of the Bush administration –the baseless Iraq War, the recessive economy, the handling of Katrina in New Orleans, big tax cuts for big corporations and the top 2% Americans while neglecting the middle class, etc… 

2. We proved to the American electorate that he was out of touch with reality. On Monday, September 15, 2008, he hand-delivered to us the gift we had long been waiting for. On the campaign trail in Jacksonville, Florida, he declared: “the fundamentals of our economy are strong [despite] tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street.” Mind you, he made such statement right in the middle of the recession, at a time when the economy was bleeding jobs.

 

3. We transformed Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, his pick for vice president, into a laughing stock, a joke, someone not worthy to be taken seriously. By doing so, the McCain candidacy was viewed as a big joke. Her interview with CBS’s own Katie Couric did it for us.

 

We played the three cards so well strategically that before you know it, Senator McCain was already confined in history book. He was a done deal. We slashed him in the polls. So no one can tell me about the effectiveness of a character assassination campaign strategy, for I have seen it used many times in every single election (local and national) here in the United States.

I do not work for your campaigns, nor am I one of your cheerleaders. However, I want to place my country, Haiti, first. In this election, I do not have a fighting dog, which by now you should know. I do not know whom I am for. I do know, however, whom I am against. I am against PREVAL and his protégé JUDE CELESTIN.

Quit all the “kole mouda” with CELESTIN. The clock is ticking. You do not have that much time in front of you. It is time to proceed with PLAN B –CHARACTER ASSASSINATION. You guys need to run ASAP campaign ads on the radio and on TV telling the people that a vote for CELESTIN is a vote for the continuation of the PREVAL administration embodied in the policies that gave us -MINUSTAH, CHOLERA, LACK OF OVERSIGHT, CORRUPTION, MY PALACE COLLAPSED, etc…” Take my check to the bank and cash it. Trust me, it will not bounce.

Nov 15 2010

NIA IS A VICTIM OF SOME TYPE OF “ISM” IN KONPA

NIA, formerly of the Kompa group ZIN

Retrieved from Kompamagazine.com: “MADMAN JP ‘An artist like NIA has had the support of so many people for so many years. A lot of people want to see her make it big. The fans, the media, musicians, a lot of people want her to make it, but because of her choices, surroundings, look at where she is at now? She is still NOT at the level that she should be at.'”

“MADMAN continues ‘She started with Alex Abellard, she went to JBeatz, now she is with Jube and Sobs. What have they done for her and her SOLO career? All of that is because of HER decisions. NIA should have been doing what Misty Jean is doing right now..YEARS AGO, and she should have been one of the most popular bands/hmi acts in the business by now. A lot of people want to see an hmi female artist with her band do well in the business. NIA has only herself to blame for her career choices as a solo artist.'”

I tend to agree with Madman in that Nia is the sole responsible for her demise and shortcomings. By the same token, I disagree with him when he wants to make believe that Alex Abellard of Zin, Jbeatz and Jube of SOBs have not done enough or anything at all for her. That’s silliness!!!

Nia is a victim of a market that is not friendly to women. These aforementioned guys had done or have been doing the best they could to work with and get her out there. But, unfortunately, the market challenges they had or have to overcome to put and keep her on the map are too steep to overcome.

In this Konpa market, women are not being taken seriously. That’s why I’ve been urging them to distance themselves from that field and explore better and more promising markets -for example, the Zouk, R&B, Soul, Folklore, Jazz…

Konpa is not the only genre we have in our musical mosaic, why is it that these talented women are so obsessed with it? Why do you think Emeline and Tifane are touring the world making a name for themselves?

The Konpa market is already not friendly to you all, why wasting your valuable time and talent trying to cater to it? Seriously, I don’t seem to see the rationale behind the obsession.

I wrote about this issue in a previous article entitled “The Future of Women in Konpa Direk,” which you can read for yourself by clicking on this link: https://ekspoze.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/the-future-of-women-in-konpa-direk-2/

And he mentioned the name of Misty Jean as a prototype of a successful female Konpa artist. This has got to be a joke. Is he serious? Nia does not need to follow the footsteps of Misty Jean, who, herself, is a victim of the same misconceptions.

In conclusion, It is still early in the process for Nia to seize herself, take control of her career and turn things around. Talent never dies. She has it in her. So It is preposterous for Madman to argue that Alex Abellard of Zin, Jbeatz and Papa Jube of SOBs had not done for Nia. She is just a victim of a market yet to be receptive to women. There is nothing they could have done differently to rescue her. At least, they had tried.

Nov 12 2010

ZENGLEN MUST PAY FOR ITS INSOLENCE

It is now no secret that Dabenz got voted out unanimously by his bandmates. At unanimity he got voted out, meaning not one member of the band wants him in. A decision like that would make you automatically think that he must have done something really stupid and out of line that could jeopardize the interests of the band, right? No, such is not the case. According to Kompamazine.com reporting the reason for his firing, “They estimate that DABENZ was bringing more negativity to the band ‘ANBA ANBA’ and they claim that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” http://kompamagazine.com/kmboard/viewtopic.php?t=32610

Let’s take a moment to analyze the Kompamagazine report. This is a decision taken on the career of an artist on the basis of a baseless claim –Dabenz was bringing more negativity to the band clandestinely. The word clandestinely is exactly what sells them out. Clandestinely or “anba anba” means that they do not have proof that the wrongdoings he has been accused of hold any truth. Where are the facts to corroborate such allegation? How come none of these negativities has ever been known to the press? These guys basically rely on baseless claims circulating through the grapevine to mess with someone’s career.

According to Basekompa.com, all this nonsense about Dabenz bringing more negativity to the band clandestinely is not the true reason behind the firing. The website reported, which the artist later confirmed, that while Dabenz was on stage performing in Haiti at Miche’s Garden with the band, he got embarrassed and humiliated by Brutus. The later, in many instances, ordered the sound engineer to turn Dabenz’s microphone down low so that they do not hear him out in the speakers; he wanted only Kenny’s voice to come out, a way to boycott Dabenz. http://basekompatv.com/forum.html But what could be the reason for the boycott, though?

They wanted to boycott Dabenz because apparently there has been some sort of a power strife going on inside the band. The public is more in tune with him than Kenny, and Brutus was not feeling too keen about that. He wanted to promote Kenny, yet the public has chosen Dabenz. It is like fighting against the will of nature. The public wants something, yet he wants to resist it. Why punishing Dabenz because Kenny is not commercial and hype?

Now, let me talk to these guys for a minute. You guys are the reason why Zenglen, a band that is playing extremely well, is going down. The public does not have faith in you anymore. They realize now that you guys don’t know what you want and have no sense of direction. You throw Dabenz away to sell Kenny to a public that does not even want him. You cannot shove him down the public’s throat. Go look around and find someone else. Kenny cannot do it; he does not have what it takes to be what you guys want him to be for the band –a frontline superstar. Trust me on that.

Dabenz’s home of record is New Jersey. The people here love and see him as their own. They take to heart the way you guys treated him. I think you are going to have to do a lot of PR work to appease the rage of the community here. The word in the streets of New Jersey now is to proceed with operation boycott against Zenglen in the state. I am urging you guys to not come to New Jersey any moment soon, not until the people’s fury is rescinded, for you may be chased out. Don’t say you did not get the message. You are not going to treat the man so unfairly like that to think that everything is cool. M swete nou jwenn nouvel la.

Nov 10 2010

DISIP: BRING SASA BACK!!!!

What are these DISIP guys doing? Are you guys serious? Well, I hope you guys have a VALID reason for dismissing Samille Vanessa Jean-Pierre aka SASA of JP Relations, the young lady who was handling your public relations for you. I don’t really know her, but I can easily depict someone who takes pride in his/her work when I see one; I can easily recognize professionalism and savoir-faire from afar.

Before her in this Kompa business, I did not know any professional PR consultant working tirelessly to transform the business as usual mindset of this landscape. I used to be exposed to nothing but poorly written press releases, unprepared interviews, extrapolation to the max, etc…

I am wondering who else you guys are going to bring on board to replace her. I bet I will not be surprised to see you hiring some mediocre individual, hired on the basis of fanaticism and favoritism, who does not know anything whatsoever in what the duties of a professional PR specialist entail.

This is, indeed, a major setback for you guys. I don’t know what you guys are doing, but you better get your acts together. You need a high speed PR person in your staff to work on the correct ways for your business to relate to the public. You need that for Christ’s sake!!!! You don’t go to sleep and wake up being PR specialist. There is a place called college where these people are prepared to cater to the needs of any challenging and professional market environment.

See, here we go again… that’s why this Kompa business will never get anywhere. For the most part, professionals are not valued in this arena. If you are not an embodiment of ignorance and mediocrity, you have no place in there. Well, again, it is a Haitian thing, why expecting anything different?

GAZZMAN, with all due respect, I swear I thought you were smarter than that. Let me ask you a question, though: are you really serious about this DISIP movement, or is it a hype just to make a quick cash and bounce? Sometimes, for some strange reason, I keep on getting the vibe that you do not have a clear vision as to what you want this venture to be. I hope I am wrong.

Listen to me, whether I am a fan of yours or not is irrelevant for the purpose of this piece. I have no interest whatsoever in your success or failure. But I really want you to know that it will personally bother me seeing a talent of your caliber going wasted because of some misguided decisions.

I know what it feels like to be operating in a bubble where you seem to be out of touch with reality, and that all you have to rely on is your staff. At times, ironically, some of the people in your entourage may not have your best interest. That’s why it is always wise to turn to your fans for advice, for they love you unconditionally and would not wish to see you not making it. So because of this natural bond, they will never give you an advice which will not be for your best interest.

I was taught by my parents to always speak truth to power, so I am telling you boldly that the firing of Sasa is a STUPID decision. I hope it does not take you long to realize that. She is somebody you can consider as an asset to your business.

The majority of these guys you have roving around you acting like they are with you, they are there for their own interests. You are a hot commodity today, you see them around. But the day you are no longer relevant, you will not see them anymore. So don’t be naive and foolish. I do not think it can ever be too late to acknowledge the misstep, retract from it, and reach out to her. That’s the best and smartest thing to do. BRING THAT YOUNG LADY BACK!!!!