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Latin America Report

Could Miami be the 'Capitol of Konpa?' Looks that way in 2016

Konpa music has dominated the Haitian music industry for decades. But while the genre’s roots are firmly in Haiti, today its leading bands are often not. This year, the top two albums came from bands right here in Miami, which many now consider the “capitol of konpa.”

Of course, it is hard to speak of top albums in Haitian music because there are no charts —no official sales figures, no radio play counts, no Billboard “Hot 100.” That means if you want to know what is trending in Haiti, you have to use your ears. And the first place to listen is the radio.

Radio is still the number one music media in Haiti for both music and news, and if you were listening this year then you heard this song in heavy rotation: “Lajan Sere” by the band Klass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oESl1Bl0rk

And you heard this one as well, from the band Nu Look. Both these bands —Klass and Nu Look—are based in Miami, but they are getting constant airplay in Haiti. And when I talked to vendors selling pirated CDs along the streets of Port-au-Prince, they told me the same thing: Klass and Nu Look are the top sellers for this year.

Klass only formed four years ago, but with an experienced line-up and fresh sound the band has achieved rapid success. They are led by Jean Herard Richard —known to all as Richie—who came Miami as a young man in the early 1990s. When I met with Richie, Klass had just wrapped up their summer tour of Haiti and were back on the road up in Boston, home to a large Haitian community. I asked Richie if he was surprised by the success of their new record, “Fe’l Ak Tout Ke’w,” which means: “do it with all your heart.”

Romny "El Pozo" Floristal of Klass on stage in Boston.

“Honestly we did count on it that way, because of the work that we put in. It’s like, my kids —I have two girls—when I'm doing something they the ones that really keep me in check, because you know, they're not gonna sugar coat it for you. That's how we did the album: kid-friendly, DJ-friendly.”

At the same time, the band had to please the older generation with songs “from the konpa roots.” As Richie describes it: “We put a little bit of everything in there.” He used the song “Il Est Friday” as an example: it mixes English, Spanish, French, and Creole lyrics, along with influences from hip-hop and dance hall, all set to a steady konpa beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqrW_0Li0dc

That ability to mix languages and styles may help explain the band’s success in a konpa scene that now stretches far beyond Haiti itself —from the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, to diaspora hubs such as Paris, Montreal and Boston. That musical mixture also reflects the diversity of Miami, which for Richie is at the very center of the konpa world.

At least for now.

“Back in the days it used to be in Haiti and New York, but now Miami has the most bands, so that's what makes Miami the capital of konpa, the heart they call it. Is it gonna be like that always? I doubt it. Someone else gonna take a turn. Not now I hope, not yet!”

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Latin America Report MusicHaitiNews