Kreyol Hip Hop

Johny Jacques:
Spotlight: Johny Jacques-More Than Words

 

by Snyde Simbert

Surprisingly enough, when compared to his writing style, bold, vibrant, energetic, Johny Jacques is a reserved, somewhat shy man and a quiet individual. His multiple written works on the Creole Hip Hop movement always scream vivaciousness, passion and have a screamer like quality. This says a lot on how dear the movement is to Mr. Jacques, one of the top promotion people of the Creole Hip Hop Artists and the movement.

Johny Jacques was born at the L’Hopital General d’Haiti in 1977 and stayed in his native land until the age of 8 then immigrated to the United States in the mid 80s. He grew up within the era when it was hard to be a proud Haitian. He was fighting basically every day to earn the right to stand strong and proud as a Haitian. This situation caused a seethed bitterness and did not bode fairly to long term friendships with the Americans in his environment. Just as with most immigrants, Johny lived a life where he was seen by his countrymen as “too American” and not Haitian enough to their liking and too Haitian for the Americans. Ironically he had no American friends with whom he could relate to.

Music was a love and attraction that helped him during the growing years, particularly the Hip Hop of the early 90s when the artists spoke a language that every young black person in the world could relate to. Their diatribes, then dealt with pain, being misunderstood, joy, and the everyday experiences that most people go through growing up.

A transition to Jamaican Dancehall kept a balance in his soul through the soothing rhythms and spoke to him in a somewhat similar manner that American Hip Hop did. By the end of the 90s, Johny reconnected with the Haitian culture, our primary music genre due to a huge influx of young Haitians who brought with them the styles and the swagger from back home. Most of all, the huge acceptance and proud stance of Wyclef Jean, the most famous Haitian artist in the world, within the Hip Hop community to say the least also greatly influenced this thirst for everything from his native land. Johny dropped all other genres then and embedded himself in Konpa music and anything related to his culture, wanting desperately to know everything about Haiti, its history, the suffering of the people, its beauty which then led him to the Creole Hip Hop movement where artists like Bennchoumy, Mecca aka Grimo and others spoke of what it means to be Haitian, where we came from, all this done in a genre that Johny understood and could relate to. The marriage of his love of Hip Hop and his culture cinched it for him and lit a fire in his heart that keeps on burning still.

Regrettably, Johny missed the beginning of this movement when Master Dji, one of the forefathers of the Creole Hip Hop movement was spitting out rhymes. Johny was too young then to appreciate the work of this man, although he had previously heard some of his tracks earlier on, he quickly forgot about this pioneer and missed the opportunity to know more about him and the others who came right after him to hold the torch.

Johny’s work with the Creole Hip Hop movement started right after the floods in Gonaives in 2004. He wished to find ways in which to help his homeland and sought help everywhere, inquiring from several websites about any Haitian events that were being held to benefit the Gonaiviens. This is how he connected with Mecca aka Grimo. He accidentally visited Grimo’s site where he noted a flyer for a concert in NY. He attended the concert and was enthralled by the 11 Haitian artists, males and females who performed some Hip Hop and R&B genres pieces. From that night on, Johny committed himself to the cause, pledging to be instrumental in the continued progress of the Creole Hip Hop movement, one way or another in whichever manner he could find. He linked up with Mecca, Dj Madsol and Sulaah Bien-Aime and together this group has contributed in the promotions of these artists, their works and the genre.

When asked about the spelling of the word “Creole” by the artists written in French instead of the Haitian Creole way, Johny gladly elucidated that point for us. The artists chose to spell it the French way in order to appeal to the non-Haitian listeners in the hope of giving the movement a broader appeal. Initially, he too used to spell it “Kreyol” but that changed once one of the Creole Hip Hop artists explained the need for the word to be spelled in the French way. Johny then kept on requesting most of the editors of his work to utilize the French word instead when it comes to this movement, although this made him feel like a sell out for not keeping the Haitian Creole spelling “Kreyol”. He feels that the different spellings may be dangerous and confusing to the movement, as seen at times with Konpa and its multiple spellings within the Haitian Music Industry (HMI). The biggest fear is for people to be misinformed or them having difficulty locating an artist because of the spelling of the word “Creole”. As far as he is concerned, he would prefer the Haitian Creole spelling but bows to the artists’ wishes and also agrees that within the Creole Hip Hop movement, the spelling issue may still be unresolved.

When asked what motivates him to keep working at this especially knowing how hard it is to make a mark in the HMI and at the international level, Johny states:  “My motivations are the music and what it says to me.  The music makes me feel a way I never imagined I would nor could about anything. It has been a very long time since I can say that I am truly in love with a genre of music and it speaks to me in a way even Dancehall could not.  The people in the movement from the artists to the people who are promoting it like Blake, Sulaah, and Evans from Shakaitutu, all impress and motivate me.  I highly anticipate every call, email and song dealing with these people and the movement.  My biggest motivation of all is Haiti.  Without my love for Haiti and the need to know what goes on there and appreciation for the Creole language, I would not love this movement as much as I do.”

He detailed his views on the state of the movement and its future: “I will be honest and say that the movement is actually further then I expected right now.  This 2007 year has been very fruitful.  We've gotten to hear some of our artists get airplay on one of the most respected and listened to Hip Hop station in the nation (Hot 97).  We recently witnessed several big concerts with very high attendance and are about to see another come to life on the 27th of May.  There are artists living in Haiti who are signed to Wyclef's Sakpase Records and are getting attention outside of Haiti right now.  We had an awards show for Creole Hip Hop artists in Haiti provided to us by Rapforum.  NY and Florida artists are the two biggest representatives in the movement and they are putting their heads together to make this work.  An article about Haitians in Hip Hop was published in Source Magazine last month undoubtedly because of the buzz that Creole Hip Hop is creating.  Though we have a long way to go, there's no doubt thus far the movement is really starting to make headway and is not in its trenches anymore. In 5 years I would like to see Creole Hip Hop abroad and in Haiti in complete synch.  Right now it is almost as if there are two movements, one in Haiti and another outside of Haiti but with groups like Bourjoizee Entertainment and Skyz Da Limit constantly reaching out to Haitian artists living in Haiti, we are starting to see those two sides merge.  Of course, I would like to hear the music being played on all stations; see our videos being broadcasted on MTV and BET, all over the world really.  I would love to see collaborations with some of the world's biggest named artists.  I would love most of all to see people flock down to Haiti for a Creole Hip Hop festival the same way they flock down to Miami for Konpa Fest.

It is worth noting that on May 2, 2007, Sky's da limit's "Pou Yo' was on the top 10 list on Kompamagazine's and HNR's website which is a positive sign for the movement and a big step for SDL.  Once we start seeing the Creole Hip Hop videos on these media outlets such as Kompamagazinetv.com or Kompatv.com then we'll know the HMI is starting to pay attention.  I am also waiting for the HMI music awards to consist of more then just a few Konpa artists who were hot for that year and to become an awards show where all genres of Haitian music not just Konpa but all genres are fairly represented.  Right now what we have as an awards show is a big disappointment and seems to be put together by people who do not want to acknowledge that Haitian music has evolved to include more than just Konpa.
When asked, which of the current artists he thinks will be the first to make it on the international music scene, he replied: “This is a loaded question.  I mean so many of these artists already have what it takes to make it onto the big international scene.  The bigger challenge to me is not international but the HMI.  Believe it or not, it is much easier to get the attention of non-Haitians as is evident during Creole Hip Hop performances here in NYC.  Outsiders appreciate the movement more than do the people in whose language the messages are being disseminated.  I think Mecca aka Grimo or Negmaron will be the artist to break through the Haitian community followed by Skyz Da Limit and Dr Zoe.  Outside the Haitian market, I think artists like Seca Konsa, Bennchoumy, Stichiz and a whole heap of others can break through, any day now really. Artists that are already in the movement right now who will be making some noise are Seca Konsa, Mecca aka Grimo and Negmaron just to name a few. It is very hard to say three of our bests off the top of my head because I think Skyz Da Limit as well as Dr Zoe is on the verge right now of really making our presence felt.  Some artists who do not have albums out yet but who will be bringing this to another level are Voodoo Clan, History Clan both up in France...in Haiti we have Barikad Crew, Mystic 703 and Rockfam.”

According to Johny, the messages that these artists are sending out will be able to touch the non-Haitian audiences as they could as easily lean towards the songs that draw them into the subject matters as social issues, life in general which are reality based.  A group called Negmaron that fluently flips between Kreyol and English (Krenglish) in such a way that any English speaker can clearly understand what they are talking about even if they only understand half the words could easily reach these audiences.

It is interesting to hear Johny’s views on how the artists would describe him, his work within the movement and what he sees as his positive legacy within the movement: “Wow!! I really don't know.  I hear good things about me but I don't know if everyone feels the same way.  Hopefully they see me as a do or die figure who approached the movement with a clean heart and wants to see nothing more then success for them and I hope that when it's all said and done and that at least one of my efforts helped catapult someone in the movement towards success and in turn that person does the same for someone else.  I also am hoping to use my efforts to start something positive in Haiti, if I can at least do that then my legacy will write itself and my purpose will be done.”

Johny Jacques, a man of purpose, driven with the need to unite his people through music is not only a man of words, spreading the word about the Hip Hop movement via his writings. He is also a doer, making sure to promote the artists, their works, and their concerts and also attend their functions. When we need to know more about these artists we can all use the best of all of Johny’s works for the cause, the website: www.dahaitiansarecoming.com,  dedicated to all the Haitian soldiers in the Creole Hip Hop Movement who put their hearts and souls out in the form of Hip Hop music, the voices of our generation, Haitian Americans, Haitian Canadians, French Haitians, touching souls, educating minds and making dadaz souke: www.dahaitiansarecoming.com