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Issue
1: July 06
Featuring Mecca AKA Grimo, & Abdias
Charles.
Issue
2: August 06
Featuring Evans Thesee, The
Maroons, Mr. Reo, & Phillip
Brutus.
Issue
3: September 06
Featuring Yvecar Momprousse, fashion
designer Andy Jacques, Nathalie Guillaume (Nati
Dred), and Johnny Jacques showcasing the
Creole Hip Hop movement.
Issue
4: October 06
Featuring the Haitian Woman: Fania
Simon, Dr. Carole
Berotte, Pascale Auguste, and Sulaah.
Issue
5: November 06
Featuring Artists Bennchoumy, Myrtelle
Chery, Gashford
Guillaume and our Christmas Story
Contest.
Issue
6: December 06
Featuring Aurélie Véronique Saint-Pierre,Richard
Jeanty, Leslie Demangles, Danielle Legros-Georges, and
Margaret Papillont.
Issue
7: March 07
Featuring Sky'z Da Limit, Hertz Nazaire, Louis Elneus
and the Urban Walk for Haiti.
Issue 8: April 07
Featuring No More Fear, Mr. Jacky Poteau, Jhon Clark
and the Fleurimond Catering, Inc. Benefit Gala.
Issue
9: May 07
Featuring More than Words, John "Papa Jube"
Altino, Pascal Antoine & Rasin Ganga
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Our Newsletter
Issue 8 -May
2007
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In this issue
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Creole Hip Hop Spotlight:Johny Jacques- More Than Words
John "Papa Jube" Altino: Producer, Promoter & Artist
Pascal Antoine: Making Things Happen His Way
Rasin Ganga: Founder of MOSOPEN
| Greetings!
A'u coeur
d'une humanité déchirée et incohérente
qu'est- ce qui nous fait tenir debout et nous fait
avancer?''
Dear reader,
I am Marie- Hélène Rameau Léger, Editor -in
-Chief of Pluriel Magazine since 1996. Pluriel
Magazine is dedicated to my father, Roger
Rameau, who was assassinated in PAP, June
13th 1988.
Since
its conception, our mission, at the same
time important and passionate, was to serve
the nation and the Haitian community, first
at home and now abroad through enriching
articles to the betterment of the readers.
Moral values, civism and patriotism are
the base of our ambition for justice which
will allow us to continued progress.
Iam
pleased and honored to collaborate with
Prodg Promotions and its Founder, Bleky
Seide, a remarkable and outstanding man
of character.
For
many countries in the world, the month of
May has many different meanings. For us,
in our culture, May 1st celebrates our Mother
Earth Day ( Fête de la Terre, de notre Faune
et de notre Flore). May 1st is known as
a holiday. Not too long ago, Haiti was known
as an essentially agricultural and harmonious
country that showed the fulfillment of motherhood.
Today, unfortunately, our country can no
longer bloom during this marvelous season.
That left us afraid and anxious for our
new generation, the future of the country.
The Ayiti left to us by the Indians depicts
self sufficiency and abundance. The land
was green, rich, productive, respected and
loved. Morality and respect were very much
appreciated.
If
parents would teach their children to really
love their country and encourage them to
plant a tree on earth day, today, Haiti
would not be 99% stripped from its flora
and fauna. What does it do to us when our
neighbor land, the Dominican Republic, shows
luxurious land settings? Isn't it heartbroken?
For me, Haiti, the most beautiful country
God has blessed us with is now deprived
and gives us a painful birth to a weak and
very poor harvest. What have we done? Nous
pouvons faire notre ''MEA CULPA'' et questionner
notre amour pour notre pays, notre civisme
et notre patriotisme.
Should
we really celebrate Mother Earth Day? Or
should it be a day given to us as an occasion
to think, to express, to share common knowledge,
or to create something different, to explore
other avenues, new, old or longtime forgotten?
Surely
we cultivated irresponsibility, individualism
and no love for our mother land. We used
and abused the country and its people instead
of serving them. We did not create, produce
or progress. We took this precious time
to look for where we came from instead of
where we are going to. Nous nous questionnons
sur notre maturité?
'' Généralement, l'homme libre fait de ses actes une avancée
spectaculaire vers le chemin du progrès''
La liberté, c'est ce qui nous permet d'aller
plus loin, de développer nos capacités et
ce que nous avons de plus précieux : notre
pays, notre future génération''.
Rappellons
- nous donc que nous sommes les premiers
noirs libres et indépendants. Qu'avons-
nous fait de cette liberté et de cette indépendance
? Là aussi, nous questionnons nos sentiments,
nos devoirs et notre responsabilité de citoyen
?
We
are proud to dedicate this paragraph of
'' Mother Earth Day'' to Tiboul Audant and
father Franklin Armand who have contributed,
in their own way, to the advancement of
their country. It is said: "the only honorable
work there is, is the one of the heart".
We believe that.
May
18th is Flag Day in our culture. C'est la
fête de notre Bicolore. Our Flag represents
our pride, our dignity of an independent
nation and a free people. However, when
we look of what Haiti became, we have questions.
We are asking today's mother: do they teach
civism and patriotism to their children,
to love and respect their Flag and their
country? Do they help their children enough
to become good and honest citizens? How
do they guide them to attain a success which
is not built on immorality and corruption?
What moral values do they teach their children
in order to help them survive in today's
dehumanized society?
In
an article written by Rigobert Carty, Esq.:
Les sept symboles du drapeau haïtien, Mr.
Kern Délince pense ''qu'en dépit de nos
luttes fratricides et nos comportements
aberrants, nous avions gardé un certain
nombre de traits positifs qui faisaient
l'originalité de notre personnalité : Sentiments
de l'honneur, amour passionné de la liberté,
acharnement très vif à la souveraineté nationale,
goût de l'héroïsme, croyance en une vocation
messianique de la nation haïtienne. Qui
d'entre-nous possède encore ces sentiments
? A vous chers lecteurs d'en juger si nous
les avions perdu ou s'il nous faut les ranimer,
et comment.
Our
collective responsibilities as citizens
of Haiti are to promote non violence, moral
values, education and health. We need to
be UNITED in order to educate our citizens
to assume their civic duties and have respect
for one to another. We have a great challenge
ahead to confront: a sincere reconciliation
among us for a lasting solution to Haiti's
problems. With that said and hopefully done,
we will have a climate of PEACE which will
be favorable for tourism and foreign investments.
May
27th is Mother's Day in our culture. Cheres
meres, nous ne dirons jamais assez combien
nous vous sommes reconnaissantes et combien
nous vous aimons pour le don de votre personne
sans le moindre espoir de médaille ! Bravo
et Bonne Fête à vous toutes !
Merci.
Thank you, Bleky, for giving me the wonderful
opportunity to share some of my personal
thoughts, in an English and French manner,
with your readers.
Marie-Hélène R Léger
Editor -in-Chief
Pluriel Magazine
| John "Papa Jube" Altino: Producer, Promoter & Artist |
John
"Papa Jube" Altino is a force to
be reckoned with; producer, promoter,
artist and an all around music lover.
Papa Jube was born into a Christian
family where both parents were musicians
and ministers. He has worked and
toured with some of the best artists
in the world. Papa Jube is currently
the President of Wyclef Jean's Sakpase
Records and also the Vice President
of SOB's night club.
Blake Seide
and Prodg Promotions are honored to introduce you to
John "Papa Jube" Altino.
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Read more of Mr. John Altino's spotlight
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| Pascal Antoine: Making Things Happen His Way |
Armed
with a background in internet technology
and a strong desire to want to connect
the world to more accurate news
and depictions of events occurring
in Haiti and affecting Haitians
and its descendents worldwide, Mr.
Pascal Antoine founded the innovative
HaitiXchange.com website (www.haitixchange.com)
in 2001 to do just that. We are
honored to have Mr. Antoine share
more abou
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| Read our interview with Pascal Antoine |
Rasin
Ganga: Founder of MOSOPEN
Jenny
Eli and Prodg Promotions had the pleasure
of meeting with Rasin Ganga founder of MOSOPEN,
Mouvman Solidarite ak Pèp Nou. MOSOPEN is
a non profit organization working for the
betterment of our people spiritually, socially,
politically and economically. This profound
idea is not just an organization but a movement
with focuses on major issues such as Agriculture,
Education, Health, and Transportations.
Read as this interview penetrates the passion
of Rasin Ganga in his life long journey
to develop scores of cries and suffering
souls into a single resilient voice from
the righteous needs of Haiti; a voice that
will not just generate solutions but spark
a wave of change. Read our interview with
Rasin Ganga
Read more here! |
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Creole Hip Hop 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."
Read more here!
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