PRODG Entertainment Promotions

Newsletter Issues:

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.

Join Our Mailing List and Receive our Newsletter:

Our Newsletter

Issue 3 - September 2006



In This Issue: New Artist Spotlight: Nathalie Guillaume Yvecar Momperousse and the NHSA: Helping Haitians Students get to the Next Level Andy Jacques: Fashion Icon in the Making Johny Jacques: In-Depth at the Kreyol Hip Hop Movement New Artist Spotlight: Nathalie Guillaume Name: Nathalie Guillaume aka Nati Dred Born: Port-Au-Prince attended an all girls private school; through extracurricular activities managed to come out of my shell and mingle among new acquaintances despite all the unconventional traditions and discipline that were imposed on me. My parents thought it was very important to be well-rounded so they introduced me to music, dance and art at a very young age. A lot of my identity comes from that cultural interaction Profession and music: I graduated from UM in 2005 with a BS in biochemistry and a BA in foreign literature. I also hold a minor in piano performance. So this is the connection I made... ready: life is science, science is numbers, numbers are rhythms (tempos), rhythm is music, music is language, and the art of language is literature! I know that might be a little abstract, but in my mind it makes sense… I am a PhD candidate into cosmetic research where I study a fair amount of botany and pharmacology. Throughout my studies I perfect my skills as a make up artist which prepares me immensely for the market I wish to invest in and widen. I relate these things to nature which highly inspire my art. It drives me to paint or write…sometimes I illustrate my poems and later come up with a hook to further develop it into a song. .. When I am around nature or wildlife there is no saying what I might release in the atmosphere. Style: How could I describe myself? Funky, afrocentric, jazzy, classic, emotional, creative… a little bit of all the influences that I had. Coming from the lineage of Guy Durosier and Raoul Guillaume, we listened to everything from Lumane Casimir to Miles Davis to Celia Cruz… I had the privilege to grow around people that would discuss politics and expose me to a hidden reality at a very young age. The tall primitive paintings and revolutionary books in the home definitely made me hungry for knowledge. When I came to the US in 2002, I dug so deep into my roots that I started to connect the dots and understand every little fragment of my personality. I started hanging around the B-Boys and B-Girls, listening to the Roots, Mos Def and Erykha Badu which gave me a whole new perspective on being black, being part of the African Diaspora, being educated, being sentimental… I guess a combination of these elements creates my jazzy/roots style of today. Read the rest of Nathalie's spotlight...		Greetings! We are honored to have this issue's introduction written by one of our past interviewees: Haitian artist, and activist Mecca, Aka Grimo. Peace & Love Readers, I consider you all family because at a time when our children are going astray & dropping out at an alarming rate we need to get back to the African Proverb that reassured us that no child gets left behind. It is true "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child" and that is why I am very involved in the education of our youth this year. I am currently on a school tour with the Haitian Heritage Museum. This tour is called Ayiti Expose. What we do is go to different schools through out the year and teach the youth about Haitian culture. We do this through the expressions of the arts. My contribution is promoting literacy through Poetry. It is very important to understand that we are not just teaching Haitian children but other nationalities also. The influence and the contribution of the Haitian experience is one that they left out of the history books. I feel it is my obligation as a brother of Haitian descent to inform all walks of life about our plight and what we contributed to the world. Recently, I learned that our Haitian brothers fought for American Independence at the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Les Chasseurs Volontaires de Saint-Domingue were volunteer freedom fighters from Haiti. This information would empower young Haitian brothers and sisters with Pride. It would also stop the ignorance of other nationalities, letting them know about our rich culture. In this issue, Prodg Entertainment Promotions introduces Natalie Guillaume, a very talented young a rtist who is making a difference though her work. This issue also features Yvecar Monperousse of the National Haitian Student Alliance, Andy Jacques, a young designer who's gaining notoriety in the Boston area, and an in-depth look at the Kreyol Hip-Hop Movement. We hope you enjoy the newsletter, and support and learn more about the interviewees. We continue to solicit donations to support our venture. We are grateful to everyone who has already contributed to our efforts. Please click on the button below to make a donation to us via the security of PayPal. It allows you to donate using a credit card or a PayPal account. Please email bseide@prodgentpromos.com with any questions. Sincerely, Mecca AKA Grimo www.MECCAakaGRIMO.com Prodg Update: We have launched our new website! We thank everyone who sent us some feedback about our previous site. We heard you loud and clear. We feel that our new site showcases the excellence that we're striving to be known for. We want to thank our webmaster, Richard Dubuisson, for designing and developing our new website. We invite you to bookmark our site and visit often for new articles, interviews and profiles. Yvecar Momperousse and the NHSA: Helping Haitians Students get to the Next Level Yvecar is a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Urban Studies and Metropolitan Planning. She started the first state Haitian Student Association in New Jersey and is now the Project Director for the National Haitian Student Alliance. Yvecar is a very bright young woman who's very passionate about the future of our young Haitians in America. Prodg Entertainment Promotions president, Bleky Seide, recently caught up with Yvecar to talk about the National Haitian Student Alliance and it's role in supporting Haitian students in this country. Read our interview with Yvecar... Andy Jacques - Fashion Icon in the Making For nearly 10 years, young Haitian-American designer Andy Jacques has been influential in the Boston's fashion scene. Having been exposed to his father's tailoring business at the tender age of 12, Andy has been described as having fashion in his blood. Andy has graced the covers of several media outlets such as the Boston Globe, NBC's "Deco Drive" in Miami, Fox News Channel 25 in Boston, ABC Channel 2 in NY and BostonFashion.com. Prodg Entertainment Promotions representative, Carline Gelé, was able to spend some time with Andy, ask him about his work, his community and what fashion is to him. Read our interview with Andy... Johny Jacques: In-Depth at the Kreyol Hip Hop Movement I wrote a column on Kreyol Hip Hop for the Haitian Times Newspaper less than a year ago today, but now that I read it back I realize how premature that piece was. In the past 6 months, I've gotten in to the point of no return with the Kreyol Hip Hop circle and have become an unofficial spokesperson for the movement. Had I known then what I know today, I would have shone the light deeper into the movement than I did in the column. Since my writing, I was contacted by several key players in the core of the Kreyol Hip Hop Movement and they've extended their open arms and welcomed me into the underground world of real Haitian Kreyol speaking Hip Hop. Read our article about the Kreyol Hip Hop Movement...