This year marks Compas Direct’s 59th year anniversary and what a year its been for the Haitian music industry. It was definitely an interesting year. 2014 brought a lot of great moments and a few not so great depending on which side of the spectrum you were on. We’ll get into the winners and losers in a bit; in the meantime; without a doubt the Compas Direct fans were the ones winning this year.
The year started off with Haitians worldwide celebrating Haiti’s 210th year of independence on January 1st , the month also marked the 4th year anniversary of the horrific earthquake which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the small nation on January 12th 2010.
As the year slowly progress; one bands made sure in the band of the year department they stood firm… yo VIN AVAN; while other could barely stand on firm grounds as a unit. Some bands lost members, some RELOADED without missing a beat. We were introduced to a few very talented female artists and we hope to see them next year because there was SOMETHING ABOUT them. For the first time this year we heard the word VIRUS and it had nothing to do with Ebola or the Chikungunya. A few highly anticipated events flopped while some surprisingly were total success. Slowly but surely Haitian party goers started stepping out again. Some made a few CONFESSIONS while others just caught cases. A couple of front men came out of their shell and prove that when given the opportunity to shine they can blind us with their light, while a few went to complete oblivion. We’ve gained a king and lost a few knights along the way and without further a due; here’s the report card for the year!
BAND OF THE YEAR
KLASS- They took the industry by storm this year and there’s no sign of them slowing down.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Arly Lariviere – “You’ve coming a long way, baby” From the man hiding behind the keyboard which he used as a crutch to the man behind the mic. 2014 Arly “pote tout ko li anne sa”
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Rutshelle Guillaume
EVENT PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Urbain Richard of Venus Intl Promotion- Venus Promotion produced the most talked about event this year.
EVENT OF THE YEAR
Klass Vs Nu Look
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Confession by Nu Look
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
I got this by Nu Look (Released 11-22-13)
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Confession by Nu Look
SLOGAN OF THE YEAR
Raram Kanaval 2014 – Parèt tout kòw
ALBUM RELEASES
Gabel – Anyen Pa Etenel
Suav Mizik- Garanti
Alan Cave- Timeless
5Etwal – New Chapter
Nu Bel – Kole Sou Mwen
Madman JP- 2know Love Is 2 Know You
Kenny Desmangles – Full Sèvis
Djakout # 1 – Lòd nan Dezòd
X-Tassy – Motivation
T-Micky – Atache
T-Vice- Reloaded
CARNIVAL OF THE YEAR
Gonaives won this hands down.
FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR
Haitian Compas Festival continues to reign this department.
LEGAL ISSUES:
1-Harmonik is sued by Solotel, the company who was supposed to release their album Diferan for breach of contract.
2-Klemay formerly of Klass domestic violence case dropped.
3- Francois Claude Cajuste Arrested for Statutory Rape
NEWBIES
The multi-talented Phyllisia Ross makes her debut
DAT7 starts making quite a buzz in the industry without even releasing any material.
LOUD BARK BUT NO BITE
(The bands that were highly anticipated but fell short of success)
5Etwal
Abyans
Belle Plezi
Panik
WHO BIT THE DUST?
(The people who just upped and walked away)
Roody Delpe
Steffy Bee
DEATHS
Mary Jean Gabriel (RTVC)
R-BASS (Brother Posse)
Nelson Ned
