Haiti’s most known music style is Kompa, a vibrant music and dance genre similar to that of their Cuban neighbors but with a reminiscence of jazz. It was created in the fifties by the saxophonist, writer and band leader, Nemours Jean-Baptiste. It is the result of a fusion between fundamental Haitian rhythms and the Tipico of the Dominican Republic.

At the moment of its creation, Dominican music was very popular in Haiti. Sunday dances, celebrations of marriage, and feasts for all occasions in Port-au-Prince were done to the tunes of the “Tipico de Cibajino” and the “El Negrito del Batey.” Those musicians were dominated by the saxophone and the drum. In this context, the appearance in Haiti of the Orchestra Atomic featured music that was mainly based on a marriage of Cuban and Dominican rhythms.

Although folkloric Haitian music was the main repertoire of the very popular Jazz des Jeunes, it had lost its momentum with the fall of President Dumarsais Estimé in 1950 and his replacement of General Paul E. Magloire. The Celebration of the Bicentennial of Port-au-Prince, during the Estime era, in the forties, was a huge opportunity for Haitian folkloric music, which featured some superb musical talents like the singer Lumane Casimir and the drummer Ti Roro. Those artists were still performing in the beginning of Magloire’s six-year term, but they no longer enjoyed the huge celebrity status bestowed upon them during Estime’s time in power.

When the Nemours Jean-Baptiste started his “Ensemble Aux Calebasses”, which played at a Night Club of the same name in the region of Carrefour (suburb of Port-au-Prince), Haitian music was in a stage of a virtual drought. The musical sounds of the Dominican Republic and of Cuba filled the air. Celia Cruz and the Sonora Matencera provided the Bolero and the Guaracha. Peres Prado supplied the mambo.

Other artists like Rodolphe Legros and Guy Durosier had some popular appeal at this time of the emergence of Kompa. Although deeply rooted in the national music of Haiti, their music failed to reach the level of popular attraction that will be attained by Kompa. Aside from the creation of Kompa Direct, Nemours Jean-Baptiste introduced electrical instruments in Haiti. Although he was criticized at that time by the purist, who said that his musical “ensemble” was an electric power plant, every Haitian musical group, including the very conservative Jazz des Jeunes followed his example.

Because of the appearance of electric instruments and the simplicity of Kompa Direct, a plethora of young musical groups appeared in Haiti. Every major section of Port-au-Prince had a musical group. Young people danced to the Compas music et les Sche-Leu, les Fantaisistes de Carrefour, les Ambassadeurs, les Gypsies de Pétion-Ville, les Loups Noirs, les Frères de Jean, les Tabou Combo, les Skah-Shah, Coupé Cloué, Septentrional and Tropicana of Cap-Haitian.

Gradually, the groups formed by the younger generation replaced the old timers like Nemours Jean-Baptiste and his rival, the talented saxophonist Weber Sicot. During the era of Jean-Claude Duvalier, the Kompa sound of some very powerful bands like DP Express, Scorpio, Shouga Combo, Bossa Combo and the Gemini of Ti Manno, filled the airways in Haiti. Ti Manno, in particular, became very popular, became very popular, not only in Haiti but in the French Antilles.

The popularity of those performers prepared the public for the next level in Kompa, which is dominated by Michel Martelly (Sweet Micky), Magdum Ben, Ti-Vice, Mass Compas with Gracia Delva, Djakout Misik, Zen, Zenglen, Carimi, Lakol, K-Dans, Nu-Look, and System Band to name a few.

Styles of music unique to the nation of Haiti also include music derived from Vodou: Vodou-jazz, Mizik Rasin (dance yanvalou, congo, petro, kita, ibo, banda), Twoubadou, and Haitian Rap. Popular Haitian Hip Hop artists are Black Alex from King Posse, Original Rap Staff, Top Adlerman, and Barikad. Some of well-known groups of Misik Rasin are Boukman Eksperyans (Théodore Beaubrun, Junior surmane Lòlò), Boukan Ginen, Ram and Kampech.

Today, Haitian-born rapper and musician Wyclef Jean is one of the most celebrated artists.