Jam of the Month: Album Edition

What's your current favorite album?

There’s no doubt that 2020 has been an overwhelming and stressful year for many of us. One thing that has kept me sane besides creating makeup looks is listening to music. Music really makes me happy and brightens up my mood whenever I’m in my feelings. 99.9 % of the time I’m listening to Konpa and that’s primarily what my playlist consists of. Although I love listening to Konpa music, I don't like all of the music that I hear. Konpa is a genre of Haitian music. One thing that is a must for me in a song is the - solo ( where the instruments play and there’s no words). The solo has to be right and captivate my soul, make me feel like i’m in love lol. My current album is KamaSootra from Enposib and it contains fourteen tracks. Six of those fourteen tracks are my favorite and it's not easy to find an album where I like that many tracks, it’s usually one or two tracks that catches my attention. 

When I first get introduced to a song, I tend to focus on the melody before the lyrics - please let me know if I’m the only one who is like that. I have to feel the vibe of the melody. Once that happens then I can focus on the lyrics. Here are my top six tracks:

1. Met Gramoun Sou Ou 

2. Overdose

3. Kote w te ye 

4. Bat Dada

5. Defo

6. Bel Intro 

Bat Dada and Defo were already two great songs that I enjoyed listening to. Mid year this year, Enposib dropped the song Overdose featuring Phyllisia Ross. I instantly fell in love with the song and the video is on point. You can check it out here  https://youtu.be/qnmPhERmDkg. Enposib's new album, KamaSootra, became available at the end of July. I really anticipated hearing the album and surprisingly there is a song that took the number one place from Overdose. 

Ranking at the top, my favorite is Met Granmoun Sou Ou. The song basically talks from a man's perspective of how a woman should let the man want to chase her, to select her, to give him the chance to miss her, to not let him in too easily, to let him discover what she can do without her having to show him what she could do.  I really appreciate this song because I see it from a man’s point of view and how men feel. Maybe not all but some. Aside from the lyrics, the solo did it for me. All I want to do is find a partner and gouye (a sensuous body movement between two people dancing).I've been listening to that song on repeat and I’m tired of it yet. 

Coming in at number two is Overdose. I love the feature with Phyllisia Ross, she has such a beautiful voice. I love seeing this duet between Medjy and Phyllisia, I can't recall the last song that I actually liked that was a duet in the HMI. My favorite line from the song is “ Mwen renmen w plus ke ou renmen mwen” which translates to “I love you more than you love me”. A lot of women find themselves feeling that way in real life.

Kote W Te Ye is the third track on my list. The melody and  words are just wow. Basically the song is saying "Where were you all of this time. My heart won’t hurt anymore. You make me forget all my other girlfriends." Besides the beautiful lyrics to this song, all I want to do is find a dancing partner and dance the night away.

Bat Dada- with the title of this song, I think only Haitians will understand the significance of “Bat Dada” because I’m not even sure how I would describe that in English. The song talks about a relationship that in the beginning is beautiful and so suddenly there’s trouble in paradise. There become insecurities and arguments are created for no reason. In the end he mentions, "If we can't make it work, then it's best we go our separate ways." This song speaks on a lot of relationships that couples experience behind close doors. 

Defo is another love song on the album. With this song even though he’s married, he still have bad habits like sleeping and entertaining other women then coming home to his wife apologizing by bringing her flowers. He is aware that he has those “defo” but at the end of the day he still love his wife and will never leave her behind. Again this is another one of those song that speaks on a lot of people’s reality.

Bel Intro is the first song on the album as the intro. I love the melody; sadly, it is very short and a lot of listeners are asking why couldn’t it be a full song. I myself wish it was a full song . I can vibe to this,relax and imagine myself running and spinning through the grass. I’m interested in finding out the metaphorical meaning behind this song if there is any. 

There are other tracks on the album that is a hit, but we all have different tastes in what we like. If you’re a Konpa lover like muse of and haven’t heard the album I would highly recommend adding it to your playlist. I’m curious to find out which song on the album will have a video next. I'm crossing my fingers that it’s either Kote W Te Ye or Met Granmoun Sou Ou. 

In a live interview on Instagram hosted by Nodrant Lechacha; Medjy Toussaint, one of the singers of the band was a guest on the XPoz show. Xpoz show sheds spotlight on artists in the HMI (Haitian Music Industry) asking them questions to expose themselves so that the fans can know the artist better. During the interview Medjy talked about the album. It was interesting to learn a bit more about Medjy, previous songs and the current album - KamaSootra. Medjy explains that he was first introduced to music at the age of eleven, he used to go over his aunt’s house every Friday to practice on the piano and the rest is history. During the live I made sure to ask in the Q&A section what inspired the songs on the album. Medjy’s answer was straight forward and explained that most of the time it’s spontaneous any little thing can inspire a song. You can check out the full XPoz interview here https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDiAFsIATIx/?igshid=yosti4341kry