29679: Morse (response) Miles, Haiti and Hip Hop (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

_oloffsonram@aol.com_ (mailto:oloffsonram@aol.com)

I'm not used to having musical discussions with people, let alone on a
public forum. Brothers Posse, whom you mention, is more of a Haitian Reggae 
band.
You may have confused them with King Posse, which some call Rap and Ragga,
which once again is more of a Jamaican influence. In the '80's we had the 
father
 of Haitian Rap, Master Dji.

When I think of American Hip Hop, several words come to mind: "Gang  banger",
B*tches, Wh*res, pimps, N**ger, etc. Whether Wyclef uses these words in  his
songs isn't at issue. He is part of the "Hip Hop Lifestyle", as they call  it.
Sony, Polygram, Warner Bros. etc. crank this stuff out, factory style, like
there's no tomorrow. Awful, negative messages, full of hate and disrespect, by
 people of African descent for people of African descent.

A little kid from Cite Soleil came to the hotel a few months back and gave
me a little taste of his rapping skills. He couldn't have been more than six
years old. Unbelievable talent. He was saying things like, (loose  translation)
"I'm gonna kill em, I'm gonna crush em". I was stunned. I  said, "give me
something positive" and, without hesitating, he started rapping  about going to
school. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to be positive growing up  in a ghetto
war zone.

My point however, in my previous post, was completely missed.  It WASN'T the
Wyclef Film Festival, it was the JACMEL FILM FESTIVAL, the  organization of
which is a stroke of pure genius.
 Films in Creole, (Haitian Films when possible) for the Haitian  people, en
masse. Let's not lose track of the vision and the potential good it  can bring
to Haiti.