HAITI RAP & RAGGA: Match la Red
    MATCH LA RED
  1. Manmzel (f. Master Dji, Supa Denot)
  2. Neges Lakay (f. Elylrac)
  3. Religion (f. Frantzy, Vency)
  4. Conscience Noire (f. T-Bird, Supa Denot)
  5. Vanite (f. Tresor)
  6. Tet Chaje (f. Master Dji)
  7. Match la Red (f. Master Dji, T-Bird, Supa Denot, MC BOP, Elylrac, MC Storm, Frantzy)
  8. Sa Fe Mal (f. Frantzy)
  9. Manmzel (instrumental)
  10. Religion (instrumental)
  11. Neges Lakay (instrumental)



The BREAKDOWN:
The album starts with the first single (and video) "Manmzel", it was a great hit, very club-like. Next comes "Neges Lakay" which is a shoutout to all Haitian women and their beauty. "Religion", the following track, attacks the bad side of religion and its affects on our lives. Then comes the smash hit "Conscience Noire" which is a call for every haitian to developpe their "black consciousness". We are then faced with "Vanite" where MC BOP rap about vanity. In "Tet Chaje", we discover the comedian side of Master Dji. "Match la Red" (second video) reunite all 7 MCs on a rather short track which describes the scenes of Port-au-Prince at the time. The last song "Sa Fe Mal" give us a clue of the (bad) world we live in nowadays.

Our 2 CENTS:
This is a classic in Haitian hip-hop. A little bit of trivia: It's the first (and so far the only) Haitian "various artists" rap/ragga album released on CD. The previous "various artists" album was only avalaible on tape. It may be worth mentioning that this album came out in 1993 during the "embargo period" and that it was the last project Master Dji worked on before his death (in 1994). There were 2 or 3 videos from that album. They received a French "Découvertes" award for the song "Conscience Noire".

Now for what it's worth, this is a good display of the first wave of rappers and chatters in the country. Each song relate to an aspect of life in Haiti at that time and the whole album reflects a Black consciousness and pride that was rarely expressed in Haiti. The album cover is a good work of art reflecting the streets of Port-au-Prince. But this Cd doesn't come without flaws:

If you remove the 3 instrumental tracks at the end, the album is rather an EP with only 8 songs. The result is that not all 7 MCs had a chance to truly showcase their talents. The last song could have been replaced by another one featuring an artist like MC Storm (who's only featured on the album-title track). Speaking of the title track, it definitely was way too short for a song featuring 7 artists.