Details below…check out the interview after the jump…

Suite903’s worldly reach has zoned in on Haiti with an interview with Rosemond Jolissant. A past winner of Digicel Stars (the American Idol of Haiti), he is one of the most promising artists coming out of the country. We sat around, chatted (in CREOLE no less), and then he played some music for us. Besides getting over his shock of flying to New York in the middle of snowicane, from a country where the average temperature is 85 everyday, he was pretty chill and super sweet. He was on a trip to raise funds for the organization that he works with, SOIL, a cause now spotlighted in the media due to the devastating earthquake, which he experienced. We were glad to have him come by and cheer up the office on a dreary Friday evening in the midst of his hectic schedule. Don’t get it twisted though, this kid is the one of the most laid back people we’ve ever met. You’d never guess he’s flying all over the world, recording albums with international musicians, raising funds for his country and still going to high school…

Check out a video of Rosemond at work below….

via Suite903.com.

Note: Translated from Creole.

Since what age have you been singing? When did you start playing music?
So I started playing when I was 12 years old. It was a cousin of mine who taught me how to play instruments and then I went to a music school in Cap D’Haitien and while I was in school I started writing songs and performing with an evangelical choir.

You play guitar?
Yea I play guitar. I play keyboard and drums. I also play bass because I learned all those [instruments] in school. But I mostly play guitar when I perform because I’m more comfortable playing it while I sing.

You were in the Digicel Competition only once?
Yea

That was 2007. How old were you?
At the time I was 15 going on 16.

When the competition was over how did your life change? What kinds of opportunities opened up?
Digicel is one the largest phone companies in Haiti. One of the prizes they gave me was unlimited phone service through the company. Another was a prize of $100,000 dollars and I became a Pepsi Ambassador. That was very cool. They took me to Jamaica and other countries abroad.

How did you start working with SOIL?
So way before I won the Digicel contest, I met Sasha at a Haitian rap radio station while I was doing an interview. Finally, I started playing a lot of the songs that spoke of Haiti during the interview. Sasha had come to make an announcement on the radio because she was a reporter in Haiti at the time. Sasha is one of the heads of the organization, and then she met me at the radio station and was quite captivated when I sang and then we started to work together.

What kind of things do you do with the organization?
SOIL is an organization that works on the sanitation in Haiti and works in the cities of Chada, Cap D’Haitien and other densely populated areas. Me, what I do with SOIL is work with the kids, and we have a program called “Garbage Doesn’t Exist.” What we mean by that is that we have the kids take little things out of the trash and create new, beautiful things. Like they take pieces of plastic and such and make beautiful…artistic things out of it. Its very cool.

How long have you been working with them? Are you happy with the work you do with them?
So I’ve been working on these projects sine 2007. Whenever we do a final presentation with the kids we have a huge street fair in O’Cap [Cap D’Haitien] and we get a bunch of artists from Port-au-Prince to come and participate. The street fair is open to the entire community and the kids have their art show. We usually do it every December.

So do you live in PAP or O’Cap?
I was living in Port-au-Prince sporadically for events but ever since September I moved there permanently.

What are you doing in PAP?
Well you know, that’s where I go to school now.

Music school?
No, high school. Haha.

How did you end up in school in Port-au-Prince?
So, I mean I should mention that Haiti is a bit centralized in Port-au-Prince. Everything that you would want to do has to be done in PAP. Any kind of work I would want to do in music or if I want to work with another artist, do a show, or raise money, or work on an album I have to go to PAP. So I preferred to go to school there and everything became easier for me. That’s why I have to live there.

You were in there during the earthquake?
Yeah, I was there in Delmas 62. It was truly horrible because I can say that’s the first time I ever saw something like that in my life and I was very scared. But then afterwards…I have a lot of my friends who died and family that were injured and hospitalized but it.. really hurts me.

I had family too, in Delmas 18 and Vivimichel but they’re in Saint Marc now.
Yeah? Well that’s good.

What would you like to do with all the money you raise when you go back to Haiti?
Since SOIL is an organization that works in populated areas we’re always going to keep working with these people because SOIL finances getting toilets and plumbing in the areas. There are many areas, for instance Chada. Chada is an area by the sea, that’s kinda like a shantytown with a bunch of shacks stuck together. There’s no plumbing or bathrooms. There’s a lot of garbage and we try to clean up these areas. We’re trying to raise money for SOIL so they can do more in PAP; go into the city and do some work because that would be quite positive because recently PAP has come to have a lot of major problems for the population.

Do you write all your music?
Yea I write all my music.

When you write, do you write the lyrics first or compose on the guitar?
Yea sometimes but there is a melody that appears in my head. After I flesh it out then I can start to imagine something beautiful and write a song with it. But at times I just think of a subject, I write about it and then I put it to a melody.

And where do you find ideas and inspirations for the songs?
You know, sometimes you’re thinking and reviewing events and you see the things that are happening in front of you. It makes you think because in Haiti I write a lot of music that talk about situations of life. In Haiti there are many living situations where there are children in the streets. They sleep in the streets. They can’t go to school. So if I write quite a few songs that talk about these things. The song that I won with at the Digicel competition is a song called “Timoun Yo” (The Kids) that speaks of the street kids. And in Haiti its things like that an artist can draw upon to write about. You see these things happening in front of you and music is something I would say is life. Like if a person has problems that are tormenting him—like the subject of love itself. If the person has a problem that is eating away at them, upon hearing a song about the subject this may give him more problems or it may get it off his mind.

Is there anyone you want to work with? Any artists you want to collaborate with?
Well I finally have a studio in Haiti so I always have a lot of musicians around me. We have a whole house so they can come and rehearse in the house when they want to work on an album, which is pretty important. Like Fabrice Rouzier who is a very popular Haitian artist is working with me. He’s the one that’s recording /mixing the music for me too. I’m going to work in Washington [state] this week because I have a studio that promised to work with me on my album with foreign musicians, African musicians and other nationalities so the album can have a different and unique sound.

What would you like to do with your music? With the success?
I would like to release an international album. That’s why I want to invite foreign artists to work on my album. A lot of them are my friends and I want to invite them to come work with me and put their two cents in on the album cause this kinda stuff is always interesting. Even in Haiti, if you have a popular international artist, it’s cool. Saul Williams is a good friend of mine and Wyclef’s manager was paying for me to go to school in Haiti.

The annual Jazzfest took place in Jamaica recently. Erykah Badu was there doing her thing, here are some clips from her performance.

Directions, and other details can be found below.

I definitely have to give credit where it’s due. CCCADI continues to put together some great events. Tonight, they’re set to launch their truly unique art exhibition for Women’s History Month. Check out the details below…

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) is pleased to present “Wearing Spirit: Aesthetically Personifying the Feminine in African Sacred Traditions” a multi-media exhibition of paintings, sculpture, photography, textile art, video and installations honoring the power of the Feminine present in African Sacred Traditions.

While African Sacred Traditions exist within a context of gender duality of masculine/feminine, this exhibition specifically explores the complex fabric of female personalities in indigenous African spirituality. Work in the exhibition captures the essence and power of the female deities, priestesses, and prophets that have served as instruments of balance and grounding within indigenous African spiritual systems and their derivatives.

Artists attempt to answer such questions as: Who are the gatekeepers of the spirit and physical realms? Who are the most prominent female divinities? What are the roles of female priestesses and prophets in a contemporary context? How is feminine energy shaping the future of these traditions?

This show is an awe-inspiring reflection of the universal essence that is cosmically feminine. It also highlights the traditional West African systems of Akan, Vodun and Yoruba and their Diasporan counteparts along with other rituals and rites-of-passage ceremonies.

In 2010, people are still being persecuted for their devotion to these indigineous belief systems. Most recently, there are reports of Haitian earthquake survivors being denied food and assistance as well as having their temples and altars desecrated and destroyed by evangelical Christians, simply for their practice of Vodun. Additionally, there needs to be a resurgence of earth-based practices during times of environmental disintegration. These traditions must be preserved and celebrated and this exhibition further educates the general masses to the cosmic energy that is Feminine and Sacred.

Opening Reception:
March 11 6 - 8:30 p.m.

On View:
March 12 through May 21, 2010

For more info on the event, click here.

Check out a full listing of the artists involved and a video interview with Imo Nse Imeh, Ph.D as he discusses his piece “Mechanisms in Uyai,” after the jump…

Featuring the works of:

Elen K. Awalom, Ama Bentsi-Enchill, Firelei Baez, Aisha Bell, Dineo Bopape, Valerie Caesar, Sonya Clark, Malik Cumbo, Michael Cummings, Paul Deo, Kenneth Dossar, Cassi Amanda Gibson, Nakeisha Gumbs, Bethanie Hines, Imo Nse Imeh, Marcia Jones, William Jones, J’Renee, Stephanie Keith, Ananda Leeke, Sandrine Malary, Aaqil Ka, Frank D. Robinson, Jr., Karen Seneferu, Deborah Singletary, Noelle Lorraine Williams, Paula Wynter

Curated by:
Shantrelle P. Lewis

New video from Vybz that’s been making it’s way around the net. It’s only right that we join in. Check out the video below…

For a while I never knew who the actual artist was behind Dr. Evil, but he was always popping up mixes and doing silly impressions. Well those of you that don’t know its Leftside, formally from Leftside & Esco. The track “Transform” has been out for a while where Leftside uses his alter ego to do various impressions, see for yourself.

Full interview coming soon, but for now check out the preview @ ColoRising.com.

Shouts to Art for making this happen.

Gotta keep the variety up with these recipes….check out a recipe for surullitos, a Puerto Rican appetizer/snack made of corn and cheese, below…..

Surullitos

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups yellow cornmeal
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:

• Combine the water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Stirring constantly, slowly and steadily (so as not to interrupt the boil) pour the cornmeal into the water.
• Continue to stir for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and thick.
• Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the cheddar cheese.
• Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
• Divide the mixture into 24 equal portions, then shape each portion into uniform cylinders about 3 inches long. Place them on wax paper to prevent sticking.
• Heat the oil for frying, then fry the surullitos in small batches of 4 at a time for about 5 minutes each. Turn them while frying for even browning.
• Drain on paper towels and keep warm until serving time.

Serves: 8-12 people.

A glimpse into everyday Caribbean life, via GOOD.is. Check out the details below…

In 2008 and in 2009, the photographer Caroll Taveras ventured to Jamaica on two assignments, one for Culture and Travel and another for The Guardian. For the former, her work focused on the development of downtown Kingston, specifically as related to a youth art and cultural center known as the Rock Tower and the distinction between the areas of the city that are considered safe (uptown) and unsafe (downtown). After completing the assignment, Taveras developed a deep attachment for the area, and during her time there (and on her next assignment) Taveras felt compelled to keep taking photographs.

“When you get sent out on an assignment, even great assignments, you’re following a checklist,” she says. “But I always try to do something for myself. After I cover the ground I have to cover, I look for a few other things. Of course, music is such a big thing in Jamaica, and I, personally, was obsessed with dancehall girls.”

What follows is a selection of photographs from Kingston, Jamaica, through the lens of Caroll Taveras. This is a Jamaica you might not see in tourist brochures, and it’s all the more beautiful for it.

Check out the full feature here: GOOD.is / Picture Show: Kingston, Jamaica…

…or check out a preview below…

While Haiti’s problems are far from gone, and while lives of people are still far from what it used to be, life still moves forward. One of the best things is despite all the hardships certain staples of Haitian culture won’t die - namely art and music. I threw up a report a from the NY Times a few weeks ago about the hardships of Haitian artists. This NY Times video shows how artist are still pushing on, making music, painting and surviving.