Haitian Beatz

Richie’s body of work speaks for itself. He has written many hit songs for Zenglen and himself. In only 10 years, he already has 7 albums under his belt: “5 Dwèt”, “Let it Groove”, “Do it Right”, “5 Etwal”, “Happy 50”, “Back to the Future”, “5’em Vitès”, and now “10 Ans Plus Tard/A Decade Later”. Furthermore, he wrote the majority of these albums.

No one can undermine Richie’s talent as an outstanding musician and a good songwriter. No one in in modern days Compas has written more songs than Richie. However, just like every great performer and songwriter he has reached the point where he can no longer evolve. His head has hit the ceiling. His pen game started to get rusty on the “Back to the Future” album, where he failed to deliver at least a major hit song. His lack of inspiration has started to show tremendously; there have been far too many “adaptations” on every album started from “Happy 50” to this solo album with the exception of “5em Vitès”. Was it necessary to have two medleys (combination or mixture of many different songs turn into one song) on this album? It’s ok to remake or remix classic hits, but Richie seems to over-doing it with the “medleys” and he hasn’t been properly given credit to original authors of those classics hits that he’s been remaking. By simply writing “doits reserves” as credits for these songs doesn’t show artistic integrity.

This review was written with honestly and respect for art. It is not to undermine or discredit Richie as a talented musician and songwriter as well as to deny his outstanding contribution to Compas, but simply to contribute to the advancement of the Haitian music.

“Cap Haitien Je T’aime” and “Happy 20” were the first two singles of the album; this review will not focus on them.



“10 Ans Plus Tard”: Dabens sings the first verse of how Richie has been working relentlessly for 10 years to advance Compas then brags in the second verse that : “mizik pa fèt nenpot kijan/yo fè nou konpliman/ tèt nou pa gwo poutan”. In the 3rd verse, he challenges everyone not to be negligent, to forget about competition and think about the nation (Haiti); push Compas to become global and intercontinental; expand the market and that people are becoming more demanding and artists need to stop being negligent.

This song is a typical “Dompas Direk” song; it attempts to take different directions musically, but doesn’t go beyond the ordinary Compas. Richie did a nice solo drums at the end of the song. “kompas pou lontan/kompa pou tout tan” for Kompas Direct fans but there’s not sign of evolution here. Anyone who can hold a note could have sung this song that has a very simple/straight melody with very limited variations.

“Don’t Let Go”: starts with a nice opening verse where Kenny sings about what “Love” is capable of doing and that the news and the newspapers are asking “poukisa pifo maryaj Jodi a pa dire?”

Following the contemporary songwriting structure, it’s wise to only have one hook in a song and the hook must be repetitive so that the listener can remember what the song is about and can start singing along on the very second listening. Having more than one hooks on a song confuse the listener and make it harder to have a hit song. “Don’t let go/ don’t let go/ baby don’t let go of your love”, which only came once, should have been the main and the only hook of this song. If this hook was repeated throughout the whole song, this song could have been a potential hit song. The concept of this could have been better constructed; it’s kind of all over the place and that it requires more than two listening to fully understand what it’s about, which is a major flaw one wants to avoid when writing a song.


The singer carries out the right emotion convince people that marriages and relationships used to survive long time ago and that people used to put more efforts to save those relationships and marriages, which now days people quick to move on, saying they can do better or will find someone better. The song is basically to advise people not to “Let Go” of their “love”.

“Nanou”: is supposed to be a heart-heart song; the story is actually the same story as “BòPè”, which on 5 Etwal’s album. However, “BòPè” is a far better written and a better composed song, if one wants to compare the two. Douby and Dabens failed to bring out the right emotions to match the story. A song like this requires soulful singers to bring out the message and make it more convincing. As most people who have listened to Dabens and Douby can attest, these two singers only do well with Compas Direct and supper-hype types of songs.

Before the song even gets to the second verse, Douby yelled: “OOOOOOOO MEN MOUN YOOOOOOOO” then Richie; “GADON TRELè KONPAAAA”; and Dabens continues: “YO JWENN NOUVEL LA WI”. This already takes away from the seriousness of the song and the relevance of the story.

“Gen Moun Li Bay” has an interesting concept. This song advise a man not to be hard on himself over a woman doesn’t find interest in him. Menmsi li pa vle ba’w, “gen moun li bay” kanmenm and that’s life. Si moun nan “pa renmen’w/ se fè chemen’w”; si fanm nan “pa enterese/ pa ba li non ni chay pote”. This song has a very amazing rock n roll electronic guitar solo; musically it stands out greatly and is one of the most appealing songs on the album, but it begs for a real HOOK.

“Linite” performed by legendary Dadou Pasket, Richie, and Top Adlerman. is the most profound and heart-felt song of the album.


Dadou sings: “Ayiti se yon chato ke nou tout antoure/menmsi’n pa kanpe menm kote/ se li nou tout ka vize/se sèl sila ki anwo a ki ka domine/nou pap ka libere/san linite…nou pa nan menm pozisyon/ se tou nomal/ diferan opinyon/pa illegal/jou’n jwen linyon/ nap sispann fè mal/ nap gen yon nasyon total capital”…

Richie: “parol yo tèlman repete/nou dekouraje/anpil mizik konpoze/ese pa de san ki koule/si se lenmi an wap chèche/m konn ki yès li ye/son vye mantalite ki fè’n zonbifye/ nou pa nan menm pozisyon/ se tou nomal/ diferan opinyon/pa illegal/jou’n jwen linyon/ nap sispann fè mal/ nap gen yon nasyon total capital”.

This is slow tempo song that’s filled with emotion and soul; the melody is simple and appealing with a strong hook. Top Adlerman did ok in terms of flow, but his lyrics lacked depth to match those lyrics above sung by Dadou and Richie. Top la pa ragga nan chante sa; li rap.

“Je T’aime” is a medley made of “chansonette francaise” classics. All, Pipo, Jude Jean, and Tantan, did a great job singing those classic hits.

“I Smell Love” sung by Alexandra, Richie, Sanders, Mac D, and Nia is another Medly made of American R&B hits and classics. Every singer did well on this song including Richie. Nia and Mac D may catch a beat down by Christ Brown for singing “No Air” the way they did. Sanders and Alex stood out the most on this medley; they hit all the notes effortlessly and they sound the most natural. Sanders attempted to take “us home” with a solo guitar toward the end of that song.

Although this is a solid album, it’s not Richie’s most standout release. The musical arrangement is what stands out the most on this album. There are a few potential hit songs on this album, however, there’s not one song on it that will be a mega hit song.


Comparing “Happy 50” to “Decade Later”, Richie put more emphasis on this album musically than he did on “Happy 50”; this album is far better arranged. However, “Happy 50” was a more commercial album and was stronger vocally and lyrically.