kompa

Kompa, also spelled konpa, is a Haitian music genre and dance style that originated in Port-au-Prince in the 1950s. It emerged from a fusion of méringue, biguine, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms with American and European popular music. The term derives from compas, the French word for compass, and is linked to the smooth, flowing dance rhythm characteristic of the music.

The typical kompa uses a steady four-beat pulse and a moderate to brisk tempo, emphasizing melody and vocal lines. Common instruments include electric guitar, piano or keyboards, bass, drums, and horns; arrangements often feature smooth horn sections and layered keyboard textures to support the lead vocals.

Nemours Jean-Baptiste is widely credited with creating the modern konpa direct style in the 1950s, blending biguine grooves with pop-oriented arrangements. In the 1960s and 1970s, groups such as Tabou Combo helped popularize the sound in Haiti and abroad, cementing konpa as the country’s dominant dance music.

In Haiti and among the Haitian diaspora, konpa remains central to social life, performed in clubs, on radio, and at festivals. Haitians abroad brought the genre to the Dominican Republic, the United States, Canada, and other regions, where contemporary acts have fused konpa with hip-hop, R&B, and electronic influences.

Notable artists and groups include Nemours Jean-Baptiste, Tabou Combo, and Michel Martelly (Sweet Micky), as well as newer bands such as T-Vice. Together they illustrate konpa’s evolution from a mid-20th-century dance music to a versatile, contemporary Caribbean genre.