Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly

Michel Joseph Martelly (born February 12, 1961), more popularly known as “Sweet Micky” — a moniker sometimes used interchangeably to refer to himself as well as his band (with original members, guitar player Alex Tropnas and bass player Welton Desire) — is a Haitian performing and recording artist, composer, and musical sociopolitical activist. In July 2010, he announced that he would be running for the Presidency of Haiti. Martelly is a Haitian politician who previously supported the disbanded Haitian military, FADH, and supporters of the 1991 coup d’état, such as the notorious killing squad FRAPH.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Early life

The middle-class son of a petroleum plant supervisor, Martelly taught himself to play the piano by ear. After graduating from high school and unsuccessfully attempting to study medicine (Michel Martelly was never admitted to the Medical school in Haiti. People with connection often get admitted to Haiti’s public University, Martelly was admitted to the Faculte des Sciences, he failed his courses and left the school), Martelly was briefly enlisted in the Haitian Military Academy before dropping out after impregnating a General’s daughter. (Michel Martelly was expelled from the Military academy; who’s General Daughter did he impreganted?) ^[5] He emigrated to the United States with an American wife, where he enrolled at Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado and worked in a local grocery store. In 1986, after just one semester, he divorced and returned to Haiti just as Jean-Claude Duvalier, then president-for-life, was heading into exile. He returned stateside with his then-girlfriend, Sophia, and married her in Miami, Florida and had his first child, Olivier. During that time he began to use drugs such as crack cocaine. ^[6] Martelly continued to work on a construction site for a year until moving back to Haiti in 1987. Upon their return to Haiti, Martelly began playing keyboard as a fill-in gigger in local venues in Petionville and Kenscoff, suburbs of Port-au-Prince.

Music

Michel Martelly has been heralded as a pioneer of a unique brand of kompas music, a style of Haitian dance music sung in Haitian Creole language. Originally, Compas or Kompa ,was the creation of Nemours Jean-Baptiste. Martelly, a keyboardist and the self-proclaimed President of Compas, popularized a nouvelle génération, or “new generation” style, of smaller bands with few members that relied predominantly on synthesizers and electronic instruments to reproduce a fuller sound. Martelly’s and Sweet Micky’s live performances and recordings are sometimes laced with “burlesque” and humorous sociopolitical commentaries and satires. Outlandish and outspoken, the Sweet Micky Caricature has been known to drink publicly while performing in wigs, costumes, and Scottish kilts, and occasionally remove his own attire while performing. While arguably the most recognized and applauded musician and public personality in Haiti, Martelly’s performance style has sometimes ignited controversy throughout Haitian communities. After completing his high school at the Saint-Louis de Gonzague, he tried a career in engineering, however, his musical talent and his entertainer’s skills took over his professional life so he became a popular recording artist and entertainer.

Recording career

By 1988, Martelly’s musical talent, charismatic persona, and his pattering style of compas had gained tremendous popularity at El Rancho Hotel and Casino and The Florville, another local venue. That year, he recorded his first single, Ooo La La, which became an instant hit, followed by “Konpas Foret des Pins” which was released in 1989, also a number hit from his debut album “Woule Woule”. Since then, Martelly, impersonating as Sweet Micky, has recorded fourteen studio albums and a number of live CDs over the past twenty years. His music has blended Haitian music with new interpretations of compas, roots, salsa, Caribbean soca and jazz-fusion. In 1997, Martelly’s appeal to other musical rhythms was evident when Wyclef Jean of The Fugees featured him on the title track for Jean’s solo effort Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival featuring the Refugee Allstars. As Jean proclaims on The Carnival, “Surprise – it’s Sweet Micky, y’all!” That same year, Michel Martelly released an album containing one of his most celebrated hits, Pa Manyen (“Don’t Touch”). The song is an interpolation of “Angola” by Cesária Évora, the legendary Cape Verdean singer. Pa Manyen went on to be featured in various compilation albums, including the popular Putumayo Presents: French Caribbean in 2003.

Personal life

Martelly currently lives in Haiti, but holds a second home in Palm Beach, Florida. He lives with his wife and manager, Sophia, and their four children. In 2006, Martelly announced his unofficial retirement from recording and performing but two years later announced a return to music with a new single, Magouye, and the video/short film, “Bandi Legal”. He is a cousin of well known Port-au-Prince hotrel manager and musician Richard Morse. ^[7]

Sociopolitics

Martelly’s relationships with members of Haiti’s past governments and with U.S. diplomats has been met with mixed opinions and criticism by music fans and activists alike. Martelly is reportedly a friend of President René Préval, and has previously acknowledged such friendships as well as the one with Lt. Col. Michel François, the former Port-au-Prince police chief, who was later convicted of human rights abuses in absentia. ^{[3] [8]}

Prior to the coup that overthrew Aristide, Martelly operated a nightclub called the Garage, often frequented by Haitian military and other members of the ruling class. Later, after a second coup had overthrown Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Martelly played a free concert to oppose the return of the ousted Haitian president and any American presence on the troubled island. The charismatic Martelly refused to back down from criticism of his affiliations with politicians and government officials. As he once stated to a news reporter, “I don’t have to defend myself….It’s my right. It’s my country. I can fight for whatever I believe in.” ^[2]

In 1997, Michel Martelly participated in “Knowledge is Power”, an HIV educational music video with a message about preventing the spread of HIV. His humanitarian work as the President of the Foundation Rose et Blanc, created by his wife Sophia and himself, to help the poor and disenfranchised of the country, was the basis for his choice as the Good Will Haitian Ambassador for the Protection of the Environment by the current Haitian Government. In 2010 he ran for President of Haiti where he challenged the results as to whether he placed second, making the runoff, or third. On February 03, 2011 it was announced that he will participate in a run-off election scheduled for March 20, 2011. ^[9] Martelly proposes to re-instate the Armed Forces of Haiti, which were disbanded by former Haitian President Aristide in 1995. ^[10]

Discography

External links

• Sweet Micky: Mon Colonel – music video

References