While reggae may be the best known Caribbean music, it isn’t the only type. And though its English language cousins-calypso and soca- have also made a large mark on the world, non-English Caribbean music like compas and zouk have also been making a huge global impact. From the Francophile Haiti, compas -also spelled kompas, kompak, and a million other ways- is the local music with a sweet beat. Artists like Sweet Micky and T-Vice have been making sure the genre becomes a worldwide name. Born in Port-Au-Prince as Michel Martelly, Sweet Micky is the compas poster boy and has been performing since 1988. He still shows no signs of stopping.

Sweet Micky started performing in Haiti 1988 as a one man band. Since then he has expanded adding musicians to his rank, and becoming a banfide local star by the release of his album, “I Don’t Care” in 1994. He came back with another hit in 1997 with “Aloufa.”Going ahead with his success on that venture, Sweet Micky has continued to perform. To date Sweet Micky has released fourteen studio albums as well as several cds of his live performances. His music covers everything from raucous dance hits to sweet love songs, encompassing much of the genre within his own releases. And like many artists in every genre from reggae to rap to country divas, a portion of Sweet Micky’s career has been characterized by his feud with T-Vice. Thankfully the two have reconciled since 2002 and both continue to bring fun, lively music.

If you’re not familiar with compas, Sweet Micky and T-Vice are the two artists you need to know to be introduced. Sweet Micky characterizes longevity and represents a country full of people that are often not heard. And if you think you haven’t heard him, then you’re probably wrong. Wyclef Jeam, had us all jamming to this songster with the release of Carnival. Enjoy some Sweet Micky and compas below.

Carnival – Wyclef Jean featuring Refugee Allstars