![\"Melissa](\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Melissa-Laveaux-Radyo-Siw%C3%A8l.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
French version published for the the first time the\u00a0February\u00a06th 2018 M\u00e9lissa Laveaux is determined to reinvent herself. With <\/span>Radyo Siw\u00e8l<\/span><\/i>, she steps forward by stepping back to the past, that is, the past of her parent\u2019s birthplace: Haiti.<\/span><\/p>\n Although only fragments and traces of the past remain, the memories burn bright. Her album title speaks directly to this idea. “Radyo,” denotes the idea of a transmission that can get lost. “Siwel,” alludes to the popular songs of of the Bann ‘na Siw\u00e8l, or the troubadour orchestras, that through their poetic lyrics, conveyed the history and identity of the Haitian people and stood testimony to their resistance.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet, the album is not exactly in the troubadour style. The Canadian revisits the Haitian repertoire in her own way, with her own unique interpretation, history, and energy. She says, “There were songs where I did not have the melody, so I drew upon different memories and parts of my childhood, and that\u2019s where the ideas came from.” Her album is refined by the arrangements of the trio A.L.B.E.R.T., who did wonders with\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Oumou Sangar\u00e9<\/span><\/a>‘s album, and is boosted by the verve of calypso-inclined Drew Gonsalves, of Kobo Town.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n M\u00e9lissa Laveaux, born in Montreal, grew up in Ottawa. Her parents left Haiti at the age of 18 before settling in Canada. Explaining their story, Laveaux recounts, “They had left the island when they were students, because some friends of theirs, who were militants, were killed. It was under the regime of Papa Doc (Fran\u00e7ois Duvalier). My father left first and he raised money to sponsor my mother’s trip to Canada.”<\/span><\/p>\n Raised in an English-speaking town, her parents did not really teach her Creole. She grew up with hip-hop, electronic and Brazilian music. Actually, she listened to very little Haitian music (barring her parents\u2019 big parties where everyone danced to Konpa). Yet, there was one record in particular that she listened to, the record of Martha Jean-Claude. She is one of the first female voices she can remember. “I would not have become a singer if I had not remembered her voice. There is a particular grain to her voice. Martha Jean-Claude is like a kind of guide to me. In my first album, <\/span>Camphor & Copper<\/span><\/i>, I sang one of her songs (Editor\u2019s note: “Dodo Titit \u00bb).<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/span>Photo: Romain Staros Staropoli<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n“There were songs where I did not have the melody, so I drew upon different memories and parts of my childhood, and that\u2019s where the ideas came from.”<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Melissa](\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Melissa-Laveaux-Radyo-Siw%C3%A8l-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAppropriating Her Roots<\/b><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n