Guadeloupean singer Haya has just released the video of his brand new single, “Ready”. The images of this Soca track were shot during the Carnaval Tropical de Paris last July.
Kariculture : How are you, Haya? You’ve been staying in Paris for almost 6 months...
Haya : Hello Kariculture, I’m fine, I feel wonderful, we’re healthy, that’s what’s important, with health you can work, you can move forward, you can program, plan… Yes, my stay in Paris was planned for 6 good, busy months, and I’ll soon be back home.
Kariculture : We learned that you gave interviews to Espace FM radio, did other media also have the pleasure of receiving you?
Haya : Indeed, I did two interviews on Espace FM to promote my latest single, one of which was with Jenny Figaro, a long-time friend of mine. It went really well, I was welcomed, and I’d like to thank these media for allowing independent artists like me to broadcast their music on their platforms. With Jenny Figaro, whom I salute, and Jean-François Saint-Louis, whom I “big up”, they received us very well with my production. I had the opportunity to return with other artists for other projects, and it’s nice to see your music broadcast on the FM band. I’d like to salute Fréquence Paris Plurielle, Radio Mille-pattes and other media I contacted who received my music and wrote some articles from France to England; music is spreading, it’s very good and I was right to come, it allows me to “take the bull by the horns”.
Kariculture : Was this promotion in Europe important for your career?
Haya : Yes, very important, because I make Soca music, and my latest single “Ready” represents the Caribbean. In Europe, we have a strong presence, our music is played and there are more communities, it allows me to reach them and spread my music on platforms that are ready to receive it, knowing that I don’t feel confined to Guadeloupe, quite the contrary, we have a large community in France of West Indians and Martinicans with whom we don’t necessarily communicate from Guadeloupe, so it was very important for me to come here and “get back on my feet”, to “take the bull by the horns”.
Kariculture : Your latest track “Ready” is a hit. It was part of the playlist at the last Carnaval Tropical in Paris. Can you tell us about it?
Haya : “Ready” is a song that talks about the return of our populations, our peoples, to the streets since the Covid outbreak via carnival, the Mas. It says that we were already ready and that we never stopped being ready, and that it’s good to be able to get together as a community to express ourselves vocally, bodily and physically around our culture. I say that this Covid period made me lose my way a bit, since I stopped making music and had to focus on other ventures; this is a way of coming back both musically and symbolically. I’d like to thank Teddy Lacroix for giving me access to the Carnaval Tropical de Paris via the Fédération du Carnaval Tropical de Paris, to all these bands and dancers, to be able to shoot my video around this carnival.
Kariculture : Precisely, your latest news is the release of the “Ready” video, which was shot in Paris. It’s been a while since we had seen you on screen (since you’re in charge of Nashoo’s career, among other things), how was this return?
Haya : Very well. This return was not planned, I was in the middle of a musical break. I’m also a videographer and, as a label director, I manage other artists on the West Indian, Caribbean and even international music scene, it took me a lot of time and I didn’t have the desire or the time and, thanks to Teddy de Vibz who sent me this production, I was automatically seduced by this music. It was a return to normality for me, in fact; I’m delighted to have been able to shoot this video during Carnival because I love the Mas and it’s been a long time, but I see that I’m still present and appreciated musically. It feels good, I hope the track will be appreciated and the video will be enjoyed by the audience too.
“Ready” was shot between Guadeloupe and France. I was able to get footage of a legendary Mas band (Mas Ka Klé), and I’d like to thank the president Jean-Michel Samba for allowing me to use some images and I also went to the Vibz Club, which belongs to the song’s producer (Teddy Vibz) which is located in Le Lamentin. I’m with a beautiful local dancer who’s also a participant of carnival, a comedian, Fowko, and the producer in this video.
Kariculture : What are your artistic projects?
Haya : My artistic projects are numerous, and it’s also a comeback. I have tracks that I should have released during those years of “break”; I took a 2 or 3 year break from music. Some are still in the machines and others are ready for release, so I’ll let you be surprised. I’m sticking to carnival music, Soca, for my next few tracks, and then I’ll gradually move back towards reggae and dancehall, but I’m planning a Soca LP because I’d like to tackle the Caribbean. I’d like to represent our Mas in the Caribbean, it’s a music that speaks to me, I am also a carnival lover, as I said with Mas Ka Klé. I would like to represent our Mas in the Caribbean. So, I’m going to stay in this niche, for the moment, you’ll still have two or three Soca tracks that will be released in the next few months. I’m preparing these tracks with The Stormz, a Guadeloupean production based in France, and Arawak Sound, the former champion of French sound-systems, originally from Guadeloupe, and I promise you it’s going to be heavy stuff. I begin my return to Guadeloupe with the release of the video for the track “Ready”, I hope it will be well received, and the other tracks will be released in late 2023, in the course of 2024.
