Around
100 A.D., the Roman poet Juvenal remarked that Rome, its
empire rapidly declining, was suppressing revolt through
“bread and circuses.” President Michel Martelly, during
his four years in office, has borrowed the Roman tactic,
except without the bread.
Martelly, who as the musician “Sweet Micky” often
dubbed himself the “President of Konpa” in Haiti’s
famous Lenten Carnival, has organized three carnivals a
year during his time in office. But with Haiti now in a
full-blown electoral crisis and bracing to receive
thousands of deportees from the Dominican Republic, this
year, his son Olivier has taken over, or at least that’s
how it appears.
Working with the promoter Swizz Beatz (Kasseem
Dean), the husband of singer Alicia Keys, Olivier
Martelly’s production company BigO is bringing rap
superstars Lil Wayne and Chris Brown to Haiti for a free
concert on Port-au-Prince’s central square, the Champ de
Mars, on Fri., Jun. 26.
The event has been in the planning for several
weeks but was only officially announced in a Jun. 21
BigO tweet.
Having learned about the planned concert early
last week, Haïti Liberté spoke to many of the agents who work with Lil Wayne
and Chris Brown. We discovered that, as a rule, the
performers ask $1 million each for their performances
outside of the U.S., although nobody knew what they
would be paid for the Haiti performance. The artists
will be flown to Haiti on a private jet, and, in
an interview with
Le Nouvelliste, Olivier Martelly said that there are “partners and
other celebrities” traveling to the concert, which,
along with special security measures, may put the
event’s price tag close to $3 million.
The pair of rap superstars will arrive in Haiti
on Jun. 25 for a dinner and reception at the Martelly
family’s “Pink and White Foundation” and will get a
sight-seeing photo-op tour. Money will be raised,
according to Olivier Martelly, from “the sponsors [who]
are going to put up a stand for the media and a limited
number of guests. A part of the revenues will be given
to a non-profit organization,” undoubtedly, his family’s
foundation.
While millions are being spent on this concert,
Haiti has a myriad of costly under-funded problems. Only
$36 million has been raised of the $60 million budgeted
to hold long-overdue municipal, parliamentary, and
presidential elections in August, October, and December.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans
of Haitian descent are now being deported from the
neighboring Dominican Republic. The first waves of
deportees have found absolutely no logistical support
when dumped across the border, as started this week.
Olivier Martelly has been named in
lawsuits and at
least one
aborted judicial investigation
as one of the Martelly family members most
benefitting from regime corruption, along with his
mother Sophia. The lawsuit alleges he skimmed off money
from some $6.2 million drawn from Haiti’s PetroCaribe
account to go to a government sports agency he headed.
Among other things, he bought a $115,000 sports car with
the ill-gotten funds, the lawsuit charges.
Olivier Martelly defended the BigO concert,
telling Le
Nouvelliste: “Haiti has returned to the world
tourist map of late. To receive these superstars is a
huge publicity coup for us. Look at the comments on the
Internet since the announcement, everybody is talking
about it. I hope that everything goes well, that the
public is entertained, and that together we can send a
clear message saying that despite everything, we are a
strong, united, and solidarity-minded people.”
But much of the reaction on social media sites
like Twitter and Facebook was critical:
“#Haiti #Elections + #Deportations
+ #LilWayne + #ChrisBrown = #Problem” tweeted “IG
Toggy97" in Kreyòl from St. Marc, Haiti.
The six hour concert is scheduled to start at 4
p.m. and will include several other Haitian groups
including T-Micky (another one of Martelly’s sons),
Boukman Eksperyans, Barikad Crew, DRZ, Le Français,
Baky, Roody Roodboy, Roodyman and Manno Beats, TPO, DJ
Tony Mix, Valmix, K9 and DJ Nal.
Olivier said that “Chris Brown and Lil Wayne will
each have a 60 minute set. Lil Wayne will be accompanied
by his DJ, while Chris Brown will come with musicians
and dancers. Other members of their team like make-up
artists, sound engineers, and security agents will
arrive a day in advance to prepare the ground.”
After their visit to Haiti, the two superstars
will fly to Los Angeles, California for the BET (Black
Entertainment Television) Awards on Jun. 28.
Despite the hype and anticipation, outraged
social media posts appear to outnumber those favorable
to the event. “It doesn't matter how many people are
suffering in Haiti or how bad the situation is, you can
count on the [Martelly] government to spend [a] HUGE
amount of money to provide entertainment BIG enough to
distract everyone from the real problems,” wrote Marlon
Lindor on Facebook.
“After this Lil Wayne/Chris Brown [event] and Carifiesta
[a CARICOM supported festival from Aug. 21-30), I bet
tourists will fight to go visit Haiti and everything
will be alright,” he added sarcastically. “These
[Martelly] government people act worse than the slave
masters in my opinion, wasting money while the masses
can't even eat.” |