Boukan Ginen is a ''

mizik rasin Rasin, also known as Haitian roots music, is a musical style that began in Haiti in the 1970s when musicians began combining elements of traditional Haitian Vodou ceremonial and folkloric music with various musical styles. The late 20th century ...

'' band from the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. ''Boukan'' is the Haitian Creole word for "bonfire" or "fire pit". ''Ginen'' is a specific Haitian name for the ancestral home of enslaved

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

ns.

History

Boukan Ginen won the prize for best carnival song at the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

Carnival in Port-au-Prince, for their performance of "Pale Pale W", a song later released on their debut album, ''

Jou a Rive ''Jou a Rive'' is the debut album by the Haitian band Boukan Ginen, released in 1995. It was originally released in Haiti in 1993. Most of the lyrics were sung in Creole. "Pale Pale W" had been voted Best Carnival Song at Haitian Carnival. The ban ...

''. The song title means "talk" and included lyrics widely interpreted as supporting the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The band's music was suppressed by the military authority of the

junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...

led by

Raoul Cédras Joseph Raoul Cédras (born July 9, 1949) is a Haitian former military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Haiti from 1991 to 1994. Background A mulatto, Cédras was educated in the United States and was a member of the U.S.-trained ''Le ...

that ruled the country from 1991 to 1994. In 1994, Boukan Ginen became the third Haitian musical group to receive the ''Prix Découverte'' from Radio France International.Averill, Gage (1994). ''Jou a Rive'', ''Boukan Ginen'', inner liner notes.

Xenophile Records Xenophile Records is a Nashville, Tennessee based sublabel of Green Linnet Records that specializes in world music from Madagascar, Nigeria, Haiti, Chile, Argentina, Finland and other countries. The label was started in 1992 in Danbury, Connec ...

, released 1995.

Discography

References

;Cited References Haitian musical groups {{haiti-stub