Overview:

From Nemours Jean-Baptiste and Webert Sicot to T-Vice and Djakout Mizik, rivalries have shaped konpa music’s history and fueled its biggest moments.

NEW YORK — Some konpa fans simply can’t resist the drama ahead of any double-header bal featuring rival bands beefing. But very few such polemics topped the buzz around Djakout Mizik and Nu Look when The Haitian Times put the two rivals on the same bill for a pre-Kreyolfest festival in June 2005.

The pairing ignited a feud between their fanatik, fan bases, instantaneously.

Djakout had just dropped its album with the smash hit “Biznis Pam” — a high-energy track with heavyset grooves that had people perfecting their dance moves days in advance. Nu Look hadn’t released anything new ahead of the show. 

Djakout fans were gloating as the date approached. Nu Look diehards were nervous.

 “Djakout will make a killing with La Familia,” some declared, with high confidence, referring to the group’s album.

“No way,” Nu Look loyalists countered, certain that their favorite would carry the crowd with its sultry love songs.

For weeks, it was all anyone talked about—from radio show hosts to record stores, among fans arguing on Flatbush street corners and in barbershops well beyond the Tri-state. On the eve of the bal at Amazura, the legendary night club in Queens, a rumor spread that Nu Look would not show up on time because they wanted Djakout to play first. This would’ve broken konpa tradition, which dictates that the band with the new album—or the one flying in from Haiti—closes out the night.

By the end of the bal, everyone was sweaty, hoarse from singing along—and still arguing about who played better. 

The rivalry wasn’t the first time—nor the last—polemics set the konpa scene on fire. They’ve been around since the genre’s birth in 1955 when Nemours Jean-Baptiste and Webert Sicot split, which then sent fans into decades-long arguments over who invented konpa dirèk. 

Over the decades, rivalries have kept the energy alive and motivated the artists to push their music and performances. Some of the more memorable include:

The latter proved to be one of the most intense of the modern era.

Way before then, though, as konpa dawned in the late 1960s, the Nemours Jean-Baptiste and Webert Sicot split sparked “Team Nemours” and “Team Sicot” camps. Songs like Orchestre Nemours Jean-Baptiste ‘Rythme Commercial’ were interpreted as digs at Webert Sicot, who responded with the sharp hit of ‘Deux Guidons.’

In the 1970s, Les Difficiles de Pétion-Ville and Les Gypsies had fans picking sides in Port-au-Prince’s carnival, while Tabou Combo and Skah-Shah were the talk of Brooklyn. Who had the better live show? Was “New York City” from Tabou more iconic than Skah-Shah’s “Caroline”?

By the 1980s, D.P. Express and Scorpio Fever brought their rivalry stateside, and in the 90s, the debate was whether Zin’s sensual vibes or Phantoms’ energetic and provocative hits owned New York fans.

Then came the 1990s with T-Vice and Djakout Mizik throwing shade in lyrics and at press conferences. T-Vice’s “Men Elikoptè a” had fans declaring it a victory anthem, while Djakout countered with SouSou.

In the mix, T-Vice’s feud with Sweet Micky was a spicier and nastier battle. When T-Vice dropped “Gason Makomè” to take a jab at Sweet Micky, the polemic master appropriated the slur, pushing it back to T-Vice in the carnival song “Ti Simone.”

And who can forget Carimi versus Kreyol La? Carimi’s hits “Are You Ready, Yeah Yeah?” and “Pa Manyen” kept fans debating for years about their quality hits compared to Kreyol La’s “Viktwa.”

Today, Klass and Zenglen, Nu Look and Disip, Kay and Vibe keep the tradition alive. With Arly Larivière’s emotional delivery and Richard Cavé’s playful showmanship, every bal was a mini face-off.

These polemics aren’t just about pride. They bring bigger crowds, more record sales, and endless debates. Fans argue over which band is tighter performing live, which has the better horns, who writes the best lyrics, and whose singer has the best voice.

As old (and even older) heads reminisce about the heated years of their generation, one thing remains certain: The music wouldn’t be half as fun without the rivalries. 

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