Top Videos of TraceTv Tropical 10

By Christine Jean-Pierre

CSMS Magazine Staff Writer

France’s premier urban channel TraceTv weekly zouk and kompa countdown show Tropical10 is truly a show to watch—certainly for kompa and zouk lovers everywhere. The leading videos lately have been the ones from artists such zouk hit maker Ali Angel and Tina, kompa band Carimi, and Moroccan zouk songstress Soumia. Since late January of 2010 this collective group of artistes have been holding the top six spots of the Tropical 10 countdown steadily, and these hit Caribbean clips do not seem to be breaking away anytime soon.

            Carimi held the number one and sometimes the number two spot for about two months straight up until recently. The video in question is smash hit Buzz, which was written and produced by the band’s keyboardist Richard Cave. The video starts out where the band goes out in all parts of New York delivering the special type of CIA package to an undisclosed location to a skinny scrawny looking fellow with dreadlocks, who turns out to be Shabba from Djakout Mizik and who also sings the little rap part of the song. The video is the second highest grossing kompa video to date next to T-Vice’s Konnen’ll Pat Konnen, which was released in late 2008.

            In addition to Carimi’s Buzz, holding its ground in the top spot on the Tropical 10 for about four months steadily is the Ali Angel and Tina  kompa hit On line written and produced by Pierre Huberson, Ali Angel, and kompa hit producer Nickenson Prud’homme. The video directed by Nathalie Carollo starts out with scenes of Ali Angel and Tina singing in different glossy parts of Las Vegas, Nevada and the exotic outskirts of the deserts in the state of Arizona. The video also features a scene where Nickenson Prud’homme comes through Tina’s computer saying, “Anybody here? “And now, listen!” and then playing the keyboard breakdown of the song in his studio in Miami. Once again, the prolific Haitian keyboardist, Nickenson Prud’homme, shows his impeccable talent, and it seems like everything he touches turns out to be gold. Online is truly a romantic song with a freewheeling melody.   

            Furthermore, the third video in the countdown that has been holding the number five and six spot in the countdown is the kompa hit “Mene Mwen” from zouk songstress Soumia written by Soumia and produced by zouk/kompa producer MarkG. The video takes place in Ti Sable, Martinique in a beautiful beach setting with guest appearances from Marvin, Warren, Thayna, Teeyah, Kim, and of course the video director and zouk hit maker Kaysha. The song mene mwen is about a woman who is in love with a guy and how she will go wherever he takes her  to show how much she loves him. The song has also been one of the highest requested songs in TraceFm radio countdown in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana for three months straight.

            Mene Mwen, On line, and Buzz are the three hit singles by far leading the Tropical 10 countdown for an estimated five months straight. The great thing about these three singles is that they are all kompa songs, which proves that in Paris and in the Francophone islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana kompa is the main music genre that is still holding its ground in the Caribbean music charts. Experts agree that kompa will still hold its torch of the test of time whether it is produced by kompa bands or zouk artists from all over the world. Because of its sexually charged melodies, one can expect this kompa/zouk love to remain this way for years to come.

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