Mach-Hommy and the Richness of the Haitian Diaspora: "Pray for Haiti" Review
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- (actual review starts around 9:00, some Haitian history before that)
What a time to be a rap fan when albums like this comes out! What a time to be someone who teaches about the history of Haiti when an album like this comes out! Who the hell is Buff Daddy?
@INTERNATIONALMACH @GriseldaRecords @WestsideGunn @westsidegunnvevo5949
Skye's Homework (16:50) - The 26th Letter: • Mach-Hommy - The 26th ...
READING LIST:
Every library should have a copy of Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James: www.amazon.com...
Here is another great (more comprehensive) book on Haitian History that is more recent:
"Haiti, the Aftershocks of History" www.amazon.com...
Here is the podcast by Mike Duncan that I was talking about as well: revolutionspod...
As a Haitian and Hip-hop fan, you did a great job. This album is indeed one of the best of 2021. For the skit leta yo, it's a haitian street kid dissing the corrupt government of PHTK and then being interviewed. He's asked if he wishes he could be out of the streets and says yes, but points out the hypocrisy of this government, questioning if they're really a state or not. He says if there really was a state, wouldn't there be people here to help him, and not just talk down on them.
Kriminel is my favorite song, the chorus is taken from an old haitian song. The start of the song is him listing nicknames of his friends, presumably passed away. The chorus means " they say I'm a criminal, it's not true that I'm a criminal, they are the criminals, it's those people that are criminals."
Marie is another great song. What he keeps saying in kreyol in the background is gadon fanm oooo, which means " damn look at that woman!" Roughly translated. He also starts it by saying " she's dressed all in black, here's Rami's woman."
Stellar ray theory, "lapli a tombe, nou pap mouye", means the rain is falling and we're not getting wet.
Keep up the great work! 🇭🇹
Thanks for such a clear explanation of many things I didn’t understand. I’ll pin this comment for others to learn as well.
Thank you! I am not Haitian but have been drawn to Kriminal from the beginning I heard it. The explanation you gave makes me appreciate it even more. I grew up on Hip Hop the first Haitian O remember from Haiti from NJ was YZ he was one of my favorites. Once again thank you.
could you please drop a link to the old haitian song that was reference in Kriminel
@@professorskye genuinely curious as to your thoughts on this brief history of Haiti 11:30 time stamp ruclips.net/video/kOgPrN1Z6BU/видео.html
@@professorskye how have you not reviewed Mach’s record HBO “ Haitian Body Odor”, it’s my favorite of all his records. Appreciate your insights.
THANK YOU
And thank you for the music!
The goat is here!!!!
Whoa
As a Haitian thank you. Haiti is being punished for being free.
Has been ever since the slave rebellion.
This review probably means more to Mach-Hommy than any accolade. In interviews, Mach states that he views reciprocity for him as genuine respect, and he also noted that he hates to commercialize his art as it has so much value to him. He just wants appreciative listeners to truly listen to and value his work. I think he would and surely will be thrilled to see someone review his music from a historical and analytical perspective. It would be great if you could collaborate with a Griselda artist for an interview. I studied TESOL and linguistics and really want to talk to Conway or Benny about the slang they use in their music. The last comment, if West ever sees this, Buff Daddy is a great nickname for him.
The Haiti lesson in the beginning, the homework assignment, Buff Daddy, the reference to “Roc” (I remember watching with my folks), “Conductor!”, Soup Joumou lesson, etc. Top-Tier review.
I rolled over to my sleeping partner and exclaimed, “I love this man!” as the review/class finished. (Was greeted with “I know” and more snores.)
I don’t know if it’s everyone’s thing but I like the long-form videos. Great job.
Respect. What you are doing is truly an essential contemporary approach to sharing knowledge, especially on subjects such as this one. As a Greek, I deeply appreciate and value the importance of the role Haiti plays historically in general but also specifically for the liberation of Greece back in 1821. This year we celebrate 200 years since then and Haiti was there first. They where the first to acknowledge us as free country/state back then as well as helping us out the only way they could despite having their own very serious troubles at the time. Bravo.
Αϊτή!
There’s a great interview with Mach on “Tea and Converse” where he expands a lot on Haitian history as well as his family. There were mentions of his grandfather forbidding them from speaking French in his home and much more.
I listen to that interview alot Hommy is an wise individual
That's one of the best rap interviews in history. I, too go back to it from time to time.
as a Haitian-American hip-hop artist based out of East Flatbush, Brooklyn aka Little Haiti, Mach-Hommy has truly been a source of inspiration for me as far as embracin’ my Haitian roots even more than i already have. truthfully, i don’t speak Kreole nor did i have much knowledge on my own country’s history until not to long ago.
dis’ deep-dive you did was super insightful & i love da’ fact dat’ you really took da’ time to acknowledge da’ real from da’ fake in terms of Haiti’s history & it’s impact globally. continue doin’ these, you did an excellent at respectin’ a culture dat’ you may not be from but bein’ compassionate enough to try & understand what it’s about.
🔪🇭🇹
"What a time to be a rap fan when albums like this comes out!"
Well Said!
When Mach hommy speaks about separating the bustas from the Charlie Browns he is referencing busts rhymes original group “leaders of the new school” one of the group members name was Charlie Brown
This review was way better then fantano's it's godly
I haven't watched his review yet, but I like his stuff a lot.
Yooo I Fux with this comment. Abrasive enough to grab my attention. Left me curious enough to watch the whole video.
Prof>Melon
fantano approaches reviews from a very, very different angle though. he sees all albums in a vacuum. Simply pieces of music. The historical and social context matters very little to him lmao. It wouldn't be fair to compare the two
Fantano just wasn't versed in the history like the prof is.
It’s crazy that Mach has reached so many different people with this album. Thanks to Westside Gunn I guess.
West brought us Conway, Benny, Keisha Plum etc. Forever thankful for him.
@@yungcartiyungcarti7852 lmao, you probably actually believe that. I'm sure everyone is just dying to hear what October's finest posts to his Instagram story
I think before this album, people listening to him was hard because he doesn’t exactly make it easy to listen to his music, most of it not being on streaming services
@@maschinecat thats true if its not one producer of my town made a beat for him mozambique drill i never knew he exist even if I listen underground rap new york scene from a while
Thanks to HIMSELF and Westside Gunn
i love the non-reviewing stuff. context is important and wonderful to hear!
it's always interesting listening to music in which you have to just come to terms with the fact that you have no idea what they're talking about and you're gonna catch the meaning of random bars here and there as you listen over time. that's what "some rap songs" by earl sweatshirt is like for me.
"Bustas" as in Busta Rhymes. Charlie Brown is a member of Leaders of The New School which was Busta's group before going solo.
Yes, also the previous bar is “separate the elves from Kris Kringle” so he is talking about separating the real from those that are aren’t up to par so to speak
Also Dinco D was a member of L.O.N.S.
Thank you for this phenomenal review. I've been a huge fan of Mach's music, but don't know a lot about Haitian history or the Haitian diaspora, so this was incredibly informative. Some of his best albums to check out are H.B.O. (which most consider his magnum opus), Luh Hertz, Wap Konn Jòj!, Fete Des Morts AKA Dia De Los Muertos, and The G.A.T. If you can find Mach-Hommy's first Tea & Converse interview, it's a really in-depth, incredible interview where he breaks down his family history and a lot of Haitian history as well. I tried to find the Soundcloud link to post here but couldn't find it anywhere, looks like it might've got taken down.
On a side note, Nicholas Craven is a really incredible underground hip-hop producer who's worked with a lot of the rappers you've reviewed/are in that circle, including billy woods and Elucid, Pink Siifu, Navy Blue, and more. He tends to have my favorite beats on every album he works on-his stuffs super soulful, polished, and is frequently hypnotic loops. I can always pick his beats out, too-there's something really distinctive about them that I can't pin down but always notice.
Like other people mentioned in the comments, if you like older, worldly, historically-inclined, super intelligent rappers, listen to more billy woods!!! I know you reviewed Armand Hammer's Haram, and that's a great album and I loved your video for it, but check out woods' other stuff too. Hiding Places, Today I Wrote Nothing, Terror Management, Dour Candy, and another Armand Hammer album Paraffin, are all fantastic, cerebral works by woods that are right up your alley.
This is the coolest channel Ive stumbled upon all year. THANK YOU
25:00 the sample on Makrel Jaxon is chopped up in the same way as Time: Donut of the Heart by J Dilla, which uses a sample of All I do is Think of You by The Jackson 5, hence the title Makrel Jaxon/Michael Jackson i guess
Good ear
This is the bes album review I've ever watched. I appreciate that you understand the grammatic expressions of these lyrical rappers. Keep up the good work. I'm sure you're a great professor too. The world needs more like you.
thanks for the kind words.
Knowledge is important to obtain , and urge to seek should not to be taken for granted. Great review Professor ,enjoy your channel. Mach Hommy is definitely the next artist to keep your eye on. Floorseats is thee most definitive Mach Hommy track, every 1st time listener should get expose to. Also Professor since you enjoyed this project , you'll probably enjoy his last project "Lemonade", it's an incredible album. It's kind of difficult to find on other platforms ,iTunes Spotify etc. Appreciate all the knowledge about Haitian culture ,and history. Since your a French teacher I know this topic is given you so much to think about. Great channel, keep listening and learning.
Machs Hard Lemonade is on Spotify now
So here I am again 1:48 sec in and I’m goosebumps and teary eyed from your passion and knowledge. im Haitian and Jamaican born in FLA found out about Mach-hommy through Earl and Westside. Top five imo. Pray for Haiti 1 of my favorite albums next the new maps by bill (side note I can’t not like back for everything by yak,what can I say I’m from Florida 😂 ) back to my point p4h immediately brings me back to the earthquake in which I was present smh, horrible experience I was in Haiti for about 2 months vacation bc miss America was beating me senseless. So thank again again for all the lessons you teach here on the tube and just so good to hear you praise both of my cultures Haitian by way of Mach and Billy being half Jamaican it’s no surprise they are two of the rappers than inspired me become more intellectually inclined. Now Let me get back to taking notes from your video
You should listen to the Death and The Magician by Rome Streetz and DJ Muggs
Thank you professor . You're rendering an invaluable service to the youth and to the world. Really, I mean it.
in a world full of brain rot it feels great to actually learn things :) great video!
One of my favorite albums this year, a friend linked me this video and I’m absolutely loving it! I like how you dove down into Haitian history and brought it into the album review. This video was very educating, on top of it being the best album review I’ve watched. Thank you Professor!
i’m late to these reviews but, so glad i’ve found them. hoping you review roc marciano.
As someone from england that "put the biscuit to your tea/tee" line and then the digestive part was so sick
are digestives supposed to have laxative properties though? as a fellow Englishman, that was news to me lol
That "Biscuit to your teeth like England" bar is also probably a reference to colonialism/imperialism. Like England forcing their culture and language on to the world.
Omg this man is insanely good
Good point.
Biscuit is also a term for a Gun
@@samkarn86 yep that too.
I thought it was "biscuit to you tee/tea" like gun to your shirt and how english dip biscuits in their tea. I'm pretty sure the next line says digestive too which is a british tea biscuit
Very nice review! I think you should check out the Director's Cut albums from last year by Ransom, fully produced by Nicholas Craven, production is super sweet like Kriminel, and Ransom is at his best he's ever been, lots of lyrics with substance and knowledge!
The "patience" bar is soo good. Also I really like comparing Gunn to Diddy, nicely caught! Also the Ghost comparisons are spot on; Ghost talks about the stream of consciousness flow he introduced on Supreme Clientele in an interview once, I think it's talked about on the Pitchfork write up of the album, check it out! Also, the "scribbled in your notepad" bar is a reworking of a Jay Z lyric. It's from Takeover.
you think Ghost switched his flow to be more stream of consciousness on that album? I didn't notice much of a change from 'ironman' (which I just about prefer but both of those albums are seminal). not arguing with you, just interested in what changes he made on that album
Yikes
incredible video. I love the passion man great work I will absolutely be sharing this
legit one of the best reviews I've watched in recent memory
Thanks for such kind words.
Now this is a review. Second the below in saying this is one of the best youtube videos I've ever watched
Thank you for the very kind words.
man, you're currently my favorite channel, thank you
If you enjoy 'old' rappers, wait till you hear a Billy Woods album
He’s talked about Armand Hammer
I'd love for him to cover Hiding Places, my personal favorite Billy Woods project
Really enjoyed this review! First time I watch your channel and this really makes me want to follow your classes, such an interesting perspective on a really interesting culture
AMAZING! AMAZING! This is RUclips at it’s FINEST!
THANK YOU Professor Skye! 🙏🏽💎
I’m about to watch all the videos on this channel. Excellent work, no better review on youtube!
Best review I’ve seen
Thank you.
Appreciate this review! Sincere, passionate and well put/executed. Salute!
bro thank you for this. this hits. if you were a professor at the school i went to nearly 20 years ago, maybe I wouldn't have dropped out of college. keep doing you
My sentiments exactly
Thank you 🙏🏾 so much for this video. I love how you are so informative an really grounded in our culture an hip hop it’s evident how the world is turning hopefully we will make a dramatic change in the near future to empower an restore the funding an to help rebuild this beautiful place 🇭🇹 Haiti. If everybody helped just a little we can WIN again. I truly appreciate you for this one.
dude you rock so much. I would love more reading on Hatian history
the Books by CLR James and Laurent Dubois are great and enjoyable.
I want to go back to school just so I can take your Haïti class. Great video, thanks for sharing.
Also some of the rhymes on Stellar Ray Theory are interpolations from Jay-Z's Ether. 👍🏿
The Charlie Brown and Busters line was about the members in the group Leaders of the New School Charlie Brown and Busta Rhymes.
Oh snap! And I’m a fan of the LONS as well. I should have picked that up.
Buster brown is also a reference to a cartoon about a boy that keeps on getting into trouble
Adding Dinco (D) to the scheme was the cherry on top
"New Leader", ya boo eager
Yup 💯
Really well done review. Happy to see the worlds of rap and academia collide
If you want top tier Mach albums, I recommend: Fetes Des Morts AKA dia de los muertos, Wap Konn Jòj, The GAT, and HBO
btw nice video! very informative and I love your level of detail, earned a like & subscribe forsure 👍🏾
HBO is an absolute gem
Fetes Des Morts is a crazy album
let me add to that Saturday night lights vols. 1 & 2. Mach and fahim went HARD on that release
Your longest review, lol. This is what it’s like listening to Mach Hommy. Great review. Probably one of my favorites on the platform because you reviewed it academically and French is your bailiwick. That said, im not going to list his obscure albums as they are notoriously hard to find, but definitely listen to:
Haitian Body Odor: Album about Michèle Bennett, that is just WHEW. It’s on SoundCloud.
Then you have FYI: it came out in 2013, it’s on RUclips. Another WHEW!
Mach’s hard lemonade: a victory lap because it was co-signed by HOV himself.
And lastly Wap Konn Joj! Another fire album.
Start with HBO, though. It will 🤯
what would be your actual favs, including the ones that are hard to find?
@@S728-u9x HBO, Dumpmeister, Dump Gawd Hommy Edition, Duck CZN: Chinese Algebra, FYI, Goon Grizzle, Dollar Menu 1, 2 and 3.
@@thorocomments nice thx
@@thorocomments any tips on finding them
@@miles5628 Reddit
i was hooked at the end of the intro... thank you for this professor
also I loved how you described ghostface and mach as having relentless flows with similes that you cant quite catch up with. i always thought i was slow when i would fall behind in my head ahhaah
I usually can’t sit down for more than 7 minutes but I watched this whole thing. Awesome video. Would love to hear you speak in this way about To Pimp A Butterfly
'Trying to separate the Bustas from the Charlie Brown" relates to Busta Rhymes and Charlie Brown of Leaders of the New School when they parted ways.... The word play is on Bustas....Enjoying your analysis of Mach-Hommy...he"s dope🔥🔥🔥🔥
You're right about Westside Gunn. He always says he was meant to be the visionary, executive producer, Steve Jobs, Ideas Man, and he only started releasing his own records because his brother, the born MC, got shot in the neck & head... saying that, I love Wes' rapping. And his beat selection and curating of other MCs on his own projects makes his albums consistently my favorite out of the crew. But Conway and Benny are legendary, too...
I love that you called Caravaggio "one of the true gangsters in art history"... it's so true.
One of the best videos on the internet
This is amazing, love the knowledge, insight and most of all enthusiasm. After those 46 minutes I had to sub with the quickness
happy you felt inspired to create a video like this although I must say you were off the mark multiple times.. I guess I’ll have to charge that to the fact that, and even you said it, that you’re just unsure about certain things due to lack of information, plus the fact that you’re not a lyricist you’re a critic of lyricists.. and maybe you’re just not so much a part of the culture as the average “real hip hop” fan so I could understand how some things could go over your head. overall I appreciate your attempt to shine light on one of the brightest emcees the culture has seen in many years and your efforts to educate folks about Haiti. this message may come off a slightly malicious but I assure you it isn’t, I’m happy to see things like this but just wanted to provide a bit of honesty about what I thought was a good video that lacked a bit of awareness. keep on man, peace.
and see, as I go through the comments a lot of what I was saying has already been addressed. keep it up, peace.
Thanks for the review. I had never heard of Mach Hommy. I'm a rap fan and a born Haitian. We have something in common! I'm a high school teacher in Europe (I don't speak French though, only Kreyol, English, and Italian).
Great, all of our professionals left the country but I dont blame you
Such a rich analysis... thoroughly enjoyed it
Great review
This review/history lesson combo was amazing!!
The guitar on the Michael Jackson song was from a Jackson 5 sample that’s why I think combined with da thriller sampled in the beginning. Great video I really enjoyed it especially with how it tied into Haitian history I never listened to it fully before watching the video but that really made me jump in, thanks!
I definitely noticed the similarities between the way Westside Gunn plays Mach Hommy's hypeman and the way Puff Daddy did for Biggie. They both a have similar effect on the music and I also think it adds to it. This is my first time seeing one of your reviews, you have earned another sub though. I look forward to watching some more of your reviews.
Great review.. and learned some things. One of the best reviews of music. My first time seeing this channel. Keep on. Bless
Thanks for the kind words
Amazing review professor 👏🏽👏🏽
If you can find it, you should track down and listen to Mach Hommy's first project "Goon Grizzle" from 2004. His rap style was still great then and he actually raps about Haiti and how Haiti got their independence really early in their history, only second to the United States (his own words).
I'm going to look for this man thank you.
Love the way you describe everything so vividly brodie! I know this is kind of an old video but in reference to you wanted to hear an album with 80/20 WSG to Mach hommy I’d check out Hitler wears Hermes 8 side B by WSG. And in reference to you wanting to hear more food references I’d check out Machs album Fetes des mortes if you haven’t already. Love the videos!
I have to say thank you, im from Spain so english is not my primary language, so i struggle sometimes with rap lyrics like your wife. Videos like this make me understand more albums i already love. Thank you for real, i Hope u keep making those
Thank you for this review
Great GFK and Mach comparison.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Dommage que vous n'enseignez pas en France, c'est super intéressant ce que vous dîtes
as an English teacher , I really , really appreciated this review , good sir !
EXCELLENT Job with this review. You just got a subscriber. I'm Haitian & a recording artist over 35. This album is Dope & worth really sitting with. Peace.
I didnt look at the „discord“ and „40 days 40 nights“ lines as a „diss“ towards Jay Electronic, as Mach actually had a verse for the Neverending Story on Jay Electronica‘s album „A Written Testimony“, but got cut out in the end^^
have to listen to the song a couple more times to make a solid conclusion though
I wanna hear that Mach verse, that beat is sick
Great video sharing, my dear.👍👍🙏
Tuez-Les Tous is another great mach-hommy project (produced entirely by Dj Muggs). Also I really appreciate the extra non-review information, it's actually what I'm here for!
yeah that's my favourite Mach project...and that's saying something! proper dark and grimey beats from the veteran producer who's had an insane second wind, and hommy sounds so hungry on it
Your doing an amazing job keep it up…
🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹
This is such a great video. Admittedly I am not a fan of Mach-Hommy, I listened to Pray For Haiti and liked it, picked up on the history and nuance in the rhymes but ultimately thought it was just a fine album. But hearing the way you discuss this record and the culture behind it is very eye opening. Not only are you well-versed in the history of hip hop and Haitian culture, but you are clearly passionate about it. I love how you are very academic but also a music fan.
I'm a college student and I do a lot of projects and essays similar to this, I talk about modern music and how it intersects with culture and things like that. I find that a lot of academics shy away from modern genres like hip hop or experimental music, so it's a breath of fresh air to see such a great analysis.
Love the video. I'd love to see you look into the work of billy woods, his verses are so dense and vivid you get a great understanding of him and what he is saying. Hiding Places is a great album to start with. Again, great video :)
YES! thanks so much for this men.
Great video I appreciated all of your insight and teaching moments aside from the actual review!
Wow thank you Prof... this was an great album review. You certainly have a new subscriber/student.
You are great and I just clicked on video!!!u cool,great work$$$
There's a saying about books and covers that fits very well with this video, pleasantly surprised 🙏🏾❤🙌🏾
This is a great video. Congrats.
Loved this review. Thank you!
Thank you for making this video.
I honestly love the length of your videos.
I recommend F.Y.I it overtly references Haiti’s history and he uses a more laid back flow. It’s on RUclips.
This. The interview used throughout is amazing
also the socioeconomical critique right after the 08 crash, truly hope Professor gets to FYI. Personally gotta add The GAT and the Wide Berth project with Fahim as well
Beautiful album
He also had H.B.O. (Haitian Body Odor). He really reps for his heritage.
FYI is my favorite mach tape. Whole thing from start to finish is sonically, lyrically and artistically just classic
this was so fun to listen to man
Great video! You've earned a new subscriber.
This was a great video professor, love the passion and education
I feel u on westside gunn, at first I didn’t like him that much as a rapper but he grows on you a lot especially on shrooms
I really appreciate your existence
very dope and insightful history salute man i was lucky to buy 1 of the 187 art prints MACH/GUNN put out for this release album been on repeat since the drop
It's my album of the year. Really appreciate this review, had to subscribe.
I'm quite sure that the song"the 26th letter" refers to the line that he refers like 3 times on the album about "Billy Zee"
Great review Prof. Make sure to check out Haitian body odor (HBO)...Thats the last album Westside executive produced for Mach. Amazing album great skits to break down. Michelle obama sparking the revolution and all that.
You penned it excellently! Intellectual Crime Rap....I just found my lane and genre of Hip-hop
Mach is the definition of a lyrical poet in hip-hop
The Black Jacobins, Enough said!
This is why I fuck with the professor... He needs more views, for real.
Great book recommendations, as well.
@@thorocomments you’re not gonna find more nuanced reviews than his, my G. I agree with you he needs more views!
Nicholas Craven is from Montreal Quebec Canada 🇨🇦 he’s dope
Loved this video and the history knowledge you dropped, thank you