Pa Présé – Beethova Obas, 1996

🎶🎤🎹🎸🎵 Pa Présé is the album that introduced Beethova Obas to the French music scene. Taken under the wing of Déclic Communication a few years ago, he produced Si… in 1993, accompanied by a West Indian all-star. The recipe is repeated with Pa Présé, and the cover of Couleur Café adds the little extra that makes the sauce take off. Beethova Obas distils a mix of charming compas, airy bossa nova and lacy boleros, with polished orchestrations that make you sway without a moment’s hesitation. The singer relies on a number of established talents who are no strangers to the album’s success: Dominique Bérose, Etienne Mbappé, Mario Canonge, Thierry Fanfant, Sonia Pinel-Féréol, Bago… the list goes on and on. Since then, the Haitian singer has regularly graced us with little pearls between compas and zouk, where he tackles themes of everyday life as much as awareness and reflections on society.