MICHAEL BENJAMIN

Mikaben was born in Port-au-Prince in 1981; this versatile artist is alternately a singer, composer and producer. Accompanied by his guitar or full band, Mikaben is one of the rare artist of his generation to excel in all genres; whether the good old Haitian compas, world music, the Antillean Zouk, the dance hall, the Jamaican reggae and RnB / HipHop.

As an artist, Mikaben composed, produced and performed on albums by Carimi several pieces to success, including “Baby I missed you” that has over 3 million views on Youtube, “Fanm sa Move” that 1.4 million views. On the other hand he has also collaborated with T-Vice, Leila Chicot, Kreyol La, his father Lionel, Bélo, Stanley Georges, Alan Cave, Izolan, Olivier Duret, J Perry, Wesli Band to name a few.

“Ti Pam Nan” which is a hit in Haiti, in collaboration with J-Perry just got signed and released in july 2016 by the major label WARNER Music France as well as a contract for an option on 4 albums.

Son of the famous singer Lionel Benjamin, Mikaben is polyglot (he can sing in Creole, in French, English and Spanish). He plays several instruments such as guitar, keyboard, bass and drums, and discovered an early passion for music. At age 15, he already offered the public its first composition. At 16, having decided to go to Canada to continue his studies, he continues to indulge in his art. That year, Montreal being, he participated in an annual competition of Christmas music arranged by “TELEMAX”, a television station Haitian, and his song “Nwèl Tristès,” ranked fourth, allowing it mostly to gain sympathy from the Haitian public. We are in 1999. From there, everything comes together quickly. Mikaben decides to pursue his music career and recorded his first solo album “VWAYAJ” in the studios of Marco Volcy in Montreal album that launched in December 2000. His song “Or Pati” is so successful it is chosen by Fabrice Rouzier, great producer and Haitian composer to participate in the “Haitian Troubadour” project. More than 70,000 copies are sold- which is a great record for Haiti. This experience made him well known in the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

In May 2004, Michael launched his second album entitled “MIKA” whose success opens up new doors, especially in Canada. He has the opportunity then to participate in festivals in Chicoutimi, Ottawa, Quebec and Montreal (among other Francofolies). Returning to Haiti in March 2005, urged by his cousin David Dupoux, it forms with the latter the “Krezi MIZIK” group and agrees to temporarily put in the background his solo career. Since its official presentation to the press in May 2005, the group knows a great success. He puts out two albums (one live and one recorded in the studio). Mikaben and his band have toured the US, Canada, the Caribbean, France and Belgium.

It was in June 2009 that his career took a decisive turn; Mikaben decided to restart as a single player, and thus terminated its collaboration with “Krezi MIZIK” as lead vocal. In 2010, after the earthquake, it expresses its sorrow at the suffering of his country through a poignant composition entitled “Yon Ti Souf Pou Ayiti” .This position inspires the creation of Tisouf Foundation whose mission is to bring joy to the children of his country. The summer following the quake, Mikaben released a compilation entitled “ATIS LOKAL Janm PAP LAGE” which is had great success in Haiti.

As an artist, Mikaben has composed, produced and performed several hit songs on Carimi’s albums, including “Baby I missed you” which has 4.2 Million views on Youtube, “Fanm sa Move” which has 1.4 Millions of views. On the other hand he also collaborated with Richard Cave on the Kaï project with his hit song Malad (6 million views on youtube), T-Vice, Leila Chicot, Kreyol La … He also works with other artists such as Lionel, Belo, K-Dilak, Paska and Anie Verna.

Mikaben just released an album entitled “MKBN” and started touring to promote it. He has done performances in Haiti, and the Us and is planning his future tours in Canada, Europe, the French Antilles, and Africa. With over 15 years of experience on the music scene as much in Haiti as the international, he charmed music lovers across the globe Compas Festival in Miami, Carnival in Haiti, Olympia and Zenith in Paris along with Carimi, Hoogstraten in Belgium, Palais des arts in Côte d’Ivoire, Harbour Front in Toronto Stade Dillon in Martinique, etc.