The recent arrest of a young Haitian rapper and his crew on a Port-au-Prince street on allegations they were en route to shoot a music video inside a notorious gang-controlled kidnapping lair is igniting debate over culpability and moral responsibility in a country overrun by gangs. The debate is a familiar one in the United States, where the popularity of hip-hop, and more specifically gangsta rap, has long ignited conversations about the relationship between music and violence, and the role artists play in glorifying the latter. But in Haiti, where surging violence and kidnappings by armed gangs appears to know no boundaries, it’s a nascent one that’s gaining traction as DJs, rap and konpa artists find themselves in the middle of a moral and ethical debate about the rise of the country’s gangs. “As artists we are always reflecting among ourselves, saying, ‘We don’t know what to do,’” said Izolan, a well-known rapper and lyricist who rose to fame as a member of the Rap Kreyòl group Barikad Crew. “Because today, we are under a lot of pressure.”
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