Haitian rock, or rock kreyòl, started as
rock n roll in
Haiti in the early 1960s. It was played by rock bands called yeye bands. The name yeye derives from the
Beatles lyrical verse, "yeah, yeah, yeah", which took off in the
United States and was listened to by upper class Haitian families who had access to the radio. Young Haitians formed small electric guitar-based bands. These yeye rock bands were short-lived, as the addition of compas to their repertoires resulted in a sound was called
mini-jazz, or mini-djaz in
Haitian Creole.[1]
Today, Rock Kreyòl is an
alternative rock music with a blend of Caribbean flavor that was first introduced to
Haiti by Yohann Doré. Although there has been a rock influence in the modern Haitian genre mizik rasin, which fuses Vodou elements with traditional
rock n roll, rock kreyòl maintains the rock form with subtle native elements from Haiti.[2]