Haitians were in mourning on Sunday, tributes rained down and the local media interrupted their programs after the announcement of the death, the day before in Paris, of the singer Mikaben, at the age of 41.
Real name Michael Benjamin, the artist died of cardiac arrest while performing on stage as a guest of the Haitian musical group Carimi at the Accor Arena in Paris, the venue announced on Sunday. According to videos posted on social networks, the singer suddenly collapsed while performing a song during a concert that marked the reunion of the Carimi group, six years after its dissolution. The concert was interrupted and then the room was evacuated, according to several testimonies.
Starting Saturday night, Haitian radio stations and nightclubs began playing the artist’s songs, airing special programs to pay tribute to him.
“It is a great reference of Haitian music that has just passed away. The country and the Haitian youth have lost a beautiful soul,” Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry tweeted Sunday.
Haitian music figure
Born in Port-au-Prince in 1981 and the son of singer Lionel Benjamin, Mikaben was a singer, songwriter and producer. He had performed several hit songs with the Carimi group, including baby i missed you Where Fanm sa Move.
After the announcement of his death, the reactions also lit up social networks. International star Wyclef Jean, a former member of the Fugees and author of the planetary tube Hips Do n’t Lie duet with Shakira, paid tribute to the singer and lamented that she “left too soon” in a message posted on Twitter.
Former Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant praised “one of the most talented jewels of her generation of artists.” In Port-au-Prince, singer Tamara Suffren considered this death “a blow to the country”, Mikaben being part of Haiti’s “inheritance”.
This reunion concert of Carimi in Paris “was presented as the great moment of the year and even of the history of Haitian music,” stressed Frantz Duval, editor-in-chief of the daily the novelist and editor of Ticket Magazine. By dying on stage, Michael Benjamin “goes down in history. Mika gave everything to the music,” he added.
Source: BFM TV
