For the first time in 52 years, Haiti returned to the World Cup this summer. The team’s run has ended, but in Little Haiti the celebration hasn’t. It has a soundtrack now, and it was made right here in South Florida.
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“Haiti on the Go” is the victory song for a team that waited more than half a century to come back to soccer’s grandest stage.
Behind the record is Grammy-winning producer Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis, the Haitian-born hitmaker who helped build the Fugees and produced global staples like Santana’s “Maria Maria” and Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie.” This time, he brought his studio back to his home country.
“It doesn’t matter how much the country’s going through, the players work so hard to really get to the World Cup,” he said. “So I was like, you know what, I’m doing a song, but one of the things that I’ve been doing is adding value through music.”
Also on the song is Stichiz, the Miami radio personality and NBC6 contributor known across the city as a community connector. Few realized she could sing like this.
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“It was amazing, and kudos to Jerry, and of course, Booju Banton, to Cool Mix, Ma Booth, Top Adler, and everybody who was on the song, and even the musicians, just being in the space,” she said.
The track unites a star-studded cast. Jamaican dancehall legend Buju Banton sings part of his verse in Haitian Creole, bridging two islands, one Caribbean.
The video was shot at Chef Creole, the restaurant in the heart of Little Haiti.
For Stichiz, she says the song is the beginning of something, not the end.
“This is part of the start, part of, and history has already been made,” she said.
“Haiti on the Go” is streaming now on every platform. And whatever happens on the field, the artists say Haiti has already won.
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