Vision, Perception, Position

Music is part of every culture, regardless of how many different genres there are. The Haitian Music Industry holds a wide range of artists not many people had the chance to hear about. As a result, I decided that most music articles I’ll put out, will be about an underground Haitian artist. Hoping that one day, they will get the recognition they deserve.

Today, you will learn about Haitian rapper, Gaëtjens Jr. Charles, a.k.a PK$O, born and raised in Haïti. The young artist is 21 years old and has been making music since the age of nine or even a little before that. 

Gaëtjens often gives this first impression of being “careless” but once you get to interact with him, it’s mind blowing how knowledgeable and concerned he is about many subjects.

Besides making music, our friend works from home, he is launching a company with a couple of friends soon, based on: Apps, Websites, Video Games.
Gaëtjens has a degree in Web Development and is a future Industrial Engineer. At this point our next question is, does Gaëtjens ever gets some sleep?

Source: This picture was published by the artist on his Instagram page
Picture taken by @tiandy007_

The artist is part of a group called KAZITEXX, PK$O says and I quote “Music means a lot, I started at a young age influenced by “Brigandie” specially BriganJP lepap but being part of KAZITEXX changed everything, it’s a family thing”.
For information purposes, I will add that BriganJP is also an Haitian rapper from the Haitian rap group called “Brigandie” and close personal friend of the artist.

PK$O has a unique voice and way of “spitting” on the mic. Not to sound biased or anything but I am a true fan of most of the work he does. Sometimes, his style might be too hardcore for me, however, I find myself jamming on many of his songs.

The group KAZITEXX has a song called “FLEXX” and PK$O’s verse is by far my favorite on that track. He also has a song called “CHAK JOU” that I absolutely love, even more so, because of the instrumental that was made by his younger brother and the producer of the group.

The song I would like to put the emphasis on is called “LOJIK PA’M”, which in English means “My logic”. The word for word translation does not quite explain the real concept of the song. It is truly about his vision, his perception and his position on different issues Haitians have to face daily. The lyrics are powerful, raw and extremely sincere. I even find some of them heartbreaking.

PKSO’s official logo.
Source: @entouragemage.

There is a lot of truth in this song, too much even. If you understand creole, you’ll perfectly get the words, but in my opinion, if you haven’t been in Haïti for at least the past five years, you won’t be able to grasp how deep the issues actually are.

One of the lines that caught my attention was: 

“Aprè 12 janvyé malérèz still ap pran mové tan nan tant yo”.

Translation, “After January 12, less fortunate women are still dealing with bad times in their tents”.

We all know Haïti was struck by one of the biggest earthquakes ever, resulting in many people getting hurt, losing their homes, some even lost their lives. The less fortunate were placed in temporary camps while waiting for their houses to be rebuilt.

The earthquake happened in 2010, what he is trying to say is, after 8 YEARS, people are still in those camps having a difficult time, not getting the proper care they need and no one seems to be interested in getting them out.

Honestly, I could go on and explain every word of the song so you could have a better understanding of the message. However, I’d much rather have you listen to it and I hope it makes you think for a moment. This is not the type of rap song you dance to nor jam to.

This is the type of song you sit and listen to, type of song that makes you reevaluate your mindset, your thoughts and your surroundings. The type of song that makes you grateful for everything you have and maybe motivates you to be different from now on. 

Here is a link to “Lojik Pa’m” by Haitian rapper PK$O, hope you love it as much as I do.

https://youtu.be/ZTsp6sdkPPg

Picture taken by @tiandy007_

I also had the opportunity to interview PK$O, I asked a few personal questions and more information on the story behind “Lojik Pa’m”. The artist was kind enough to give me all the details needed to share with my readers. 

Tiff: Where does the nickname PKSO come from?

PK$O: From a joke, a stupid one [..] 😭🤐.

Tiff: When did you start doing music?

PK$O: I used to write a lot, started in 2006, I recorded my first track 5years later, which was Ballin San Lisans with FiP, at PiwoRecords, a well known record label in Haïti.

Tiff: When did you agree to be part of the group (Kazitexx) & why?

PK$O: I actually asked them to be part of it, they had/have the vision!! 

 There was a show at LAD, they went crazy on stage and i felt that energy and connection,  I literally told them to put me in & they agreed.

Tiff: Where do your instrumentals come from?

PK$O: Most of them come from Kazitexx's main producers and my lil bro AK 47.

Tiff: What’s your all time favorite track you’ve made?

PK$O: Lojik Pam & Badman (coming out soon)! There's no doubt. 

Tiff: Where do you get your inspirations from?

PK$O: From my ganja smoke and from things i or my friends go through.  

Tiff: A project youre not so proud of but is on youtube/soundcloud or other platform?

PK$O: An old project on SKMVOL 1 feat Reylexx, im not so proud of my verse to be honest.

Tiff: What is the story behind “Lojik Pa’m”?

PK$O: I had the concept long time ago but i never applied, recently my mom called me about the evolution of the trap game in Ayiti and i was shocked, because she usually don't give a f***, but that day, she personally asked me to drop something different and i was like "Gran Lojik manman" and she was like " sa se Lojik Pa'm". 

Tiff: The process of making the song?

PK$O: Faced an ounce and that was it.

Tiff: How long did it take you to write the lyrics?

PK$O: I wrote only 16bars, the rest came with the flow.

Tiff: Why choose this instrumental for this particular song?

PK$O: I wanted it to be memorable, classic, so i went with the old school type Mob Deep, which I'm a big fan of .

Tiff: Is Erika Badu one of your favorite singers?

PK$O: Not even! I really like her but I recently found out about her! I fell in love with the “On & On” track so i made the project with her vocals, the lyrics matched mines and that was it.

Tiff: On a scale of 1 to 10 how satisfied are you with this project?

PK$O: Well, 8, because i don't think it got where it was suppose to, 5K plays ain’t enough. 

Tiff: Did you get the response you wanted from your fans or was it better/ worst than you expected?

PK$O: Yes, my fans responded well, they know that they gotta expect the unexpected now (ahah) most of them were surprised, didn't know that side of me.

Tiff: Do you have similar tracks coming out?

PK$O: Yes, a lot of ‘em, i have a whole project based on tracks like that coming out soon , only classics!

Tiff: What kind of effect do you want tracks like “Lojik Pa’m” to have on your younger fans?

PK$O: I want them to know that music is not only about the vibe, you gotta step back and listen  sometimes.

Tiff: Any album? Mixtape? Solo projects coming out soon?

PK$O: Besides Kazitexx's collab with Point Records album, i have a solo mixtape dropping at the end of the year hopefully, Classic Joints only as i said.

Tiff: What level do you see your music reach in 5 years?

PK$O: Higher level definitely, i wanna be worldwide, i want people to sing in kreyol without even knowing what the hell they saying.

Tiff: Do you think the type of music you make could help the music industry in Haïti? 

PK$O: To be honest I don't expect tracks like Lojik Pa'm to help the haitian music industry, I wont fit their agenda (ahah) ,imma keep doing it for my fans, if they know they know.

Tiff: One message to any young haitian, aspiring to be a rapper, reading this:

PK$O: If you wanna be a rapper bro, you gotta read a lot, educate yourself, be aware, do your research, work on your vocabulary, and spit real facts.

After this interview, I got to see a different side of the artist, I was very pleased with the answers I got. I am truly grateful for the 
precious time he took answering my questions and I thank him for agreeing to be featured in my first ever article about Haitian music.

To my readers, a big thank you also for taking the time to read my 

article!
Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it for you.

If you wish to follow PK$O’s evolution in the Haitian Music Industry, there are several ways to do so, you can follow him on:

Instagram: @pkso_ksk

Twitter: @Pkso_ksk

You will also find attached links to the different platforms you can find his songs on.

https://soundcloud.com/pkso_ksk

https://youtu.be/ZTsp6sdkPPg

https://audiomack.com/song/Kazitexx_sk/pkso-2018-prod-by-vivobeatz


This was, “Vision, Perception, Position”, written by Tiff.