Coupé Cloué: The King of Konpa Manba

Haitian konpa is usually built on horns and keyboards, but one giant made the guitar its voice: Coupé Cloué.^[1]

From the football pitch

Jean Gesner Henry (10 May 1925 – 29 January 1998) trained in classical music and worked as a cabinetmaker before becoming a professional footballer; it was on the pitch, as a defender for Port-au-Prince's Aigles Noirs, that he earned the nickname "Coupé Cloué" — roughly "cut and nailed."^[1]

Trio Select and konpa manba

He took up the guitar in 1951 and in 1957 formed the group that became Trio Select, which fused jazz, Haitian méringue, and folk rhythms and helped popularize the guitar in Haiti.^[1] Coupé Cloué defined a guitar-based style he called konpa manba, delivered with the witty, often bawdy double meanings that became his trademark.^[1]

Roi Coupé

In 1978 he toured Africa to enormous acclaim — blending Haitian music with Congolese soukous — and there earned the title "Roi Coupé," King Coupé.^[1] When he died in 1998, thousands filled Port-au-Prince for a day-long funeral celebration.^[2]

Why it matters

Coupé Cloué expanded what konpa could be, proving the guitar could lead a Haitian dance band and carrying the music across the Atlantic to Africa.^[1] He remains one of the most beloved figures in all of Haitian music.^[2]