Clinton Benoit (born Clinton Benoit-Jean on July 20, 1973) is a Haitian musician and singer-songwriter. Notable associated acts include

Tabou Combo Tabou Combo is a Haitian compas band that was founded in 1968 in Pétion-Ville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. The orchestra has performed throughout the world (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and especially in the Caribbean). T ...

and

Magnum Band Magnum Band is a kompa band formed on June 24, 1976 by (a.k.a. Dadou), former musician of the group Tabou Combo, and his brother (a.k.a. Tico) in Miami. In the late 70s the group became known in various clubs of Queens and Brooklyn thanks to t ...

, which are Haitian

kompa Compas (; ; ), also known as konpa or kompa, is a modern méringue dance music genre of Haiti. The genre was created by Nemours Jean-Baptiste following the creation of Ensemble Aux Callebasses in 1955, which became Ensemble Nemours Jean-Baptist ...

musical groups based in the United States.

Early life and education

Benoit was born in

Jacmel Jacmel (; ) is a commune in southern Haiti founded by the Spanish in 1504 and repopulated by the French in 1698. It is the capital of the department of Sud-Est, 24 miles (39 km) southwest of Port-au-Prince across the Tiburon Peninsula, and ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. He graduated with a master's degree in Social work and Criminal Justice from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania. He also graduated from two law enforcement agencies in the United States. He is currently working on a Ph.D. in behavioral health.

Career

After a short musical career in Haiti, Benoit moved to the United States in 2000. He has performed with many of the top Haitian bands in the United States, such as

, Mizik-Mizik, Phantom's, D'Zine, Dola-Mizik, Funky Konpa, and Kreyol Alternative. He has also created the first Haitian live salsa. While in graduate school, Benoit released the album ''Funky Konpa'' in 2010. In 2014, Benoit started playing with Dola Mizik and became their lead singer. In 2017, Yves Joseph, a notable singer, composer, and manager of

, contacted Benoit to tour with Tabou Combo.

References

Living people 1973 births 21st-century Haitian musicians Haitian singer-songwriters People from Jacmel Temple University alumni {{Haiti-musician-stub