ZENGLEN

It was the 80’s, a quiet suburb of Port-au-Prince, where thr… Read Full Bio ↴ZENGLEN

It was the 80’s, a quiet suburb of Port-au-Prince, where three friends who were destined to make history in Haitian music met. Every afternoon, a young Brutus would sit on his front porch and play the guitar. Garry Didier Perez, and his friend Patrick Martineau, often noticed him and one day invited him to come over Patrick’s house. They would meet every afternoon to listen to all genres of music and interpret their favorites. During one of their rehearsals, some beer bottles fell off an amplifier that was vibrating and shattered into a million pieces. The guys laughed at the fact that Patrick would have a hard time cleaning up the many tiny pieces off the granulated floor. They all exclaimed ZENGLEN (which means tiny pieces of broken glass) and from that day on this was their band's name.

In 1989, the trio recorded "Koule Tan" (the color of time). Once completed, they took some tapes to several radio stations where hosts and listeners would become fans and fall in love.

Zenglen became one of the wonders of the early 1990’s as they released the hit song "Fidel" off of the album "An Nou Alèz." In the song the band said that “change” is never easy and always faces obstacles, and resistance, but that they pledge to remain faithful (Fidel) to their mission which is to improve and modernize the Konpa rhythm.

The Konpa world was introduced to their new found stars like the guitarist and singer Brutus Derissaint and the lead singer Gary Didier Perez among others. In the song "Fidel" the band said: "Sé konsa se konsa se konsa la vi ya ye lè ou vle met chanjman reziztans tèt chaje." Unfortunately after a U.S tour most of the band’s members abandoned ship and the band broke up into pieces like a real Zenglen.

In Miami Brutus never stop caressing the dream of keeping some of the pieces alive and had moved on with some attempts like the Zenglen Plus and a few solo albums in the 1990’s. Many musicians tried to help him to collect the pieces, but they often moved with their own projects like the creation of the band D-Zine. Nevertheless Brutus never lost faith and still remained fidèl (Faithful) to his mission by hiring more talented musicians each and every time. At the end of the century the acquisition of the drummer Richard Herard (Richie) and then singer Gracia Delva took Zenglen to the level of a very competitive Konpa band in the demanding market as they released the album "Easy Konpa" with nothing but major hits song that were going to move the band to the front burner of the industry. Ever since that time Zenglen hasn’t looked back despite the so many changes of personnel that occurred.

The album "Easy Konpa" was introduced to the public with the release of the video of the hit song "5 Dwèt" which boosted Zenglen to the top of the konpa scene. The song "B.S Productions" got the attention of the public as the song talk about unqualified show producers damaging the reputation of the bands. On that same album the band touched some subjects until then taboo as they talked about lesbians in the society in the song "Flannè Femèl" and drug used in the song "Ti Poud."

In the following years Zenglen continued to amaze the Konpa fans all over the world with the releases of the albums "Let It Groove," "Do It Right," "5 Etwal." The latest album, "5eme Vites," sung by current lead vocalist Kenny Desmangles, touches subjects on society, relationships with top notch konpa, and proved again why critics have praised them as the Konpa University.

Over the years the Konpa observers have seen broken pieces that continued to break in even more pieces, but the band remains solid and true to their mission: Zenglen doesn’t change…Zenglen improve. Like they often say in their songs “Sé pa changé nou changé, se pi bon’n vin’n pi bon.”

Flanne Femel
Zenglen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ooooo you're in trouble
Mezanmi yo pranm

Challenge baby a moin di w mesie
Challenge madanm ou pou l pa detrouble
Konnenn minnaj ou avan w marie
Sa ka ede'w detekte vis kache
Lontan le w soti ak minnaj ou ou oblije ap suveye

Flannè kape cheke flannè kape blage
Kounia bagay yo chanje
Les choses sont devenu nouvelles
Paske gen flannè mal e gen flannè femèl

A pa w sezi
Challenge baby a moin di w mesie
Challenge madanm ou pou l pa detrouble
Konnenn minnaj ou avan w marie
Sa ka ede'w detekte vis kache
Vandredi soi m soti ak boubout moin
Weekend nan bel m envi danser zenglen
Pandan map bien dodo yon bebe frape m nan do
Manmzel estomake
Li di se a mennaj moin wi wap danser
M pa janm sezi konsa
M mande madanm moin question li dim piga w banm pression
Depil te demoiselle li renmen flannè femèl
Li dim piga w banm pression
Moin renmen sa net
Moin pa gen problem a sa
Men cherie fèm konnin
Moin ta renmen ladann tou

Avan w kouri marie chercher konnen mennaj ou
(Konnen minnaj ou)
Ou ka panse l' fidel poutan se on flannè femèl se on flannè femèl
Avan w kouri marie chercher konnen boubout ou
(konnen boubout ou)
Ou ka panse fidel pourtant se on flannè femèl Se flannè femèl
Expérience moin se on lesson wohh
Lesson pou tout jen gason wohh
Jan m te panse m te macho wohh
Gad jan m ta pe fè zero

Mezanmi mezanmi
Depoze depoze
Ay manman ay manman ay manman
Flannè femel envayi jazz la
E pi yo look good toutan

Yo di zenglen se on religion
Moun damou moun marie
Depi yo tande voi sa
Depi yo tande groov sa
Yo di zenglen se on religion
Moun damou moun marie
Fanatic pa negotie
Se nan jazz yap chercher

Se pou nou dim ki kote Brutus te marie se nan zenglen
Se pou nou di m ki kote Richie fiance se na zenglen
Se pou nou di m ki kote Eddy te marie se nan zenglen
Se pou nou di ki kote Esbi fiance woy
Se pou nou dim ki kote Alain pral marie se nan zenglen
Se pou nou di m ki kote Nikkie fiance se nan zenglen
Paske se nan jazz ke fanm ka trouve nonm
E nonm ka trouve fanm mwen di fanm ka trouve fanm

Se nan Zenglen
Ah ha

Overall Meaning

Zenglen's song Flannè Femel is a song that centers on the issue of infidelity, specifically of women. The lyrics are primarily in Creole, with a smattering of French, and they capture a sense of confusion and betrayal from the male perspective. The song starts off with the singer telling someone they are in trouble, and this sets the tone for the rest of the song. The challenge is issued to both men and women to be aware and avoid getting into trouble by checking out their partner's behavior before they get married. The chorus is a repetition of "Flannè femel kape cheke, flannè kape blage" which translates to "Male cheating is common, Female cheating is secret".

Line by Line Meaning

Ooooo you're in trouble
Oh, oh! You're in a difficult situation.

Mezanmi yo pranm
Wow, they caught me by surprise!

Challenge baby a moin di w mesie
A challenge, baby, let me tell you sir.

Challenge madanm ou pou l pa detrouble
Challenge your lady friend so that she doesn't get into trouble.

Konnenn minnaj ou avan w marie
Get to know your lover before you marry them.

Sa ka ede'w detekte vis kache
This can help you detect hidden flaws.

Lontan le w soti ak minnaj ou ou oblije ap suveye
Long ago when you went out with your lover, you had to constantly watch them.

Flannè kape cheke flannè kape blage
A flattery will get you nowhere.

Kounia bagay yo chanje
Nowadays, things have changed.

Les choses sont devenu nouvelles
Things have become new.

Paske gen flannè mal e gen flannè femèl
Because there are male and female flirts.

A pa w sezi
It's not surprising to you.

Vandredi soi m soti ak boubout moin
On Friday night, I went out with my buddies.

Weekend nan bel m envi danser zenglen
On the beautiful weekend, I felt like dancing to Zenglen's music.

Pandanmap bien dodo yon bebe frape m nan do
While I was sleeping well, someone knocked me on the back.

Manmzel estomake
Miss is reserved.

Li di se a mennaj moin wi wap danser
She said she's my girlfriend, yes, we'll dance.

M pa janm sezi konsa
I've never been surprised like this before.

M mande madanm moin question li dim piga w banm pression
I asked my lady a question, she told me not to pressure her.

Depil te demoiselle li renmen flannè femèl
Since she was young, she liked flirting with guys.

Moin renmen sa net
I like that a lot.

Moin pa gen problem a sa
I don't have a problem with that.

Men cherie fèm konnin
But honey, let me know.

Moin ta renmen ladann tou
I would love everything about it.

Avan w kouri marie chercher konnen mennaj ou
Before rushing to get married, get to know your girlfriend.

(Konnen minnaj ou)
(Get to know your lover.)

Ou ka panse l' fidel poutan se on flannè femèl se on flannè femèl
You may think they're faithful, but they're actually a female flirt.

Avan w kouri marie chercher konnen boubout ou
Before rushing to get married, get to know your buddy.

(Konnen boubout ou)
(Get to know your buddy.)

Ou ka panse fidel pourtant se on flannè femèl Se flannè femèl
You may think they're faithful, but they're actually a female flirt. It's a female flirt.

Expérience moin se on lesson wohh
My experience is a lesson, wow.

Lesson pou tout jen gason wohh
A lesson for all young men, wow.

Jan m te panse m te macho wohh
How I thought I was macho, wow.

Gad jan m ta pe fè zero
Look at how I could make zero.

Ay manman ay manman ay manman
Oh mom, oh mom, oh mom.

Flannè femel envayi jazz la
Female flirters have taken over the jazz scene.

E pi yo look good toutan
And they always look good.

Yo di zenglen se on religion
They say Zenglen is a religion.

Moun damou moun marie
Lovers and married people.

Depi yo tande voi sa
Since they heard that voice.

Depi yo tande groov sa
Since they heard that groove.

Fanatic pa negotie
Fanatics don't negotiate.