This will be a wonderful day, a great day. A day to be yourself. Happiness is tangible in the track Great Day. But then again it’s no coincidence that the 29-year old Mara Sophie chose this particular track as the title for her second album. An album full of jazzy pop songs, with the accent on pop, including the first single: a rather autocratic cover of Aerosmith’ Pink. And what’s really remarkable is Mara Sophie’s  sound: deep and jazzy.

Mara Sophie’s singing sounds so natural and relaxed, pure and flexible, that it’s easy to imagine that when she is singing in the shower, she sounds exactly the same as in Great Day. She has a voice to be proud of and it’s because of that voice she was admitted to the conservatory. She started at the classical department but found that jazz suited her much better so she switched to jazz at the Amsterdam Conservatory.

Obviously she knew she could sing and yet she experienced the years of classical training at the conservatory mainly as a struggle. “Everything I did there, was put under a magnifying glass. Why did you pick that song? Why did you interpreted it like that? What does it tell you about yourself? In music, intuition is very important and there it was not really stimulated. I knew that I had a nice voice but not what I wanted to do with it.” The switch to the jazz department was an enormous leap forward. “I experienced more autonomy than with classical singing, I felt more comfortable with jazz.” Mara Sophie could not have made a better choice, she graduated with honors. 

Even before her graduation her debut album Splendidly Imperfect was released - recorded in-house – which got her an iTunes Jazz Charts number 1. Despite the success, her natural perfectionism and the things she experienced during her studies, continued to trouble her. “I still was not completely satisfied, I could only think of the things I could have done better.” 

Then, one day, during a ride in the tramway, the moment came that Sophie afterwards marks as a turning point. “I still remember it very well. I looked outside and thought:  I want to do things differently, this doesn’t make me happy. I have to do what is right for me, separate from what others think, and to make my own choices.”
This sounds quite simple but it was exactly this decision which made that day a great day. She decided to start eating healthy and to start working out. And to say “no” for a change. To say goodbye to certain friendships. And to write her own songs. She did it, all of it. So she spent the following summer in her little music room with a notepad and her piano. “I said goodbye to the past and from that moment on, I decided how I wanted to sound and for the first time I wrote my own songs. It was really scary but I persisted.”

The first song she wrote during a big snow storm. She was sitting in her music room, not knowing what to do, outside the snow flakes kept falling. “I stared at the snow and thought: this whole process is really about letting go. And then I wrote the song Let You Out. It looks like a love song but it really is about me. I had to let go.”

Internationally renowned bass player and producer Ruud Jacobs saw the performance of Mara Sophie on the television programme Business Class hosted by Harry Mens and was much impressed by her singing talent. He got in touch with her, one thing led to another and a recording deal was signed with Wedge View Music.  

With the release of the jazzy pop album Great Day, the new approach by Mara Sophie became  a reality. Sophie, happy and proud of the result, is particularly thankful to her singing teacher Gé Titulaer: “he taught me to have confidence in myself and stimulated me to find my own sound. I was very happy when he heard this album and said: you’ve done it, Sophie!”

Even though Mara Sophie is still  young, she has ample stage experience. She was the supporting act at a performance by jazz legend Rita Reys and did backing vocals with the great Dutch singer Angela Groothuizen. She also sang  in the presence of her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of The Netherlands and Mr Pieter van Vollenhoven, in November 2010 and 2011 at the opening of the Peter Stuyvesant Ball in New York. 

This sounds all very adventurous. But her biggest adventure yet is about to start. Mara Sophie feels so much stronger, more self assured, but, above all, more authentic than ever. And this she wants to be heard through her music. The day she will share her album with the world, April 3d, 2012, will be a Great Day, no matter what.  

Biografie Nederlands

Het gaat een geweldige dag worden, a great day. Een dag om jezelf te zijn. Het geluk is voelbaar in de track Great Day. Het is dan ook geen toeval dat de 29-jarige Mara Sophie Peelen deze track koos als titel voor haar tweede cd. Een plaat vol jazzy popnummers, met de nadruk op pop, waaronder de eerste single: een eigenzinnige cover van Aerosmith’s Pink. Vooral de stem van Mara Sophie valt  direct op: diep en jazzy.

De zang van Mara Sophie doet natuurlijk aan en klinkt zo relaxt, puur en wendbaar dat het niet moeilijk voor te stellen is dat ze onder de douche precies zo zingt als op ze Great Day klinkt. Ze heeft een stem om trots op te zijn. Dankzij die stem werd zij toegelaten tot het conservatorium. Ze begon aan de klassieke opleiding, maar kwam erachter dat jazz beter bij haar paste en stapte over naar de jazzopleiding aan het Amsterdams conservatorium.
 
Ze wist dat ze kon zingen, maar heeft de klassieke opleiding als worsteling ervaren. “Bij alles wat ik zong werden vraagtekens gezet. Waarom kies je dat nummer? Waarom zing je het zo? Wat zegt dat over jou? Onbevangenheid is heel belangrijk in de muziek en dat wordt op een conservatorium niet echt gestimuleerd. Ik wist wel dat mijn stem mooi was, maar wat ik er nou mee wilde?.” De overstap naar de jazzopleiding was een enorme stap voorwaarts. “Een stuk vrijer dan klassiek, het paste beter bij me.”  Een betere keuze had Mara Sophie niet kunnen maken, getuige de 9,5 die ze kreeg voor haar eindexamen.
 
Nog voor haar afstuderen verscheen haar, in eigen beheer opgenomen, debuutalbum, Splendidly Imperfect, wat haar zelfs een iTunes Jazz Charts nummer 1 notering opleverde. Ondanks het succes, speelden haar natuurlijke drang naar perfectionisme en de ervaringen die ze had opgedaan tijdens haar studie, haar enigszins parten. “Ik was zelf eigenlijk nog steeds niet  helemaal tevreden, ik dacht alleen aan de dingen die ik beter had kunnen doen.”
 
Op een dag, tijdens een ritje in de tram, kwam het moment dat ze achteraf als keerpunt ziet. “Ik weet het nog zo goed. Ik keek naar buiten en dacht: het moet anders, hier word ik niet gelukkig van. Ik moet gaan doen wat goed voor mij is, los van wat anderen denken. Voor mezelf kiezen.”
Het klinkt simpel maar het was dit besluit dat die dag tot ‘a great day’ maakte. Ze besloot gezond te gaan eten en te gaan sporten. Ook eens nee te zeggen. Afscheid nemen van  vage vriendschappen. En haar eigen nummers te gaan schrijven. Ze deed het. Allemaal. Met als gevolg dat ze zichzelf een zomer lang opsloot in haar muziekkamer met een notitieblock en een piano. “Ik gooide alle ballast overboord. Vanaf dat moment bepaalde ik zelf hoe ik wilde klinken en maakte ik voor het eerst eigen nummers. Het was heel eng, maar ik heb doorgezet.”
 
Het eerste liedje schreef ze tijdens een hevige sneeuwbui. Ze zat in haar muziekkamertje, met de handen in het haar, buiten bleven de sneeuwvlokken vallen. “Ik staarde naar de sneeuw en dacht: het hele proces gaat eigenlijk over loslaten. Toen schreef ik Let You Out. Het lijkt een liefdesliedje, maar het gaat over mij. Ik moest  durven loslaten.” 
 
De internationaal vermaarde contrabassist en producer Ruud Jacobs zag het optreden van Mara Sophie op tv tijdens een uitzending van het programma Business Class van Harry Mens en was zeer onder de indruk van haar zangtalent. Hij nam contact met haar op, wat leidde tot  een platencontract  bij het label Wedgeview Music.
 
Met de release van het jazzy popalbum Great Day wordt de nieuwe weg die Mara Sophie is ingeslagen een feit. Sophie, trots en gelukkig met het resultaat, is met name haar docent Gé Titulaer dankbaar. “Hij leerde me op mezelf te vertrouwen en stimuleerde me mijn eigen stem te zoeken. Ik was dan ook heel erg blij toen hij dit album hoorde en zei: het is je gelukt Sophie.”
 
Ook al is Mara Sophie nog jong, ze heeft al ruime podiumervaring. Zo stond ze in het voorprogramma van jazzlegende Rita Reys en verzorgde zij backing vocals voor Angela Groothuizen. Ook zong ze in aanwezigheid van prinses Margriet en Pieter van Vollenhoven, in november 2010 en 2011   bij de opening van het Peter Stuyvesant Ball in New York.
 
Allemaal zeer avontuurlijk. Maar het grootste avontuur begint nu. Mara Sophie voelt zich sterker,  zelfverzekerder maar vooral authentieker dan ooit. En dat wil ze laten horen. En de dag dat ze haar muziek gaat delen met de wereld, 3 april 2012, wordt hoe dan ook een ‘great day’. 

Cliowen brings his unique perspective to audiences of all kinds. As a multilingual rap artist living in New York, he knows how much diverse cultures can impact a listener’s experience. He blends English, French, Creole, and Haitian influences into a signature style that’s instantly iconic.

Born Emmanuel Jean-Gilles Jr. in Chicago, Illinois on January 25 th , 1988. Mesaje Anonim 509 formerly known as Mr. 509, grew up in the mean streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. As a Haitian/American talented artist, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur; he used his music and songwriting as a source of escape from the hard life of Haiti. His talents started off as a hobby for Mesaje A. but grew to become a passion when he as well as others realized that the true talent lied at his fingertips with every verse he wrote. In 2006, three high school friends who enjoyed rapping together decided to form a rap group known as the Tchuko Boyz based in Boston, Massachusetts and that’s how Mr. 509 was born. Being apart of the Tchuko Boyz helped Mesaje A. solidify his idea in continuing the Rap Kreyol industry. The all-Haitian born trio became a force within the
Rap Kreyol movement in Boston. Being friends before artist fit the harmony, writing and vibing together came easy because of how well they knew one another but eventually Mesaje A. decided to part ways to pursue his solo career. The group split but the friendship and bonds remained the same.
In 2009, Mesaje A. decided to re-evaluate his career and ventured off as a
producer. He headed to Haiti on a mission to write and produce songs for local artist. He fell in love with the lyrical flow of some of the artist he encountered and wanted to create a group based in Haiti. Mesaje A. with childhood friend Makenson “Dadi” Louis founded the group Re-100 in 2010 with new members and a new sound. Re-100 opened up a world of opportunities that made Mesaje A. reconsider rapping again. Making hits like “Nan Peyanm” “Monte Vit” and “Sove Ti Res La”, a dedication to the earthquake tragedy that occurred in Haiti in 2012, made Mesaje A. realize why he loved and started a career in music. Re-100 released their first album “Nou Resan Tou Le Tan” in 2013. Although the group still remains today, the group has taken a pause on creating together
to focus on their solo careers. In 2015, Mesaje A. moved back to the states where he began to pursue his career as an independent artist. Mesaje A. began writing and creating masterpiece after masterpiece on mixtapes. He found a new sound and embraced the challenge of making a name for himself in the Rap Kreyol industry once again as a solo artist. Mesaje A’s career is at an all-time high with collaborations with artist such as Brital, Dadi and Jazzy Prince.

Official Soundcloud of D-Perfect, Haitian Singer-songwriter. "MPral Fèw" out now!

Steevy Boy, born Christopher Steevenson Chery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is a rising freestyle artist now based in Miami. He began his journey in 2018, turning raw emotion into powerful music that blends authenticity, passion, and storytelling. Known for his ability to transform life experiences into freestyle performances, he earned the Best Freestyler Award in 2019 and continues to build a loyal fanbase with his unique style. Currently signed with Ipleymizik, Steevy Boy is preparing to release his highly anticipated debut album on October 16, 2025. Guided by his motto YOLO (You Only Live Once), he’s ready to take his sound worldwide.

#Haitian Music Producer
SousBiT Jere Bit La


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