The Prolific Rap Career of Haiti's Violent Warlord
The gangs of Port-au-Prince make are making music about the conflict that's roiling the country.
A thrumming beat repeats while men holding assault rifles, their faces obscured by dark glasses and masks, jostle for position in front of the camera. A badge on their chests reads Unité Village de Dieu and bears a grinning T-Rex flanked by AK-47s. This is the Village of God Unit, a paramilitary group—usually called a gang—run by a man named Johnson André in Haiti. André is notorious, better known by the moniker Izo, and sometimes Izo 5 Segond, a reference to the name of his gang, or Izo Vilaj de Dye, a reference his territory. He is a flashy and deadly leader with a history of publishing music videos about his crimes.