How to make Haitian kompa with AI (2026 guide)

You can hear it already: an accordion riff, a tanbou rolling underneath, a chorus in Kreyòl that the whole room sings back. What you don't have is a band, a studio or a brass section. In 2026 you can make Haitian kompa with AI in about two minutes — as long as you speak to the studio in the language of the genre. This guide walks through the KompaMi studio step by step, using only what it really does, plus the musician's instincts that separate real kompa from a generic "Caribbean" sound.

Before you start: what makes a track kompa

Kompa was born in Port-au-Prince in 1955, when Nemours Jean-Baptiste blended Haitian méringue with jazz, Cuban son and Dominican merengue. Seventy years later, three things still define the sound:

• The accordion — the lead voice, carrying the riff and the melody.
• The tanbou — a family of Haitian hand drums whose interlocking polyrhythms sit under the groove.
• A hook in Kreyòl — often call-and-response between the lead singer and a répondè (answerer).

Add a bold brass section and a steady mid-tempo beat made for couple dancing, and you have the kompa dirèk of the Port-au-Prince ballrooms. Keep those landmarks in mind at every step. For the full story, read Kompa: the Haitian sound that reshaped the Caribbean.

Step 1 — Pick the right style

In the Create tab, the first field is the kompa style. The studio offers 18 of them, in three families: core kompa, modern evolutions and fusions. Each has its own reference tempo. A few landmarks:

• Kompa Dirèk (90–105 BPM) — the ballroom classic: accordion, full brass, tanbou bèlè.
• Kompa Love (70–82 BPM) — the slow romantic sway, crooner vocals, soft brass.
• Zouk-Kompa (105–118 BPM) — the Antillean crossover of the Kassav' era.
• Rabòday (125–140 BPM) — fast and urban, punchy brass hits, deep 808 bass.
• Twoubadou (75–90 BPM) — fingerpicked acoustic guitar, intimate vocals.
• Mizik Rasin and Boukan Ginen — roots energy, ceremonial drums and electric guitar.
• Kompa Trap, Kompa R&B, Kompa Electro — today's fusions, with the tanbou still underneath.

Start from the occasion. A wedding or a Saturday-night bal? Kompa Dirèk. A late-night dedication? Kompa Love or Slow Kompa. A party that has to build? Rabòday.

Step 2 — Describe the track (simple mode)

In simple description mode, one sentence is enough: the studio writes both the lyrics and the music. A good description answers four questions — mood, story, vocal language and setting:

A soulful kompa for a Port-au-Prince summer night, female Kreyòl vocals, anthemic chorus, deep accordion.

Always name the sung language. Vocals sing in Haitian Creole, French, English or Spanish, and in bilingual Creole-French or Creole-Spanish. If you say nothing, you leave it to chance.

Every generation gives you two full versions in about two minutes. Listen to both: one often has the better chorus, the other the better intro.

Step 3 — Take control (custom mode)

When you know exactly what you want, switch to custom mode. You get:

• the track title;
• your lyrics, structured with tags such as [Verse], [Chorus], [Bridge];
• style details, added to the specialised prompt of the chosen style (for example: "soft saxophone, late-night mood, male choir");
• an Instrumental switch when you only want the music;
• the voice: auto, female or male.

The style builder helps too: one click adds tags sorted by mood, voice, instruments and tempo. Under advanced settings, two sliders matter most: style fidelity (keep it high for classic kompa) and creativity (low = faithful to the genre, high = experimental).

Step 4 — Write the lyrics in Kreyòl

No lyrics yet? Open the Lyrics tab. Give a short theme — a story, an emotion, a place — pick the language (Kreyòl, French, English or Spanish), and the studio suggests two structured sets of lyrics. One button sends them straight to the Create tab.

A few rules that work in kompa:

The hook is the song

Four to eight words, easy to shout, one image. M'ap tann ou ("I'm waiting for you") beats a line that explains everything.

Think call-and-response

Write a line for the lead singer and a short answer for the répondè. That is what gets a whole room singing.

Mix languages with restraint

One Kreyòl phrase per chorus is enough to set the colour; the rest can be in English or French. Our in-depth guide: how to write kompa lyrics.

Step 5 — Remix, extend, split

Once the track is in your library, the other tabs take over:

• Remix — upload your voice, a demo or a track you own the rights to (MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG or FLAC, up to 8 minutes) and the AI reinterprets it as kompa. You can also start from a track in your library, or record with the microphone from the Workshop plan up.
• Extend — continue a track from the second of your choice, with a direction such as "energy build-up, brass breakdown, then the tanbou returns".
• Stems — split vocals from the instrumental, for a DJ set or a karaoke version. Splitting every instrument (up to twelve tracks: drums, bass, guitars, keys, brass…) is included from the Pro plan.

Step 6 — Download and export

Every track downloads as MP3, even on the free plan. The Export tab adds:

• high-quality WAV, uncompressed, for mastering and distribution — from the Essential plan;
• MP4 video with an audio visualiser and cover art, ready for TikTok, Instagram and YouTube — on the Pro and Unlimited plans.

Export links stay valid for about 14 days, so download your files.

Planning to release? Commercial use comes with the Pro and Unlimited plans, and with the 7-day Pro Pass for tracks made during the pass. A track's licence is fixed when it is created. Full details on the pricing page.

How much does it cost?

The Discover plan is free: 15 songs a month (up to 3 a day), no credit card needed. After that you can buy one-off packs with no subscription, from €0.99 for 10 songs, or pick a monthly plan. Compare them on the pricing page.

Weighing it against a generalist tool? We compared the options honestly on our Suno and Udio alternative page.

FAQ

Do I need to play an instrument?

No. A one-sentence description is enough to get two full versions. Knowing what makes kompa (accordion, tanbou, a Kreyòl hook) simply helps you describe it better.

Can the AI really sing in Haitian Creole?

Yes. Kreyòl is one of the sung languages, on its own or paired with French or Spanish. Say so in the description, or write your lyrics in Kreyòl directly.

How long does a track take?

About two minutes, for two full versions.

Can I put my track on streaming platforms?

Yes, with a commercial licence: the Pro and Unlimited plans, or the 7-day Pro Pass for tracks made during the pass.

Ready? Open the studio and make your first kompa.