Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Josue “Gigi” Brissot first fell in love with his father’s acoustic guitar as an eight-year-old boy. His obsession would not allow him to keep his eyes off of the magical instrument until his father let him borrow it for two weeks. He took the time to teach himself the basics. Practicing night and day, he emulated songs from the radio. Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Charles Aznavour are some of his greatest influences and gave him the foundation for playing reggae music. From this point, music became his passion. Scraping together some funds, his mother bought Brissot his first guitar a few months later. While in grade school and playing professional soccer, he always found time for music and also learned the piano, which he would sneak into church to play.

After moving to New York, Brissot was forced to put his music on the back burner in order to find work as a new immigrant. Once get got accustomed to the American reality, the city’s music scene raised his creative horizons. He bought an electric guitar and started playing again. Deeply concerned about racism and oppression he witnessed, he became a Rastafarian. Being part of the urban and ghetto life both in Port-au-Prince and New York City influences his songwriting today. Brissot is currently living in Boston where he has played with many local and international reggae artists, opening up for Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, and Lady Saw. For years he has been writing song after song that he never published. We are wanted, I am wanted was his debut album, followed by the much anticipated Divide & Conquer.

Brissot holds a Civil Engineering degree from the Institute Superior Tech of Haiti and a B.S. in Computer Science from University of Massachusetts, Boston.