Compás music is a musical genre which is native to Haiti. It is also known as kompa, kompas, compas direct, or konpa direct. This style of music is closely associated with Haiti for many people, and it is often featured at Haitian festivals and events; worldwide, several festivals annually feature compás music and other aspects of Haitian culture. Compás music is also available in recorded form from record stores which specialize in world music.

The genre was developed by Nemous Jean Baptiste, a Haitian jazz artist who was inspired by the musical stylings of the Dominican Republic. Baptiste incorporated traditional Haitian sounds and rhythms into a lively musical style which incorporated a lot of brass and easily recognized rhythms. Compás music is typically accompanied with singing in Haitian Creole. Like jazz, this music pays homage to the African roots of Haitian culture, but takes those roots in a whole new direction.

Baptiste first unleashed compás on the world with a 1955 album, and the genre quickly took off. It enjoyed a heyday in the 1960s and 1970s with an assortment of talented musicians performing compás music and building on it to create their own sound. Baptiste believed the compás music was almost like a building block; it could explore in any direction under the right hands, making the genre incredibly diverse.

Some traditionalists criticized the introduction of compás music because it involved a lot of synthesizers and electronic instruments, in a marked departure from traditional Haitian music. However, the genre probably made traditional Haitian music more prominent, by introducing the sounds of Haiti to a wider audience as it the music spread beyond Haiti's shores.

The word “compás” in Spanish means “beat” or “rhythm,” and one of the most distinctive characteristics of compás music is the driving beat, a trait common to many styles of Caribbean music. Compás music is easy and fun to dance to, incorporating musical traditions like Merengue, which propel dancers around the floor with lively, active beats. You may hear the notes of compás music in a community of Haitian immigrants anywhere in the world, and where there is compás, dancers are usually not far behind.