Corie Sheppard Podcast
Corie Sheppard Podcast
Episode 210 | Doh Kry
This week we’re joined by bois man, singer, songwriter, film maker and producer – friend of the show Keegan Taylor. We catch up with Keegan to talk about his J’ouvert anthem, Doh Kry.
We talk about his hits as a writer including Waiting on the Stage (Machel Montano) Buss Head (Machel & Bunji) and Rosie (Yung Bredda & Destra).
Of course we get into his thoughts on the Bigger Links controversy and his thoughts on Trinidad Killa collaborating with Nicki Minaj.
With an anthem like Doh Kry we couldn’t help but get into Keegan’s background in stick fighting and reminisce on J’ouvert back in the day.
Tune in and Enjoy!!!!!
Oh, I could start. I'm kind of the professionalism guy. I'm a little busy here. Kegan, it's a lot.
Speaker 2:You'll be fine.
Speaker 1:But welcome, corey Shepard Podcast. We're back again, back with new digs at the Affordable Imports Studio. Salute to Conrad and his squad. We have a returning guest friend of the show, so, kegan Taylor, how are you going, sir?
Speaker 2:I'm good, good, I I'm good, good, I just had to swallow my white oak. It's important. It's important, yeah, better Done.
Speaker 1:Happy New Year. It's almost a year ago. We were right here, you know we were right. Well, not like this. We're a little fancier now yeah, fancier.
Speaker 2:Now, almost a year ago, I see we step up the levels.
Speaker 1:We had to step it up. We had they would do, because if you remember that last episode, you tell me, boy, you have some ideas and you're looking to go back to record and all them things. That's so said, so done, right. So congrats, congrats on that.
Speaker 2:Congrats on the song new beginnings yeah man new youth.
Speaker 1:Congrats on that too. Thank you, big, big things for 2025, right. So I want to dive back into some, because last time we talked, we talked a lot about stick fighting on them things and, as I get feedback from the episode, people say but you didn't tell me much about the person, you just keep getting surprises as the episode goes along right, right, right.
Speaker 2:So what to introduce you as?
Speaker 1:songwriter, singer. Who's that? That's me, I'm pretty sure that's you.
Speaker 2:That's her phone. What's up, yeah?
Speaker 1:yeah, alright, leave, alright, leave it in. You know who is that? Good night. Oh, she hung up one time, she calling you back.
Speaker 2:Listen.
Speaker 1:She disrupting from abroad, she disrupting when she in person. You're supposed to answer that? Well, you call at the right time. We know about the start of bad Tokyo. You see this yeah, vexation is not going to happen as my actual online kicker, I want to ask you a question. I don't know how much you remember from last year, but do you remember somebody saying that they're not playing mass in Trinidad and Tobago ever again after last year?
Speaker 2:well, we have a friend. I don't want to just talk about her like if she's not there because, she's on. She's on the technology, so she's here, okay, um, but I do have a similar friend, I know I actually think I know the same person, right, and I um did a unbeknownst to you.
Speaker 2:I could tell him, right so I did a 5000 uh name petition right for marsha to jump back in the game and by the laws of man she was bound to reach out 5-5-5 in the morning so we have her back again, and then I said I did remember saying that I would do my part in putting the sprinkle into the carnival to ensure that she comes back, and I think she's back in so yeah, that's the vibe, so we're going to jump in there. But I say we can't touch the stage without mentioning alright then take care, bye, bye so that 5000, that 5000 name petition.
Speaker 1:I feel like it had about 5 names and then she decided she's jumping back in. All right, then, Take care, Bye-bye. So that 5,000-name petition. I feel like it had about five names and then she decided she's jumping back in. Yeah boy.
Speaker 2:She didn't need much convincing at all.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, no, no. But I was saying before, she called producer, songwriter and finally, recently, videographer. Stick fight man. What are you missing from your Renaissance man description?
Speaker 2:Renaissance man, fight man. What can I miss in from, from your renaissance man description? Renaissance man wow, you know, the strangest thing about this life is you reach a certain stage in your life and you're driving in a part of trinidad and it's like, why doing here? Why this familiar to me, right, right, you know, it's like what I? I've been here before, but what I was doing here and it's it's roads, and you end up in taba kita. You end up in so many baka sangu gang I mean, this is to the people who live in there is this out the road?
Speaker 2:of course you know, being a man from south, you know I've been in so many different parts of china, from mayaro to maruga, to sidras to you you know.
Speaker 1:Toko to.
Speaker 2:Chagaramas. Yeah, under the water you know what I mean In caves, up the islands, down the islands, and it's because of the various things I've had the opportunity to do I mean film itself took me a lot of places. Yeah, music, you know being a long time going to studios all over the country. Music is taking every little bedroom studio. Or, you know, pause, um and other places that room studio, studio, bedroom, studio in the bedroom.
Speaker 2:Still pause, um, yeah, but you know, as you end up in different places, a lot of big producers now started off in a little small thing in the corner of the place. Right, um, does that stick fight? You know which is, which is essentially martial arts itself. Um started studying martial arts my early age. Very many different um teachers in different styles, and you know, going to different training tournaments, meeting different people, and so the different things I've done took me across, not just trying to talk about the world itself but, I'll just use the road analogy, of course.
Speaker 2:Or street names in Trinidad, but you might end up in it like why I was doing it. Oh even though the truth is you know the road.
Speaker 1:The talk on the road is any man who know too much road you know, you know, you know, yeah, but I remember you talking about seeing a stick fighting going on somewhere down by the port or something. So you tell, so down on the wharf.
Speaker 2:I see some stick going on down there and I just this is San Fernando wharf actually.
Speaker 2:We saw a lot of stick fighting going on there. It was a very popular place to have a gael and as a young man you know it happening, but I never really went. And then one day I was heading to our gig to sing because I was in a band too. I think I was a traffic at the time as a show in Winchester and them. I think I was supposed to go see the gig that night, heading up Tongue, and I passed, coming from where I'm coming from. I passed on the wharf and I pulled over the car and I see over the car and, um, I see stick going on, but it had drummers and thing.
Speaker 2:Now and that is live, we playing, and them fellas singing, the woman singing, barking, as they say, the woman barking, mm-hmm. Them men are going off in a high voice and, uh you know, and they're barking. Nobody in china being tuned and thing. But it's something good and I just jump in right, started singing with them and when that happened, just something else that moved on me. Then I saw a fella come in the ring. I got david and glad. Story story started to play out right in front of me. I see this man terrorizing everybody and this short man with a white rass, really a brown rass.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, but in your mind you remember it like a TV show now, of course. And he come in and small guy say, hey, boy, look Cal, he come out of the jail, boy you know, In my head. I see the movie. He don't come out of jail this morning.
Speaker 1:He didn't come out this morning he come out of the jail it.
Speaker 2:He picked up his stick and he right to go and he deal with that man and he was terrorizing everybody. So that real, real life, david Angulat, and for some reason I said I wanted to be able to do that but you're jumping and you sing with it, so how it end up being you in the stick fight now.
Speaker 2:You just yeah, well, I was martial arts trained, but then I was saying to myself that, um, they are, watch myself in a, in a gi, which is a Japanese style, and I was like, well, where my culture, where my martial arts, where my black you?
Speaker 2:know, between it alone, of course. And uh, virginia, at the time you know we he was very interested in it as well. Give him that Right. And um he, um, he and I kind of went into that world together, right, and we met some of the masters one by one, like RL TV show you know you're Judy and you meet this one.
Speaker 2:And then after you meet this one, you meet this one after you meet that one, and so the thing going up, um, and each of them had, each of them imparted themselves onto us, you know, gave us these skills, and not just these skills, but they opened their heart, the homes, the village to us at that time, which is really St Mary's Moruga area, and we placed stick, we got into the communities very deeply, you know, because the guy he ran um, ran a um a contract for an oil field company, so he was also involved in the work, the day-to-day. He was hiring people in the area.
Speaker 2:you know, so he had more than just a cultural interest. He had a? Um interest on the perspective of people walk yeah, you know, and then community integration came afterwards, so it was a sort of anthropological journey. But yeah, in my head I was seeing an old chinese kung fu movie of course you know you're going to the masters and they carry you in the bus to learn to hit and you find your local version.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I tell you.
Speaker 2:it's the same script. Man meets boy, meets hero. Hero takes him in, teaches him technique in the forest, gotcha, and then throws hero into pool of piranhas to see if he could swim. Yeah, fight till you see the bigger boss. Yeah, young hero survives and story continues.
Speaker 1:Well, if that's something you can skip by on this podcast, you know that kaisa and soka man, so you're from south originally when you connect down there, away from originals from point 14. From point okay that explains some of it too. So we end up with showing just on traffic what was that? How you end up there?
Speaker 2:so back in in my day. Wow, yeah, I know your day right, all noise your day I know.
Speaker 2:The reason why it's my day still is because I'm doing this since really young now, sure so I still have youth in me enough to feel like you know we're still functioning. But I was talking. I went on the radio yesterday and I was talking to rkg. Shout out to rkg um, and it's a couple of us who've been around. We still, we still, we're still young, but we're doing it so long that we could talk about what we was doing 15, 20 years ago in the music industry. So back in them days now everything is social media, but we didn't have social media back then. So men used to print CDs. Print our own stack of CDs, our bag. He said, invest your money in that, of course. Go and burn CDs and you carry them. You carry each CD to each radio station and hope for a play.
Speaker 1:You're trying to play music. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
Speaker 2:So another technique that we used to use is you would go. You always want to be backstage, you want to always get backstage, even if you're in the start of the year because you want to talk to our boy. You know, like long time old men in the rap world, they would always have a demo ready to give to our artists, right?
Speaker 2:So back then you always same thing You'll have a CD and you'll give it to a man and let him hear it, and then you'll probably give it to a band leader, right, right. So my mother knew the band leader for Traffic, which is Andy Joseph. Okay, andy Joseph still runs and owns.
Speaker 1:Traffic. You know, back then was Eddie and Shoe and, and you know well my era was Shoe and Sean Got you Shout out to Sean. That's my bro, bro, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Like, talented, amazing guy and also one of the most you know what I mean Genuine people you'll ever meet. You're funny too I had dread, so my tour was hard. I didn't like that. So no at all. No, I didn't like that so I did real talks, but sean was the best part of that. He's always kicks, he always kept things light and he's a man you couldn't do him here. What now? But he come from ecstatic, so he went through.
Speaker 2:He went, he been through that and then come and do so. You can really thief up sean head. Yeah, yeah, you know, but anyway, um, in the in that whole time where we shop in your music and you're asking, you're trying to get gigs, you're trying to, you know, and uh, get people to log on to your music producer play on the radio that's the part we used to be running on the radio.
Speaker 1:You needed that, right, yeah, yeah, that was what it was.
Speaker 2:That's the exposure, but then same thing's foggy. But you know, I knew that it was a time when we would. We would hunt down certain men, right, you know, and watch to see where the openings are and stuff like that. So I said, okay, my mom know this man, he's always check. He used to check for you know, knowing who I was right he was. I was his son of a friend of his in the soca, fighting up if I come off stage and them going up after you know he might stay or he would say he might watch me.
Speaker 2:You know, he watched me looking out for you. And then I had also one junior soca monarch too. Oh, nice, nice, no, I had one chance. Yeah, but I think where this summer was on synergy right, got it. Synergy soca stars, when I came second and that, oh, you were in that. Yeah, I was in that. I was in the second season with Umi Makano. Oh, really. Yeah, so he came first, I came second. We had an RL back then Serious War.
Speaker 1:I was real involved in that show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, so it had that time and we shout out to me and McConnell though you know what?
Speaker 2:I'm saying Because we are, we own the history of Synergy. Soca Stars is us.
Speaker 1:He will be here someday. That's my, I know. I've seen James Mann too, so he'll be here someday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was a battle for Soca Stars boy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was, it was. That was one of them years, it was Two good vocalists, two good performers. Yo, I totally hated that guy back then. Yeah, so Rico Suave and shit and, like you know, got all you know herring in his hair and shit Of course, of course. Who this guy bro, you know. I don't know if I remember it that way.
Speaker 1:No, I remember it. I remember you being the sweet boy. Anything Pause, serious, I remember that. I remember you as the man who all the girls Watching us Take a drink to that Me did a drink to Boy Memory in God. I can't remember what happened yesterday, but I remember what happened back then. Wow.
Speaker 2:You can remember, I, it is me, so I have not seen everything no I watch it from the outside.
Speaker 1:I watch it from the crowd too but again it was a here we put them all lost for right.
Speaker 2:Man, I come out to tease me when you want. I come out in a what do you call it? In a robe, a satin robe and pants and I open it they was waiting for that. They was waiting for that and never do it right. Yeah, and my in mind, my belly big yeah.
Speaker 2:Belly big when I look back on them days I was like bro, what was wrong with you, what was just open it thing, and you know like my belly wasn't big, but you know in your mind to yourself. So, anyway, that's how I got in the band too. Being in the, they saw that they saw, you know. Umi got pulled into ecstatic and I ended up with showing. I remember that. Yeah, so not showing as in showing, but Andy and them Because showing was showing.
Speaker 2:That was a tense thing too, because, yeah, you come in the band. You come in the band to do our good works right and hey, you know it wasn't that friendly, you know it was I see, it was not friendly at all I find that something is here common in soca and calypso in the country.
Speaker 1:So you hear a man who have a good song here it's an eucalyptus tent, or in the soca, you know where. They say they had this, they had that, they had that, everything was going good for them. But when they go backstage in a calypso tent they say it was a rough world, it was a cold, cold world.
Speaker 2:I have a few vague memories of you know, backstage, a few Dimash Gras stages and calypso tents. You know the kind of places I've been. You know it's a good thing for this podcast because I probably would have never think back on them thing you know.
Speaker 2:But I've seen some like I don't know it probably obviously going on still you know there's a different version of 10th life and without this, bro, when you would see shigalos and them in the heyday with all that gold and your skin looking red, red and shiny and you have on some matching thing and you're looking neat, neat, neat. Yeah, and he going on stage just now and do your thing and you know that energy in the back. You see calypso, 10th woman the backup singers have a whole different energy from like backup girls for like soca yeah, you know what I mean it's like, yeah, it's like some stalwart women.
Speaker 2:Of course you know who could really sing and they know all the songs they know, all the songs that'll come out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for you to say that you have to be in that People don't remember that backup singer, with the same four singers going on and singing every artist.
Speaker 2:And then it probably might have two crews Right, you know two, three crews, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I switch out and three women always, and then it had a woman. You always want to get to it and you know, get to that as in yeah, actually, you know, yeah because it has some, some ones, that is like you know, the calypso is watching some of them because I want to come on looking the best, I mean, and when I'm done, when I'm done, saying them running the back, his outfit changes yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah so, but a different era and time uh, we remember the era just like it was yesterday, but not really yeah, I know, I mean, I know, I mean, but that's a long way, as when you say in the beginning, there's a long time you're in it.
Speaker 1:So I fast forwarded it. I fast forward into today because last year, as I say, we, we say all kind of thing. We never believe that. You say you're looking to put on some vocals. I say alright, let me hear how that go. And, inspired by Oli, I say you know what I like Calypso? I could talk about that for days, but it's got plenty parts of the culture that I just don't understand.
Speaker 1:like I remember talking to you about is more of a dance than a real fight, and when you say busted, busted is real thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:So I was glad to hear when you come out to this song last year. Glad to report to you that after we record last time I went to a little stick fighting event Although here it was nothing I went to. I went to NCC thing up in the stadium in Dago Martin fight I guess it's all.
Speaker 2:It's all fight, it's all fight. But um, I'll tell you, unknown inside shooting, finals night is never the best night. No, as time, everybody bum me, do you mean? No, when you, when you, when? Um, I think if you really take it deep and you look to study it, you'll find things. But um, you see, when a man just fighting for fighting sake, rather than fighting in front of a crowd right for a couple thousand dollars prize in a structured format, yeah, you just have they. We have jitters too, you know it's just like there's something.
Speaker 2:King cali teach me what I'm a top three teachers, right, he's always a good shit rolling down the hill on finals night. Yeah, watch and see. And year after year after year, because some of you know, men does just not be as sharp and it's for plenty different reasons, so one come through a whole season to fighting. Remember that too. So yeah, things, broken things, damaged things you know, and then you stress it out tonight. Remember, you're not just studying to win, you're studying to live.
Speaker 2:Of course you're studying to survive your reputation, your reputation in your life crowd right so, and you're not doing it for that much money like a price fighter you know I'm saying so, but I was wondering too, because if I had to bust my own head for a hundred thousand versus a man but I see men getting real bad for three hundred dollars in the ring, but worse than you know, I guess- it's not that much pressure, but I guess for a fighter it's not the money.
Speaker 1:Always if you have an opponent in front of you, you want to win.
Speaker 2:Yeah, by talking about in terms of what you experienced. Now, yeah, you know like it wasn't as hard, because, no, I kind of assume.
Speaker 1:All right, let me say all of we, you know, wwe is what I kind of assume, because if all of we reach our level right and we reach our final and I don't know what the prize is at that point in time, but I'm assuming ncc prize will be bigger than a fight happening yeah, it looked to me as if, when I saw the two women in the final, for instance, it looked like they just decided here what Me and you down here we're going to take that first and second prize, we're going to bust that in half and we're going to damage one another Pretty much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I figured it looked like that, but it was a nice show, though a good spectacle Pretty much.
Speaker 1:But, the stands was full. It was a good energy in this space, so it's something I would do more of. But I know in terms of your songwriting and your song this year, don't cry. Apart from this game, I'm worried, not just your song, but when you see the calendar come on and you tell me if you bust my eye, don't cry, if you break your finger. I try to understand the mindset of a man who, hearing that and still going in the ring. Because the mindset of a man who hearing that and still going in the ring. Because when I hear that if I size up to fight right on a man, say, if you lost your eye, don't cry, I out retirement for me immediately. What's your mindset like before you go into one of them fights?
Speaker 2:pretty much what the song says. Um, I had men with gun in the waist come up to me and say watch this, watch this red man, see this, see what you doing there. I'm not doing that. Huh, pray. More than one man tell me that. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, see, but I mean going through a lot. Last thing with you know what up my skin you maro, you Can you morrow? You see this here, you're done, you're done. I said boy.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. One and a gun, though the gun is the easiest thing.
Speaker 2:This nigga is racking bullets right now. What's going on? Yeah?
Speaker 1:I was watching one the other day where the referee and all have a boy in the hand, Like if you had to go in between, you had to have it.
Speaker 2:You put the a boy in your hand, like if you had a boy in between, you had to have it, yeah, but you, you probably stick on part or yeah most of the men, who not most all the men who refereeing could play stick too.
Speaker 1:So unless in case something coming at, you yeah, they could, yeah, I guess yeah, yeah, yeah so don't cry, I would go in this year so far without well I'll tell you what's going on.
Speaker 2:Just get off message on my phone and say boy, I'll come from work and you can uh, uh, plant right, and it's plant, estate plant. Yeah, well and gas kind of yeah why the man?
Speaker 2:I'm talking about this song. Listen for jewelry. I also your song bad boy for talking boy thing, thing, thing. So every day I get something like that. You know, for me, the idea is to build it right, because I'm taking a different approach this year from usual. Usually I would bring out a song and put all the love, energy and effort into the production of it. When the song drop, for different reasons, wherever it is, energy will be the same as when we in the studio.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, like you'll find, I'm not pushing it as hard okay, okay, you talk much with your history, yeah, yeah and creativity too sometimes I like all right, I'll come by, um, you know, affordable import studio and I'll be shooting right now. Hey, hey, yeah, you know, shout out to conrad and them all the time. Yeah, um, I'll come and shoot a music video here, right, and for artists somebody else, and I'll do that and I'll promote it. I'll push it hard, but when I do my thing, my video for my song, I'll just throw it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, hopefully best yeah, and I find, over time, like, why are you doing that to yourself, like you have your videographer, your filmmaker, your producer, songwriter, artist. Why let's try something new? Right, let's try to turn the energy you put on other people who have millions of views from your productions who, um you know, benefiting from you. Like you know, sometimes you check yourself and like, when it's time to do other people work, it's storyboard, it's this, it's that full, full full rollout.
Speaker 1:you know, shoemaker, on the shoes thing Right.
Speaker 2:You understand, I'm like 2025, let's not do that. But it took some time to get there too. Right, because you know working with different types of artists, some people not all will make you feel like a lot of your effort wasn't worth it. Now, right, you know the doing this be better than the do. Meaning like when it it done and they create it and you know what you went through to create it and you give it to them, they're just like all right, thanks.
Speaker 2:It's like wow, Right. And then things experiences like that, like that wouldn't just be attitude, it would be the way the person, how much they pay, or what they pay, the reluctance to, pay for certain things. In terms of recognition of the value of it. You know what you put into it. Yeah, not just on the technical side, but the creative side. I'm like great this.
Speaker 1:I had the value in this country for some reason it is, it is, it is.
Speaker 2:But I said to myself you are, you are you know so how about we try a different way? How about we put it to a point where you invest in yourself? Yeah, you know. So, doing the song and creating it is the first investment. What we're doing now is working the muscle of seeing it through you know, as you would have done for somebody else, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, pretty much yeah, that is the core exercise right now To practice the muscle of staying focused for a consistent period of time on my brand myself, my work. That's good, that's good. Congrats on that too. Yeah, congrats on that too.
Speaker 1:That's important, like I saw you on the radio circuit last week or within the last few weeks I've seen you doing the circuit. I want to thank you personally for singing this song, too, because before we started recording it, I want to thank you personally for singing this song too, because before we started recording, I was telling you there was a in our time of juvia. We've gone back to this, our time thing, right like old men.
Speaker 1:But in our time when he was playing juvia's youth right, juvia music had an energy and a feel, and not not necessarily the juvia topic, but the feel of it, a powder whatever it was.
Speaker 1:That was different from pretty mass and I don't know if I just missing it. You tell me you're in the industry but I haven't heard a whole lot of it over the years. You might hear one, like I remember in the one year in particular m1 had a singer song about coming out really at juve morning and that capture exactly where it was and that was the music that used to play whole juve morning. Yeah, I mean now is your road march and the big songs that they're pushing for on your.
Speaker 2:I ain't gonna lie that you skip all the bs and get straight to that and say oh, like a lot of these songs you're here on juve morning, the songs you're kind of really supposed to be hearing carnival tuesday that's what I mean on the stage and it's not the same. No, it's not the same you can mix it and we come from that. Remember hunter and lavender them, section you know names hunter yeah it had, it had um. I glad it.
Speaker 1:I glad we're doing this podcast I wanted to talk about this for a long time you know, remember um when my shirt sing um.
Speaker 2:Come on, son, you know them can't sing it um.
Speaker 1:What's the name of that party down shagaram his name was a journey party boy, but it, I think, is I think it was called son or some shit like that, but it was a party that was.
Speaker 2:I think it used to happen sunday morning at dawn dawn.
Speaker 1:Remember them days, it's dawn, yeah. Yeah, he's saying sun for dawn, right and that was a kind of prejuvee party kind of vibes, yeah remember boy scouts yeah when marshall them used to leave Boy Scouts, and when Jay-Z come. Oh yeah, that would have been the same time as shit.
Speaker 2:Right, you have memory for real, that is true, and when it have a truck behind the stage, yeah.
Speaker 1:So when Juve morning come. They didn't even do the stage.
Speaker 2:They perform on the trucks when the truck's in the air for Boy Scouts and the truck will pull off and the whole Boy Scouts crew heading out onto Juve with the truck.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that energy. Yeah, I don't want to say it gone, because things are cycling. I don't know how things will come back, but Boy Scouts is a special one, boy.
Speaker 2:Boy.
Speaker 1:Scouts was a special one. Like I, have one particular memory and them performing on the track. That was some of his last days performing on the road, if I'm not mistaken the song is Powder Pussy, right, and that Powder Pussy when we play them, play that or sing that from Leaving Boy Scouts to Rich Kiersey, you know, brother, and the past Belmont side, the one song you know, and how they play some of that trance going down the road, match or no or no properly polycomotion is that chip?
Speaker 1:now is that chip, and I wonder into if maybe the the change of the time, because I do remember leaving boy scouts when his butler and he had a run at a different time with them thing too. So here what I say right, the song is born.
Speaker 2:The song came out. I would want to come out for me. I was a writer. I will tell you that. So now listen and watch the song. I say why you come out, so why you? So you know you born, you born dread. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where you come from? Oh no, you know like I was like gosh boy, why this song had to be so, why I can't be one of them guys who could sing a nice cool song and all the kids jumping and jumping.
Speaker 1:No, I get the, I get the mutant but let me ask you something before you go on with that if you're writing for somebody else, you're going down that vein, because I remember you telling me down that vein, because I remember telling him you're rooting for Boss Head. You're some other Rosie you know which was so inspired by the stick fighting to both of them, you know yeah, I mean so honestly.
Speaker 2:I've written a number of songs, but every the songs that stick to people's mind is the stick fighting yeah but I don't know when I get up in the morning and all of a sudden have this portfolio. To be honest, yeah, yeah it's been. It was almost an entire decade of wasn't a decade of fighting per se, but a decade being involved in that aspect of the culture, because we didn't fight every single year yeah um, of course there are many men with greater tenure than I do but I'm just trying to say that I didn't even what keegan taylor um
Speaker 2:prez, yeah, it's a known stick fighter in china, like where that come from, you know. But it's just the journey we had was interesting, right, you know, um, dr christopher laid, the founder of banyan, did a documentary about our journey, right, and he followed me through to the finals, or something like that, right, um, and a film called nobuama no fraid, and there's another one done called um kind of the name. Right now I must get them back and watch them, and yeah, that would be nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think I could send it there and you could probably talk it over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. If I could do that, I will, yeah, but um, yeah it.
Speaker 2:At that time, we I think I would like to think, I think I know because of who we were and who we knew we opened a portal for a certain group of people to see into the world.
Speaker 1:Like Christopher.
Speaker 2:Laird and and you know others who would have worked with us had an opportunity to access something that was in Africanrican tradition usually hidden. Yeah, yeah, you know. So we had become entrusted in the community and still, in many ways, you know, because you become part of the community yeah, that might stuff, that might, that might be part of the story.
Speaker 1:You know, keegan, now that you say that that might be one of the reasons why when you write in that vein, it resonates so much. You know what?
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, it's where it's coming from.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, don't doubt that because I remember. I remember the whole hype behind Marshall and Bungee going and do a collaboration, which I suppose, as a creator, right, you seeing that unfolding already, kind of knowing what behind the scenes, right, but the first thing I saw was marshall started commenting on bungee posts and they want to do something together and if they didn't seem as at least republic, it didn't look like they have the best relationship or any relationship at all. Remember that it's a lot of percent.
Speaker 1:I remember that maybe a year or two before yeah, it was some time before you're right, and I always remember in the post marshall because the box up on a stage somewhere and it was cordial and he posts something, hey, time to collaborate in Bungie public posts and Bungie say, hey, this is not the time or the space, it's not. You know what I mean. Let me talk about that behind closed doors. So I felt like if the world anticipated and me in particular as a fan of the thing, trying to see what a collaboration between both of them will look like because Bungie will look like, because bungee very, very rooted in calypso in the way he's put together songs.
Speaker 1:Know the culture marshall collaborates with everybody's have past, present and future. He's been collaborating with everybody. And then that missing and then it's two kings at the time. So as a fan anticipating okay, what they go, come with. If it's a road match, vibe like he and skinny, fabulous.
Speaker 1:And then I hear this song and I remember initially people, the public, might be confused when they hear this song Because people expect a big, power, soaker and a big like family, right. But I will tell you something. When I hear that and I said, but who will come up with this boy? Because a stick fight reference had to be the greatest metaphor for the relationship that them two fellas have. And this from my little bit of experience watching sick, because me and his enemy we go and fight for a time, but we respect one another, respect one another at least not a rushing wild to one another as as boar men. So when I hear that song and I say, well, how they come up with that idea that a bus or a stick fight song? The theme, even the little um brandon for the song was two boy coming together and, you know, is it something that? Who came up with the idea that that was the team that they were going for?
Speaker 2:so first of all, um marshall and I have known each other for a very long time.
Speaker 1:Right especially, remember to take you back to the whole um upcoming artists reaching out to the higher ones backstage and you know doing that networking back then in social media back then DMing was knowing where men gonna be.
Speaker 2:That's right, and show up there yeah, so it had a lot of that and I know big stuff to talk about. But they know who you are, you know who they are, you know they are, you know all these all the heads, you know from bungee go straight back to everybody back then they had interesting people backstage tony prescott and them still are wrong. Um, all the bands are from atlantic. Go straight back. Yeah, that was the ban.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So marshall was part and you know obviously you're targeting marshall got the biggest, of course, you know. So we had a relationship coming through the years that got closer in terms of proximity and conversation and somewhere along the line I said we had to do something fair, you know, or collaborate, I think it was, but I always wanted to have a song and marshall on it right, you know, like as a youth man coming up.
Speaker 2:That would be the ultimate flex. But, um, I had already begun playing with stick fight and enter that world. So I mesh, I meld of some kind I was thinking about.
Speaker 2:It wasn't that serious, but anyhow, the point I'm making is, when I brought busted to Marshall, it was already something he was expecting, because I, you know, I think he was interested as well he had to be interested and so when we came with the idea, I worked with a producer advocate, kit Israel, very talented guy as well, very, very, very, very talented almost like Elon Musk kind of talent, of music, the other trappings, um, but he, he, he and I were vibing on a certain level at that time and he literally gave me this space to create because you know, he don't know about that what he? Does know, is the music you feel so that go go, go, go feel so that just the opening yeah, them thing is is kit, you know, feeding off of my energy with the darkness right.
Speaker 2:New title, good yeah, okay gotcha and the song came from. And again, we at that time, you know, at that time we we had a synchronization in terms of how we work together. We wrote a lot of cool songs together, but what he, what I would say about that relationship was um, he's a talented writer as well, but he also knew when to let you create because he understand what you bring in.
Speaker 2:Yeah he know he want that, so he even let that happen. You know, interfere with that. So at time we sit down by the piano and um he playing chords looking for the gungu, them tones, and I looking for the song, because that night we come to do that.
Speaker 2:I think, it was 11 o'clock at night in Kenny Phillips studio actually we started there and he in that gungu gungu and he playing things and I looking for tone and I changed my voice that gungo, gungo, gungo and you're playing things and I look in for a tune and I change my voice Because usually if I write in a song, I'll write it like this or I'll change in a certain range of changing. But with that, now I went, they come out and bust my head. I went my voice is here head.
Speaker 2:I went they, my voice is here. I went like that and I was like that shit, he's like no boy, that bad boy you know. And Brian line. After that I shut off. I don't know where the song come from the song just come out after that, but the lyrics for it come from. And I'll never say this should I give the podcast people this point?
Speaker 1:yeah it's good time you take a drink.
Speaker 2:To that too you feel you in drinks champs, though that's the idea nah, but um the song had many, has many um levels in terms of the lyrics saying I was talking about how I was feeling in my life at the time. A lot of my music is how I feeling or what I'm trying to say, and, um, I don't see a problem with that.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you know, sometimes you write a song for everybody to hold on to, and sometimes you write a song it's for you, you write. You write a song for everybody to hold on to, and sometimes you write a song. You write a song, come from here but the trick or the skill in songwriting is being able to say something from you that's real but also something other people can identify with, because if it's not real to you, it wouldn't be born properly. It'll come out like plastic, like an AI made thing.
Speaker 2:But if a man, make her shoes fair and he's sweating it you know, yeah, you must connect oh yeah, I'll watch a chinese movie a time, a martial arts movie, and the chinese woman, um, they don't know why the they don't know why the wine tasting so good. Now the man and fat you to the woman, beating up everybody. You think you want to think, you want to get this woman because the wine she's making is intoxicating them. They jump up on the wall and you're watching this woman make this wine and again, it's in slow motion and she's singing and the sweat is falling is the woman like the man falling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, is umanga like the man? Of course, right, is it jare?
Speaker 2:yeah, jare and you in studying that she pretty and you sweat and that will gain the wine extra flavor you know, what I mean so that is the difference in AI and a man made thing you know so when you make a song, if you make a song, if you make a song from you and that's why good songwriting you have different experiences, or at the very least the right way you know about you know. That's why you know adults know about sex, so they will figure out a way, different ways to talk about sex, about alcohol. You know how you feel when you drink alcohol it's personal feelings.
Speaker 2:The many people could connect to sex, alcohol. Um, you know, jumping up on our road is a shared experience, um, so you try to sing out where you know. Sometimes, like I know, people have written dread mass songs and they never play mass.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, kind of all have plenty of that man who's singing rum song. Don't drink rum, rum yeah but there's a difference.
Speaker 2:When a man actually is about that, yeah, you would know. So yeah, because even waiting on the stage, right that I wrote for Marshall too, that went road match, but I never play mass, right, I never play mass.
Speaker 1:So how you tap into that waiting on the stage energy.
Speaker 2:I'll tell you how, big up to my boy, sebastian Bradshaw, I used to live downstairs to him and he always used to play techno music. So the techno kind of I hated it and I get up in the morning and his music blasting upstairs, but then after a while I get accustomed to it and that seeping. That's part one. Part two I used to work at a company called allied security and I used to do bodyguard work with a guy called vince, and vince um called us to do bodyguard work for a band leader and his daughter and his whole family. So I used to. I was um protecting one of the, the woman, the daughter. I was with the daughter so she was real wild, she going everywhere and you had to keep eyes on and twirl your own hand following her through the barn right and she went.
Speaker 2:I think she wore the the backpack, she was the queen, so things used to get interesting around stage time, now in space, right, so she'll be at the front and everybody gang up behind her. And then you had the security who would, yeah, locking hands, and I'm right there with her, right, but I'm not on her, but I'm with her, yeah. So she right there and I right here and I just thing and making so she safe, right, and while she safe, while I watching there, now, everybody wrong, you're going.
Speaker 1:So that's how I energy.
Speaker 2:That's how I like you had a stand up so, but then you had a flow, because you can't look, shepherd right, this thing on you, just vibing on you, and that yeah, that is a, that is a vibration right, a difference and wherever song it is that year. I can't remember what song it was that year. You just wait.
Speaker 1:Let me just pretend it's open the gate show you don't just stop, because that was one of them open it, open the gate, that's what I'm talking about that, that, but that bonks.
Speaker 2:I remember driving through the fields in Petrichen and I was doing a training session with my boy, mumba. I used to write a lot driving that ain't so unsafe? No, no, like you're driving and you're just holding that vibe and you're singing and you're chanting in the car I used to drive long distances, real far, always going Mayaro Maruga some way some long drive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah, and that time I come in from a training session, so you're blood running and and I just get this vibe coming through the fields, fields, you know, the fields in south yeah, yeah, trees and like that. I just getting on whining in a rage, getting on real bad, waiting on the stage and now all I get. You gotta figure out the rest and every day after that in the evening time you're locked into this melody.
Speaker 2:You gotta get this boy. But I think what I think the best thing I needed to capture was or the most powerful thing that I remember when I sing to your stasis that is not the part that reminisces the part in the thing. The part that reminisces that for me is it's oh yeah, that we waited. It's feel that way, oh yeah, and we anticipating oh no, oh no, hey, it's oh yeah.
Speaker 1:You know?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that for me is. That is the experience crystallized. No, it crystallized for sure Into a moment.
Speaker 1:It's really just a few songs that I was able to do that over the years, because it also that song. I didn't know you write that song either, but that song captured the release as a masquerader. I could tell you when I was young, when I had energy. Now, I didn't cross no damn stage.
Speaker 1:I don't have energy for that shit, no more. But when you see the men move, that song captured that fully, that little techno part where it's like you just get through, because when you get through on the stage, right, you have to get up that ramp to really be on the stage, and that's when it all have a kind of vibe.
Speaker 2:Until it, you understand you have to charge up, you have to charge up.
Speaker 1:And that song, that song captured it perfectly. That is something else. I gave my eye there for a song called Take the Hill yeah, well, there you go, 2026 or it's a long kind of time and space, that kind of conquest, kind of true. You gotta conquer this stage plenty men try to sing songs about conquer this stage. If you capture that feeling right, you're tapping into something. And as I talk about tapping into something, I'll get to another song that we spoke about with Destron young brother.
Speaker 1:Rosie yeah because again we spoke about it, Destron, young brother Rosie, yeah yeah, Because again you go, you go out and stick fighting or you follow your Instagram long enough. You go here Rosie coming down with you.
Speaker 1:bunch of roses coming sweet, and I say, well, I remember hearing the song the first time this is before, marshall, tell me about you coming in Right. And I remember talking on the podcast and saying whoever the hell come up with this concept. I grateful for it because young brother is a person to me who was in this life a few times before. Clearly he have a whole soul and the DJs were hot. He and them, them fellas, have a vibe right and to have a vibe like that, that's so in touch with what I know as kind of well, maybe even what my parents know, and to be so in touch with you, that will happen often. Right, he's a, he's a servant to me. Yeah, you know, I agree something else, boy, and when I heard he was trying to do so, counting, and I saw a little scene in the airport where he meet destra and he's so you know, he's so respectful of.
Speaker 2:Deshra, who she is. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:Deshra a legend, right, but I was so glad that somebody find a love way to put him in for what would have been to me I don't know if I write about that his first entry into Soka. Not sure if he had other Soka before.
Speaker 2:I think, I think it's not the first, it's the biggest it really puts him there. To see what you're doing this year. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And that love way energy was something else with our song with him and Desh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I really wish we had gotten to do more with that song, right. In terms of promotion, maybe Promotion and the music video and that kind of stuff, Because that song again, it has a deeper meaning than just you know.
Speaker 2:it had so many meanings is the collaboration between desha and young brother, which is a continuing story that people cared about. Yeah, um, the rosy song was a again another author, not just the stick fighting, but the damn lauren energy gotcha, you know. So I kind of through time telling a story right with the music. Um, the damn lorraine energy, that's homage to the damn lorraine, you know, in song, right, and um, the culture in that way as well. So all this, you know, was was really for that, to kind of make these two iconic, because desha was always the person I wrote this song.
Speaker 2:I wrote that song a while back, all eight years to eight, ten years, oh really. And um, desha voiced it originally and um, we pushed her to to improve it 10 years later because she's like, let's do something different for now, because the lyrics then had to change especially to fit Young Brother. So it worked out to be a really strong track. But in my heart I feel like, you know, I wanted it to be more than just okay, we did this and it's it's a recording time. I wish that we had an opportunity for people to, but, but you know, immortalizing the loveways in the mainstream has a greater purpose, you know who do?
Speaker 2:it If Marshall and Bungie sing Boss Head, Young Brother and Desha sing.
Speaker 2:See what you have a story happening then the writer, come out and sing, do cry a few years later. That is a work in itself for me. Yeah, because this is the continuation of, or the execution of, a promise I gave to stick fight and to my teachers back then, and even to myself more than 10 years ago, when I fell in love with stick fight. And what it did for me because, whether I fight any guy I'll know or not, it taught me to be a man. Yeah, gotcha a different type of man too. So it's your appreciation for that journey. Yeah, and the men, the, the men who stood with me, the teachers, the, um, everybody a lot of people started, you know to enter the guy.
Speaker 2:I didn't walk in. I never walked by myself, you know.
Speaker 1:So is my me paying respect to the culture yeah, and it comes true because even in in putting it in a live way and keeping the team right, a man who don't know what stick fighting is, but might know marshall or no bunch of fun talks a question about. Okay well, we had.
Speaker 2:We had the whole west crowd in in in shagramas, yeah, parties singing holy way. You know talking about joe tamana and all them singing holy fate yeah, holy fate yeah, I don't know who's.
Speaker 1:Joe tamana nice holy fate are you okay, but I'm not nice, you know, with that. But all that nice, you know All that nice because it's a story, and it's a story to tell.
Speaker 1:But even fast forward to your song this year, let me tell you something about that. Other than the Juvie vibe, the opening vocals in that song is a problem in life. Welcome Jesus To Juvie. Everything come out of your hole, it's something else. Boys make me wonder like where you come, what make you when you go in, and so you come up with that something else, something else. When I hear it I say, nah, boy, like the man gets serious, boy, man gets serious. As you appreciate the juve song. I hear you talk about strive juve. Salute to strive juve. My wife tell me we playing in strive so to strive and so blind juve.
Speaker 1:Where's the finding your juve model?
Speaker 2:well, you have them lined up. We're lining them up. Lining them up, you know um, the thing about it is this I sing a song for certain people this year. If I'm being honest, you know, I feel like the mass people, the pretty massive people, pretty much covered. They always are they always are they always are right. Um well, let me sing something for them. Human, jump behind them you need that.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, we sing something for them fellas who drag and train in the day yeah, and the night yeah, and then go back to it's like purge training in the day and the night and then go back to it. It's like purge. How do you go purge? That was the one night, you can put on a mask and play mad. That's right. And it goes deeper than that. It's masking, it's the power of masking. It's something that Tony Hall has spoken deeply about the power of ritual and masking.
Speaker 2:Without getting too deep into that, you know, it's just an understanding that when we put on the mask we become our true selves and the discovery of yourself through through masking and manifesting different elements or characters of yourself, for healing and and growing the personal agency of yourself. So we need to power that, like when you're by the guy, you know already few, few, few men can just fight a man with a stick, but when that drum call, you're doing anything. Well, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the drum is the energy in itself right so the songs the juve songs have to drive the juve, just like you have the FET songs. Just drive the.
Speaker 1:FET. You know, like in hip hop, you have hip hop songs, you have club songs.
Speaker 2:It used to be FET song, road song, yeah, yeah, yeah, everything just blend into one kind of way and I guess nothing probably wrong with that because everything is advancing.
Speaker 2:But I come from a certain time and place and you know I want to rep certain things for whatever reason. But I come from a certain time and place and you know I want to rep certain things, um, for whatever reason, because I and if you watch things coming back, music does come back. So I feel like it's have some kind of solar event happening and I swing back. And these are rare moment in time Funny.
Speaker 1:We talked about a lot of the things that we were called traditional and people say not commercially, you know, viable in mass is seeing it coming right back around.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, so it's an important thing, but with you being a creator, somebody who into whether it's music production, songwriting, singing songs, yourself, right, and the respect I have for you, I can't leave without asking you about the current controversy. Right, as we talk about Young Brother, I see him come with a song this year, two songs to me. They have this song on the Big Link rhythm, which is the thing everybody's talking about now.
Speaker 1:But I can't remember the rhythm offhand, but there's one rhythm that went along that is a very calypso feel Not Big Link, no, no. Till Then.
Speaker 1:to me it's a very you're from the band era that song like what Traffic and Atlantic and them would have come out with so when I hear him on that, I find to me he interpreted this song in terms of a laugh way, almost like he was in that era. The other men would sing in that Marshall or Lyrical. All of them are great songs on the rhythm, but I like where Young Brother come with and then I saw the big link come out and you know one of the biggest songs in the rhythm, although it's not true at all that no woman in this world, england, tell you they go, do all the work. You know that, you know make turn and so on.
Speaker 2:It's not gonna happen. I mean it's a good concept I mean yeah you mean, yeah, I had a real they were all about two minutes.
Speaker 1:Keegan say so. Right, I didn't say so.
Speaker 2:No, corey said that and I want to defend the women out there yeah, do that, do that, somebody needs to who, um, you know who, say let me blow your mind. Yeah, then the other side, alright, good, your mind blow, let me go. You know what I'm saying it don't take much.
Speaker 1:It don't take much, yeah, but I'm glad to see him rise to the top and he have a song that big, but then the song become about Trinidad Killer jumping on the rhythm.
Speaker 2:No, that natural yeah, because Carnival is back on all. Back on all is Carnival. Everybody get on board. That's what I get to flex on Rocky. No, Rocky and Galen. I think that's Rocky.
Speaker 1:Y, no, rocky and Galen. I think that's Rocky, yuppie, yuppie, yeah, yeah, yeah, it could be Rocky, yeah, rocky. But I always wonder okay, so if I'm a, as a creator, you in that space. Now you build a rhythm, your rhythm, catcher length, you're going where you need it to go in terms of marketing, catcher length, and somebody jump on your rhythm the truth is, it depends on who it is yeah but yeah, gemma has very specific circumstance.
Speaker 2:The business is what it is, it's already established, right, it's gone by that time you're feeling yourself, you're feeling the rhythm, you're bossy you're big and let me add some context to it. Sure, full-blown on them, fellas, there's men who doing this thing yeah they have their list. Yeah, that's not in my body list when everybody men like me stop and this one stop or they're in it, them fellas never stop.
Speaker 1:Yeah, gotcha, they never stop they never stop.
Speaker 2:Well, as far as I could have said, but when I do in other things and I don't see men. I have a era fellas and I come up with men like pops who write savannah and minneshea road pops around jolani pop art show okay I come up with men like what what I write.
Speaker 2:Shaft has always been around also. He's a consistent one too, but a lot of writers I came up around who were writing some of the top songs at that time. You know we come in and out sometimes, but Full Blown is like a consistency and you put in all that work and you finally get one of your biggest years not one the biggest year ever. The way how business runs, it's organized. When you're building a rhythm, you know who you want.
Speaker 1:That's part of your vision you're building with them in mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like you have a painting, right and this way you want on it, right, this is what these are the colors, is the scheme there's he and I want on it. And if that were you seeing, bro, that we are seeing now somebody who is equally good, just like somebody else or some other color you put on. You're not seeing that, though. I'm not seeing that I've done lucky in here now if, if davido come, yeah, I suppose or or boy depend on who it is come for some reason, you can start to see it For some reason right, you don't get the vision.
Speaker 1:Yes, I don't get the vision for many reasons.
Speaker 2:So that's another side of it. The other side of his business is locked in when these guys, like many of us, are hooked into DSPs, digital platforms and things that are businesses done a certain type of way. So we're not doing this for fun to make people jump up our loan. That's how we feed and we're family, that's how them feed in the family or whatever I assume, and I make this to jump up ours also. Make this to make money too of course it's our business.
Speaker 2:It's our business I run in here so you can't just take my thing and try to make your own money. You done put up on dsp that money going towards you. I like that and I'm like you know that I get in a car, crash, head into the studio to build this song if you understand what I'm saying. You don't know what I do to build this, bro. You know what I'm saying. So. But I come back to Killer now and I say Killer Dread, like Killer is a character within our carnival he's designed to do that, like Killer, has given us a whole two to three weeks of conversation.
Speaker 2:And that's what carnival. This type of conversation is not going to happen. No, from March go down. It'll be about murders and it'll be about so many other things, but right now we're going to talk about Eskimo. And then next week is going to be some other carnival agent is going to act up.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And do something else. But Killer has chosen a very strong jester like position, you know where, where he don't care, he will cry, he will laugh.
Speaker 1:He will tell a joke he will run through the place call for rain yeah bare belly.
Speaker 2:He will say prayers, he will talk about Oman, he will cuss. He will say sorry, he will. He's a character you will tune into. You will tune into, you will pay money to see them thing. Yeah for sure, you know you may not like and you get to see. I see a man posted. I still don't like him, I don't take him seriously, but you see that Eskimo, a man posted on Facebook. At the end of the day you get to not like something. You don't like everybody. You don't want that child like chucky, of course, so so. But the character, the character is doing what it needs to do in the cannibal, you know, trying to kill her is damn man. Yeah, I not do anything. Should I kill?
Speaker 1:her when I watch him of course you know, I mean like not all the time, because even that's part of it like I don't want to see this all the time.
Speaker 2:So, aside from trying to kill it, I have other people who it's like a man, like Yankee Boy, Yankee Boy you know, of course, you know him. So Yankee Boy is every other year there's come with a controversy. Yeah, I think, if you look, calypso too, yeah they always have that that man who was the contribution man back then.
Speaker 1:Many many, many men.
Speaker 2:Many men yeah, so it has somebody who you want to.
Speaker 1:If you look at Crooker as a man who sing a lot of political.
Speaker 1:Crooker used to get past that edge, Whatever that edge was whether it is to lick Chagallos for or to talk about what Aguil do, getting common entrance and she had no hands, which is black entering and doing good, cut off the hand. He used to go just a little bit past the edge. So you're right, I never saw it that way, but you're right, the kind of I'll have a character like that and the truth is that the song good, I think that undeniable the song is.
Speaker 2:The song is is our vibe.
Speaker 1:You said it earlier, like you see, you tap into that sentimental people going to cross the stage, tapping into that sentimental people like Marshall, who vexed me here she didn't vex with me and you, but she just would have liked to be here and that Cole and all that. He really come good. And Pronto is a great musician too.
Speaker 2:I know he's a press man too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good, good musician and a little fellow figure, and them men get onto something. So when I was, I was talking about this on the podcast last week and I was saying, boy, listen, understand the take that it's not yours. You pick it up and you're going with it. But, uh, and that is what the world is made of. Unfortunately, we live in a world me and you here because somebody pick up something that wasn't their own and bring it here and, and now they legitimize it. Men get inaugurated yesterday under the same premise that have me and you here.
Speaker 1:So when I look at somebody who's like me and you pick up something that don't belong to them and try a thing Almost not to defend it or to say it's right or wrong, but I understand it you know, you claim you're a quality man. Whether you're a quality man or not, you have an idea and you try something. What I find is difficult for me as a fan is the, the wrong and strong, or the. You know you're making it into, but the way you put it I like, because then what else would I expect the character to do? That's what he would always do, and I see him yesterday with Nicki Minaj. You know, as you say, the apology came after all days of cussing and going live and putting it up for monetizing.
Speaker 2:But Nicki Minaj is watching him. We have to understand that we live in an environment where we we all bored to some extent, so we go on our phones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we're looking for the next thing to catch.
Speaker 2:It's quite a controversy, but it's just it catch you, you know it catch you. It's like you have a million things and then this man, it catch you. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Social media is that Can you catch me. Can you catch me in a positive way or a negative way, or a shocking way? But it's all about catching attention.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in a couple. That's what I'm saying If you're dealing with social media.
Speaker 2:the catch and Trinidad Killer has honed the art, or is honing the art, of catching attention. Break it down to social media. Yeah, you're right, I mean, the individual is really a human character.
Speaker 1:He was on Synergy, soca Stars as well, I remember that he was in Oli here. Yeah, he was in my year when head on tech men don't remember that cat song was a weird song. I remember Trinidad Killer from years. He was always that guy. You remember what his name was on that show. It wasn't Trinidad Killer, no it was something else. I can't remember the name, I remember the cat song and you're right, that was a real character mode.
Speaker 2:He couldn't be denied in that soccer is him. Yeah, you know, like that's my most authentic. He's not that character.
Speaker 1:I get up anymore and I'm pretending no, you probably can't, because that is the man it has some men, because shayad killer was in that synergy, so cast as with me.
Speaker 2:Then after that people don't know how people know he has he used to love he in the front. They say I tell you, we used to go backstage and try to meet people. You do it the next way. He was in a you know kind of crew and in the front of the stage and always looking to get called up oh, I see. And then he would freestyle on people's song. He'd do it on a few different stages, including Marshall's stage, seeing General Killah as a man getting called up on stage to chant was a normal thing.
Speaker 2:I don't remember that chant was a normal thing. Yeah, so you know, flat ground and he get called up, they get called out and then I feel one or two times he was planted.
Speaker 1:You know, I guess I gotta get, oh right, yeah, but yeah, but more times trying to kill hours.
Speaker 2:I'm on. You will call up he he day. Somehow. He said get the singer's attention and come up on the stage and whine. He's a wild wine too. I remember that wine and singing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a different way. Right when you're still on to what is in the and come up on the stage and whine. He said whine, whine, whine. I remember that Whine and sing and hear and all that kind of thing. Yeah, it's a different world.
Speaker 2:Boy, when you're still on top of this industry. The things we're seeing now is just one thing Everything. A lot of the men who are out here now are out here a long time, you know, or trying a long time. There's a lot of peers, the pains and the PTSD of coming through different control regimes of carnival. You know you had your different prep promoters and my men, like Randy Glasgow and Roy, Maraj and Clifaris, and you know them, was the man you used to run shows.
Speaker 1:Now it's Jules and them and this one and that one, and you know it's such a cycle that I remember the days when cliff harris and them was in charge and smaller promoters maybe not jules himself, but promoters like that at that level complaining about, fight down and they're squeezing me out, and then you find that them who get on top. Now the conversation starts to become the same somebody coming up, somebody coming up the ranks and feeling like they're getting squeezed or they're getting fight down or whatsoever.
Speaker 1:It might be but yeah, but I'm glad for trinidad killer in the end, though. I mean, he got a link there with nicky and I hope it will go out. But, as I say, is the character mode at some point they go swing. He's, he's, he's that kind of guy guess what?
Speaker 2:the world is ready to see it that's right we love to see a train wreck in our currents. We like the shock horror of you, like social shock horror. We like to see people crash out. We like to see people fall apart and come back together, fall apart you see a little comeback story.
Speaker 1:We like that.
Speaker 2:We like that trying to actualize that true comeback story. You know, you know a lot of people. There's another guy, a producer man, again in the guju, in the guju I call KG. I didn't listen to the interview, but people talking about his perspective.
Speaker 1:I saw him. I like him a lot, yeah, which is you know he's doing really great work. I've never looked at anything yet. Yeah, he has very great interviews.
Speaker 2:I like him a lot because what he's doing, what's supposed to be done, you know yeah but we need one of that for Soka.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let me be that I go be there and he will do it too, because that's how you have a lot of respect, for I watch everything he does and I heard the pain when he was talking about how Trinidad killer was treated and how Zest movement treated him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. You must listen to you to know. I find it's that thing in Trinidad.
Speaker 1:we don't.
Speaker 2:sometimes we just get upset with when youths talk, you have to listen to no no, I mean, and they hear them, I, I, I for that, I for it, I just, yeah, already sit down and, taking too long of these of you know contemporary things, might watch something more international. It's that way of escapism, I know that's what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're in it. Yeah, I'm in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's hard for you too you know, sometimes I hear some people talk some things and I'm like, okay, that's interesting, but I know that already.
Speaker 1:I was there, but you also might know too much, because when I listen to it I take what's said at face value as a fan yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know, I can't wait. Last time I went to a party in the front and watch a pota artist.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean yeah, imagine you write one of the greatest stage songs by being a buddy. Who the hell would have thought that? Yeah, buddy, god, yeah, who would have thought that? So this year, looking for you, like just focusing on your song and pushing that, because I also see your Ajibola salute to her. You're continuing doing your Friday nights. What's the name of your where you do it again?
Speaker 2:You have a Friday night With Lakui, so so that was a yeah, that was a continuing series. Well, a series, an event rather by. Attila Springer, who is with Kambule 1881.
Speaker 1:Right At Lakui there's something else that I never went on to see her show and I the focus is on recognition of certain, again traditional, rooted things, you know you know, I mean yeah, we try to.
Speaker 2:We we all had a conversation telling myself and a few other people that we we would do our best to stoke the fires and flames of a ritual, you know, so that others could jump up and have a good, safe time. But we will do. I go sing certain type of songs and chances kind of things and you know we'll have certain type of events to make sure that certain older energies get a vibe too, of course, of course.
Speaker 2:So that's something you're continuing through the season no, yeah, yeah, I mean I'm pushing this song right.
Speaker 1:Um, it doesn't mean that is the only thing I could do, right, but it's a decision based on a vibe and a call okay to do this, gotcha, you know um, I just, yeah, I'm saying that, um, there was a uh, I don't know if it was because I saw you doing like teaching people stick fighting a self-defense and those types of things during the course of the year. I thought during carnival you were doing a weekly event oh, yeah, we have things.
Speaker 2:You see every week and have things. Yeah, I am independently doing other things. Okay, got it. I do things at schools, right?
Speaker 1:oh yeah, I did see that, some of that, so that was nice boy. I see a video. I don't know how old it was, but I saw a video with you and a little youth man. Yeah, that's an old video, but I just tell you how long. Yeah, but yeah, it took a bath.
Speaker 2:That was a nice energy boy. Yeah, and have that and um, do a lot of schools, bro you know we did some stuff with masha. We got to match. We did some stuff with masha in new york and nyu. We thought stick at their brooklyn lit fest. You know I couldn't make it last year, try and make it this year again, but she and I have some other plans. Really really grateful for meeting her then. Beautiful person and spirit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, salute to Masha. Masha's execute one thing.
Speaker 2:Masha's guest of the day, so I'm looking forward to doing greater works with her.
Speaker 1:She's a mind of her own yeah, yeah, yeah, and very much a defender of the culture too. Yeah, yeah, yeah she's get vexed when she sees little shipp.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm working on a particular program right now and I feel ashamed because I see, but I have friends who keep me honest and make sure I'm not selling out.
Speaker 1:You're far from that everything I can see from your side looking in, you're far from that and you have songs you write for people this year, or is it just that you focus on? I write a?
Speaker 2:song with Ula Tunji, or for Ula Tunji and a chutney artist called Sexy Vanessa released or it released.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's real bad. I wrote.
Speaker 2:Ola's parts to kind of socharize it. It's a kind of Mordor Mordor kind of vibe. You know, in Africa and in India it's a vibe. So they're going into their competition on that side of the board because I do a lot of chutney work too now. Yeah, I work with Rishi Mahatou and Maha Productions and a lot of good ones on that side of the business Ravi BE, Robin J, A lot of people who you know that's part of my community. I used to sing chutney too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm not keep up with you, I don't know. I like when you're training. You don't know how, in the end, it felt all very natural, you know it is very natural.
Speaker 1:I think it shows it's feeling coming through. As I say, when I hear I see you do this song and I hear the opening, all the vocals throughout this song, I think that song, a series of different parts of it, that all powerful is something else and it's tapping into something. So again, we appreciate that for the juvie. This is my first juvie in many, many years, maybe about 10 years. You're jumping out, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I definitely. When I was breaking, you know, my wife told me she didn't strive and I said you'll quite enjoy yourself. You bring your whole self out in any juvie again. But now that I hear you definitely strive, I'm definitely coming out to see you on the road. Man, nice girl yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You have a lot of things to do. Still, for me is this race is not for the swift. Yeah, because you see, when that energy says time, do and say what. Yeah, especially if you are. You know how Jesus say my sheep know my voice, that spirit. I can't evolve from the time she blow that horn, those who know what time it is. They just had to get a fever.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah, so my song is a fever carrier, but you ain't gonna see it yet yeah, well, there's a long season, so I'm real interested to observe how songs build over the season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm interested too. I'm very open.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I always like to see that because I always remember, like Trinidad Killer, that song was nowhere until a video went viral with him people moving fence and singing that's how I'm run with it and then, by the time he reached, here, no, that's not true, it's Mr Killer, mr Killer yeah, that's the white dude, but when he come here, by the time they show that video. By the time he come here that song was as big as it gets.
Speaker 1:So, as you say, marshall, we have work to do for Masha, right? So if I take all the time and keep you here, masha go cuss. So, brother, thanks, listen. We had to make sure it happened by coincidence that we end up here just a wrong carnival, so we had to make this annual thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:For sure, conrad, and I'm making sure the setting's nice and affordable imports here, so we had to make sure we keep it burning and keep it going, but best for this season is a long season, so anytime you want to check back in, check back in. We're looking. We're looking forward to what you're doing on all fronts. There's so much, so many different things that you're doing and working on. I know some of them you have, uh, ready to roll some of them is no ideas yeah, right now we ideating the music video because, um, it's about that time.
Speaker 2:You know we're doing the media run right now. I must say the responses have been very good. I'm very happy with the build so far. Very encouraging energy from people in general. I am a bit, you know, apprehensive too. I understand what I have said and I have sung, but I also understand what I have said and what I have sung.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So with that being said, we carrying this. With that being said, we carrying this message forward. I am carrying this message forward.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like when you say we too, because it's a little, is our newness for the man. Before we start, wife, you make sure that the man in check, he looking good, he's singing good. That kind of energy must pay off. Must pay off, must be also brother is that team?
Speaker 2:is that family team? I see you not, I see you not. You know we, you know my girlfriend is many things to me, but she's also many things, so you can't, you're wrong her, you're adding things. That's in type away, because she is a, she's a director, she's a playwright, she's a, she's a dance choreographer. She is, um, of course, a, a voice on the radio, um master of ceremonies and trained actor as well, so her eye is very, very, um, refined.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she knows she's looking for you know. So when you are wrong somebody like that, your game will increase. Yeah, you know, I mean so shout out to abby yeah, salute, salute.
Speaker 1:Um, I'll tell you to write right that, coincidentally, without ever meeting her or knowing who she is, or even seeing her she's one of the reasons I started this podcast too, really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in.
Speaker 1:The very early days From something she had posted on Facebook. My poor reason oh wow, she had said something on Facebook, I can't remember exactly what it was. Back then, but those were times where COVID boy, covid boy COVID had an energy and a kind of awakening, without the sickness and the death that went along with it.
Speaker 1:People start seeing the world a kind of way, and a whole George Floyd thing later thing with Diane's tea house here, and it takes us bubbling and I mean I like to talk, so I have opinions and I remember her posting about something back then Like just everybody was posting about stuff happening, whether it's over there or here Now outside of the pandemic, just the police brutality thing and them things.
Speaker 1:So the fifth episode I recorded this podcast, which to date is proudest I ever was of any recording I've done was a kind of breakdown, a lyric breakdown, of singing Sandra the voices of the ghetto, kind of walking through that, and that really was inspired by something she had posted and was talking about it from our perspective. The way we would feel as you to grow up in the ghetto and the way or maybe even you, to grow up in the ghetto but escape that through whatever, and looking back at how people being treated and not just treated ever spoken about. It's something I have a real difficulty with how people who might have been born in more fortunate circumstances or get through whatever you get through is illegal or not you escape these circumstances. Sometimes people look back at it as if the youth didn't get so wrong for doing this or doing that, and so they're trying to understand him a little bit and something she had said had reached me so much.
Speaker 1:I said, nah, boy, and soon after that I went and I buy a mixing board Thank God for Conrad in a minute, because it took me six hours to figure out how to get someone out of my mixing board, but I had the episode going since then. So when we circle back to that and I see that that is wifey and baby and so on, I said, nah, boy, this is important to us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we important works. Yeah, we um aside from love and respect for each other, we also have a very strong love and respect for the arts and the culture shows. So our conversations are of that many times you know. So, um, yeah, we, we really committed to a certain authenticity, honesty and quality in work in general. And just like one of our mutual teachers in university, dr Burke, she said something to me one time and that was actually the prelude to the creation of Waiting on the Stage. She said disturb the cultural norm disturb, disturb, do do.
Speaker 2:Everything I've done since then has been that waiting on the stage was a techno that went, yeah, that shit was do cry, but said was not, is not a song, I don't know, but you can see that people supposed to be uptown people supposed to be singing and chanting of course nobody, and People are supposed to be uptown.
Speaker 2:People are supposed to be singing and chanting, of course, and, more importantly, to cry is not supposed to be the juveant. Well, we there, we there for it, we there for it. Let me see if I could prove it another time. I don't prove it already by creating it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, listen, it's out there. It's out there, you're seeing it. You're seeing the energy change and everything.
Speaker 2:When the song come on, it's a shift yeah, so I mean, sometimes I look at yourself, but why I like this? But I'm not born soon, you know.
Speaker 1:I am Shishio. That is good. That is good. Well, thank you, brother. It's good to see you again. I know I will see you in the morning. If I didn't see you, I would feel your energy and we will come back and do this again.
Speaker 2:Fit to come on too yeah, that would be nice for us to come through and talk, make the phone call and book it.
Speaker 1:Beautiful will do, I'm saying all right man, so let me get my show works done, right all right good, thanks, a million man, yes.