Corie Sheppard Podcast
Corie Sheppard Podcast
Episode 213 | Alternative Perspective
This week we're joined by Naldo, half of the Alternative Perspectives Podcast and in the midst of the Canaval we take some time to talk about the political landscape as we gears up for an election.
But of course Canaval is bacchanal and we take some time to look into the soca landscape and hear Naldo's perspective as a radio dj, producer and manager.
Enjoy!!
Naldo, this is long over there. Yes, very, very long. Welcome, welcome. This is the first time I've seen Naldo in person. I don't know why Naldo. Naldo is tall as hell. He's very intimidating. Can't talk a lot of things about these fellas For people who don time. I see Naldo in person. I don't know why. Naldo is tall as hell. He's very intimidating. Can't talk a lot of things about these fellas For people who don't know. Naldo and Jude was running the Alternative Perspective podcast. I tell you, naldo, many times people come and tell me boy, you're always talking about this Alternative Perspective and then you're talking about them. And now we recorded. So we had a final where we went.
Speaker 3:Oh good the thing is. So I think I want to reveal this after Saturday, as I was telling you right, but we had to take a little hiatus. You know, and as I would say as a good leader, sometimes you had to know when you had to step aside or you had to pull things. You know, pull things down, for lack of better words, gotcha.
Speaker 1:Gotcha.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, for the greater good.
Speaker 1:It makes sense. Yeah Well, I can tell you a mist, because one of the things I always talk about is I remember when I was I first started off recording, my view was much more, or the things, the topics I look at was much more political.
Speaker 3:When I said well, let me stick to the culture. I enjoy listening to Oli distill them things much more than I enjoy talking through it myself. The thing is with us for both of us. We worked in traditional media for a significant period of time and I think we also had the opportunity in working in state media and being unbiased. And working in state media, we saw a lot, we heard a lot. You know what I'm telling you, so you should call it inside perspective.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I'm saying, I got you.
Speaker 3:So we've seen that and we also have been, because we used to get in trouble in work with some of the things you would say on air right being radio presenters and whatnot, from the podcast or from when you were working. No, no, no from when we were working Right Right and I could hear some of them things and, as you would know from watching the podcast, we never had a side in terms of no, yeah, it was very balanced, and that's how I am.
Speaker 3:In life and anything. I don't have favorites at all in anything, so it's very hard for me to support a football team, to support a basketball team or a political side right. So I remember there was a time when PP came in power and they were discussing making a airport, building an airport somewhere on central I remember yeah so we were talking about this on the radio.
Speaker 3:This was me doing the morning show on our next station, because you worked on another station, right, right, and my last comment closing off was you know them on airport oh yeah, that could have been bad. That could have been bad and, if so, in the in the station they have the, the lines that the normal callers would call on, and then they'd have the line. They'd have a line lower down there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So they'd see that line blink. When that line blink, it's problems. Eh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So they'd see that line blink, but see me in the office when I finish, please.
Speaker 1:So they would listen that much.
Speaker 3:Yeah, see, and they would be like because, at the end of the day, we're paying all their salaries, of course, right, we're paying all their bills. You know, they can't talk like that, Of course, and I was always against that, though, because I believe in unbiased media, right, that is something I believe in.
Speaker 1:I understand something when in it as an ideal, or you believe that we have it.
Speaker 3:No, I believe in it as an ideal, because we do have it.
Speaker 1:We really do, yeah, you remember Robert Amara coming and talking to some men on here.
Speaker 3:Right, like I paid all the salary all the time. You know, yeah, yeah, yeah. And because the thing is, and people, people do understand, but no matter how unbiased you might find, cnc3 might look and TV6 might look, all of them want advertising money when it comes down to election campaign time you know what I'm saying when you had to pay $3,000, $4,000, so a 30-second spot and we have our election, and let's say three months, and they're pulling you up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:And if I realize. But wait now.
Speaker 1:But like all the, clung in me, oh, and I said well, you know, we ain't sending words, yeah, exactly we were saying about this one alone. Then everybody started singing for this up, you know well, I noticed a trend right where a lot of the newer or like the blogs or the podcasts or people like yourself who have experience with it.
Speaker 1:They talk about or they look at articles. And I guess that's why I listen to you all so much, because I might read an, an article. Plenty of what I read I take at face value, right, right. And then I might hear you might call my own message and say, hey, have I talked to this, have I talked to that? And I realize you know a lot of people who do. Newish media now point in all the biases of the newspaper, for instance, bias comes from where my money coming from. Or you feel like media was just putting their weight behind political parties um, I think, no, I think is where the money coming from.
Speaker 3:Business, yeah, I think it's business. I I I don't necessarily think. Um, yes, they might have wanted people who have their personal and I think that is very important for us to remember that. You know, certain people have their personal feelings towards probably whatever political party and, as much as we would like to see a long time, that should never get involved. We not there anymore. We are in an era of opinions. Like I always tell people before Facebook and what not? Your opinions keep to yourself or keep to you and your friends, yeah smaller groups.
Speaker 3:But once we had Facebook and it could write a status and then everything else came. People could have given their opinion. People became more opinionated or ready to give their opinions publicly and documented too Exactly.
Speaker 1:Your opinion is no longer fleeting. It's in ink, yeah.
Speaker 3:So the thing is you would find some journalists might have a slant. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:yeah, and it's not something I necessarily have an issue with. I wish people would come out and say I don't mean, it's idealistic, but if you just say, hey, as a UNC supporter, it's easier for me to read what you're saying because it's hard for me to get a balanced view. No, as you say that proliferation of opinions is.
Speaker 2:I'd read everybody, just to get Everybody just together. You know what I mean. It's just like a real, real word.
Speaker 1:I'd rather somebody tell me listen, we for UNC, I for PNM, so I could just read them too.
Speaker 3:Yeah but the thing is we're so small Now because in the States when you have CNN pushing one way, fox are pushing the next. They could have enough supporters to keep them alive. But if somebody comes and says I was just saying on Tuesday that I am a UNC supporter and PNM, people decide, hey, we're not going to buy a news day again or we're not going to spot money by news day again.
Speaker 3:You have a problem. You have a huge problem. You know what I'm saying, so, and I think a lot of the things we're going to discuss today, what makes it difficult isn't. It is because of the size size of the market, yeah, the size of the market and those things you know about, yeah, we talk about that all the time small markets it's tricky and I think you're right, like the fact that they answer to business or where the money coming from it's still me and you know we run businesses before.
Speaker 1:We had a discussion, before we started, about sponsors and business and it's very, very tricky. You have to know how to bob and weave.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you have to bob and weave. You have to bob and weave.
Speaker 1:And I guess it's up to us now to, because, as the layman who's just looking for information. I had to be able to decipher this thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what is?
Speaker 1:your opinion on newer media. I think newer media now, like the or bloggers and things, you think they're doing a better job or you feel it's more the same.
Speaker 3:The thing is, where are they going to get the information from? And that's the problem because a lot of the newer people who blogging and doing podcasts or whatever, most of the time they will turn to traditional media to get the information.
Speaker 3:And if it's already slanted there, then obviously you're coming with a slant, and and it's something Judah and I spoke about for eons in that a lot of people, especially in Trinidad, grew up on CNN. Cnn is left-leaning, sometimes even far left, so when you hear people utter answers here, you know it's only because they pick it up from CNN.
Speaker 1:You understand what.
Speaker 3:I'm saying so people feel a particular way about Trump or the parties out there based on what they get on CNN and they would come here, they would have a podcast here or wherever. Even in the States they have their podcast based on just what they pick up in the traditional media, which is already tainted now how much people you know going out there and actually doing the journalism on their own or whatever.
Speaker 1:It's difficult. I need to say them both because my first like when I'm looking talk about this week, my first thing is the newspapers guardian express news day. It's just the era I come from right, but as you talk about, cnn is something that I also observe and listen to. All the talk about it is something is is.
Speaker 1:I always just wonder about that right, and that's why I enjoy listening to all the fellas talk, because, while you might find that we repeat some of the rhetoric you might find in a left-leaning place like cnn right, the way we live is a lot more republican yeah, people might be willing to admit the religious things that drive the way we make decisions, the conservative views on anything controversial.
Speaker 1:We have a more conservative view than not on most issues that most you know. So it's like we live in one where we're saying things that we feel is the right thing to say, or maybe based on immigration, because we have family living abroad. So now when you see a new party in power in these states and mass deportation is a question, it might shadow a lot of the other things that you might actually agree with. That. This administration.
Speaker 3:I mean, but at the same time, in the last 20 years, before what Trump doing now, Obama deported the most people, Right? So I mean, well, we're going to forget that.
Speaker 2:But CNN didn't push that?
Speaker 3:Oh, that's interesting.
Speaker 1:CNN didn't push that, so most people don't know that.
Speaker 3:But if you just go back and Google it and check it you know what I'm saying. You would see that information, so that is why you know you tend to the media. It's really having a major and, I would say, negative impact on how we see things in the world. But into that same thing you're talking about, with the states and their conservative views, like compared to, I think they have brainwashed immigrants and black people so much, especially black people that even though a lot of their ideals might be conservative, they believe that they should be indebted to the Democrats. Now, I don't think they should be indebted to anyone.
Speaker 1:I think you have to wait until you get a vote exactly and make people pay for it and that is the name of the game.
Speaker 3:I always tell people, if you could call yourself, you know, let me just say a party loyalist, right, whether it be here or away, then you're not a patriot, you understand. You can't be a patriot and be a party loyalist. In my opinion. Yeah, that's right. Right, because at because, at the end of the day, going to have some time where your party is going to do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing or not, or pull something that you feel about, and you should be able to say, hey, hear what's going on. I ain't really like that, you know, or we not? On that, and I think that's one of the biggest problems in Trinidad and Tobago, though, because I mean, we have seen it, we would, would talk if we partake something like we say the PP do, well, not PP, but UNC do or UNC did, people will come and say we are PNM.
Speaker 1:I remember I shared heavily on a UNC Facebook page one time as a strong UNC man right, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:I get it all the time?
Speaker 1:yeah, exactly, I get episode by episode literally one week I was at Pnm, the next week.
Speaker 3:You understand, and it why we can't see things in this in in any situation, that this business is just calling out the shippiness. And it's the same thing, even if you are, let me say, you're a pnm member, yeah, yeah, you're a party card, right, you should be able to to tell the executive uh, we know, you're the center. You see that, yeah, or the reverse too, I think we have a difficulty praising.
Speaker 1:So if the UNC say or do something that you're in agreement with, why we can't just say, well, that's a good idea, that's?
Speaker 2:a good policy.
Speaker 1:I'll say, hey, we should borrow that from them. Fellas, them, fellas, come up with something good. I want exceptions the way you're saying. I agree 100%. But there's the person who benefits directly from one of them parties and I do have a difficulty with them calling themselves party loyalists. And I always remember checking a partner of mine in Grandy and when we were driving into the street he said call me when you turn the corner. He's living up in that little tree, sir. And as I turn the corner I call him, I say right by the corner I say bow streetlights, come on.
Speaker 3:And then when I reached down the road, I reached upstairs, but he turned off the streetlights in the house. Oh, my state run. Well the man, was he saying. He's saving his state money, because well, he must be. Yeah, yeah, because the state will not turn it off right.
Speaker 1:More efficiency so when he tell me he's a party loyalist. I can't vex with a man who doing that. I think the difficulty is again when it happened behind closed doors well the thing is again.
Speaker 3:When it's happening behind closed doors, well the thing is. So. I understand your point, because I always tell people that too, when you see people say they're hanging on to UNC, they're hanging on to PNM, yeah, they might be benefiting from something that you don't know they would have benefited, and not necessarily something illegal or not necessarily something immoral, but, boy, that person, that MP, might have been the person who helped your child in some way. Of course you didn't have HGC halls you got somebody in a school.
Speaker 2:Right, you know what I'm saying, of course.
Speaker 3:So I could understand that to some extent. But my problem is when you hold that position and then Regardless, and then you can't even call out your own party. You know what I'm saying, like I think, think like the crime situation in chunan right now, the the only people that could make a change right now because of how it is in chunan is pnm loyalists. Telling the pnm executive hey, listen, why? What going?
Speaker 3:on here you know something I'm saying? Because when the opposition talk, oh, they're just making noise and they blah, blah, blah and they will make that statement. They're just making noise, like everybody in the country, not seeing what's going on. You know, what I'm saying. Yeah, that makes me very uneasy. Yeah, you know me, but that is what's going to make the difference. What is going to say nothing on social media to make my party look bad, or I'm not going to say nothing to get them vexed. You?
Speaker 1:think people are agitated behind closed doors, like the president themselves.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean we see what went on with Gerald Hines, with the Lavantil yeah, the yacht, yeah, yeah, no, they had the meeting up in Lavantel and they say all the support and the woman yeah, they're not going there, not where she was. You know what I'm saying and I mean obviously these are things that you see, not in the PNM, that we're not accustomed to seeing because, as you said in your last episode, if it's one thing in the PNM it requires, yeah, they just keep the problems quiet and you see there are a few instances.
Speaker 1:You might remember where it had these little things it's usually when the leader changes. If you see this little bit of thing leaking out from them, I feel it's turmoil on the inside, because they're so good at keeping it closed.
Speaker 3:But the thing is some could say that this is probably the work of Dr Keith Rowley. In terms of you remember he was kind of one of the first people to do that in the PNM, calling out Manning, right. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, and now it's kind of spinning back now.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying, of course.
Speaker 3:So is it that he was the person to introduce it right and now it's kind of working working against him.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 3:yeah, so because remember he was the one who called out Manning when he talked about he. See him on some stairs, I remember about that.
Speaker 1:It's not a long thing. Them fellas went a good little back and forth a good little back and forth. Yeah, yeah, so once power changing in PNM, this is leak out because when it was time for well, at the time of Chambers, it was a man passed away, but Chambers was a blessed man going in, chosen one like your boy now you know, chosen one is the chosen one blue eye baby, but again it's somebody else.
Speaker 1:Want to be blue eye baby too. So you have some of it and you see, in the little once it started come out to me, I always want to be like in one of them meetings see how bad it really is.
Speaker 3:Well, boy, the thing is fortunately for me because, contrary to what people might believe, I know way more. Pnm people and people in high positions in PNM than I know UNC people Right. So you know I just get some of the utterances, Of course, Right. That wouldn't run up out here Of course you know but, and the ship's shaky, yes. I like that. They'll come and tell you nah, I like that.
Speaker 1:You should find all ships in politics. That would be better for me if it's our good, healthy amongst a conflict and infighting and political parties, rather than because you know the under the whip or the toe in the line I remember you're talking about that.
Speaker 1:That does make me uncomfortable yeah yeah, I find if I, and again, uncomfortable from the standpoint of there are people who I know, like yourself right, or even Jude who have good ideas, have good energy, who understand this space and might, like I contributed in my job now I do in our podcast I might be able to contribute politically, but I cannot join no organization where you can imagine we come in to talk now and you can't disagree with nothing I say I tell you up front.
Speaker 1:Now though, anything you say you disagree, we start to know what we had oh, oh, it's done.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly what was it? Because that's where growth is. That is exactly where growth is and and it comes from the same point as me again if you can't tell your leaders and the kind of bad or shameful thing is, that's just the regular man you talk about, when people in a cabinet can talk to you and let it be real, and this is something we would have spoken about on the podcast is that the mps, what they're supposed to do, and some of them do it right. Um, and big up foster comments. I'll always big up foster comments because, yeah, I remember youins, because he is one of the people that is in the community pretty often and if he's not there, his office is very active.
Speaker 3:I don't know him. I never met him personally, right, never, right, obviously, because I don't want that kind of, I don't want anybody to say affiliated or whatever the case may be. Right, I prefer to live like that. But just imagine an MP in a constituency and you're hearing the issues of the people, however the case may be. But when you come to tell the people on top, because now they have to go to cabinet to make the changes, nah, nah, what is your persona, boy?
Speaker 1:It's equivalent to a salesman in general, isn't it salespeople? Yeah, you know it's a salesman coming and telling you boy, this thing ain't selling.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you just tell them nah, yeah, and if you do that publicly you'll lose your work.
Speaker 3:Exactly, yeah, go out there and just go out there and sell. Yeah, yeah, I guess that's what it is. Yeah, but You're beating me.
Speaker 1:And I can't get my commission's either.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's where the problem is.
Speaker 1:Yeah of course. So you're saying Foster Cummings over Stuart Young, if you had to pick.
Speaker 3:No, I wouldn't say that. To be honest with you. I used to say Penny, and I think we would have said this on the podcast already. And the only reason I would say not Foster Cummings. I think he needs more time in the whole political sphere, but I think we used to say Penny.
Speaker 1:But Boy, I'm trying, I'm trying to trap him all year. I'm trying, I'm trying. But let me give my opinion on Penny as you think about it. I like again, I take things at face value. What you see, is what you get from me Until I learn different, and I find that she's you could from through her social media how active she is in the community and how respected she is by people.
Speaker 1:They had a little interaction with her from a business standpoint authoritarian, like hell I'm flowing. She didn't challenge. When she walk in her room, she in charge, and when she's sitting on that table, she's absolute leader, which is worrying me a little bit but, I think the age factor is one that I always. In other words, if I have two equal candidates, I will always pick the younger one.
Speaker 3:And I don't know if it makes complete sense, but the thing is I know that is something you champion, but here's my thing, If you can, because you need the experience right. Especially when you limit other countries. I think that is important, one of the things we had to look at in terms of somebody who's going to talk and bargain or whatever, and represent Trinidad and Tobago outside internationally. Need people who understand that, of course, right.
Speaker 1:I said no matter if they're listeners too.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:She definitely is.
Speaker 3:So I will give her that. But if she's in the position and hires the people below her because let me be real, it's the people below you, the people on the ground, the people closer to the ground, if they are younger and they could mesh it there, so she has the experience, the know-how and whatnot on top there, and then you have younger people, you know like just select hands, right, yeah, right. Blue eye baby Right, right, baby, right, yeah, you know, um, and you have people like that below, then I think it could work right. But if you put somebody who do have that, that, that experience, and don't know how to communicate, how to bargain because I think one of the things people do understand you, and there we go a prime minister really actually should be somebody with a lot of business head, yeah, right, yeah, everything is some business, especially international relations yeah, at the end of the day, it don't matter what you do, it's a transaction.
Speaker 1:It's a business transaction, whether it be financial, of course, social you have to deal with the men in oil and gas you have to deal with the men in finance and the men shop they put in the best and brightest are the head of the companies.
Speaker 3:So I mean, and one of the things is, and I mean kudos to Dr Kidrowley, you know he served, he served well. I don't know if to say he served well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he served well he served well and for a long time. I don't know about well. Well, by my standard.
Speaker 3:Right, but the thing is Dr Kidrowley one of the longest standing politicians we have in the country. I think he probably had the longest service, but never having that experience in the private sector I think could be a disadvantage. Yeah, it is detrimental. I could see that.
Speaker 1:But the way I see it is that, for instance, my thing is not necessarily to get rid of a penny or get rid of a role. I told them fellas any chance I get. But I think that is is, and we'll talk some entertainment too. I'm waiting for this man to commit to politics for a long time.
Speaker 2:Let it bear with me, we'll get to the entertainment part.
Speaker 1:But I feel like if, like as a culture, we have a tendency for the people who have the most experience to stay around in the position for a very long time and we don't really lean towards a succession and mentorship kind of model. So I agree, um, you know. So you put the young person there. Let me use foster as an example, and whatever the position might be, there's an opportunity to have him well groomed by by my age, by 40 something years old, in middle age you know, sometimes we wait till you reach when we will put foster in middle age.
Speaker 1:You know sometimes we wait till you reach when we go put Foster when he's 16, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:So the thing is and I hope there's no knock on you right, but in Toronto, in our culture, we don't have good leaders. We have good managers, but not good leaders Because a leader. We have good managers but not good leaders Because a leader. So we're preparing for the successor, right, a leader. You know what I'm saying. There's always a leaders eat last. The leaders make sure that everybody else is good, and then leaders eat last Great leaders replace themselves too, right?
Speaker 3:So that's the thing. So we have people who manage and manage and manage, manage people below them, and then, okay, you retire at the age. What to do now? You know what I'm saying. So I think, and that's in our culture, so you'd see it in entertainment, you'd see it everywhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly In business it's the same thing. If you look at state boards or private boards, you see men who not saying they're not the best and I said they might be the best.
Speaker 3:But then when you don't train anybody, what happens? Everything falls down. I call it the Manchester United model. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:For those who might be interested because you just stay so long that you end up now with all the Patriots. I was a Patriots fan in the Super Bowl coming up. Patriots, stay with Brady and Belichick for so long, 20 years of drought.
Speaker 1:You know, what I mean. People don't and I guess a part of it where I give grace is that, like you said in the beginning, we're small. So sometimes finding that successor or even stepping aside because that, I wonder about that sometimes Because, you know, sometimes you get stuck in a, especially people who like to talk like that. You're in your 40s, you're talking like you're in your 40s, and he might talk that way until he's in his 60s.
Speaker 3:You understand.
Speaker 1:Sometimes he doesn't realize you get to be the old one. And then what the hell am I going to do? Because I want to do something, I like doing this, so do I have to now step aside just because? Or?
Speaker 2:can.
Speaker 1:I continue my career to my 80s.
Speaker 3:Well, the thing is look at it like this I remember you had Zachary there as the producer of the. Kcb. So he was getting involved and the thing is, the thing is, I'm sure he knows that there's an opportunity there for him If he wants to learn how to podcast, if he wants to learn how to use the camera, right. But the thing is, are these people actually opening the doors for these people to come and learn, you understand? Or are they, you know, clutching and holding on, clenching on to the? Power or the position.
Speaker 1:I mean From the outside, looking in, I always feel like they are. But the truth is that if you talk to enough people on whether it's the politics, the entertainment, if you talk to enough people, you'll find that there are people who say once you, Once you're around this person, he's got all the information. But maybe it's the blue-eyed boys, you know. Right exactly, and that's the next thing. And sometimes it's those who would do their bidding to it Right.
Speaker 3:It's those who would do their bidding, but also who has access to them, you understand? Does everybody have access to you. That is the next thing you know. So obviously the but are those people, because it has some people who kind of kiss up. But one of the reasons that it's kiss up is because they know they might be too good. Yeah. You know what I'm saying and what else do?
Speaker 1:So the next way and when the opportunities will come next.
Speaker 3:Exactly the next best way to advance is to kind of kiss up, Right, yeah yeah, you know what I'm saying city coach, the coach might like me. No, yeah, those things might work, but Larry Berry, when they go out on, yeah, it's doggy though yeah, it's brutal and I love that. That's the only things I love about, you know, other countries, first world countries, the meritocracies based on meritocracy and not cronyism and nepotism plenty of that too but I hear you bigger markets, exactly the yeah, but it's a more exactly the size lends a lot to that.
Speaker 2:But here you can find competitive spaces.
Speaker 1:You can find spaces where you just come up because he is, he's an aldoan.
Speaker 3:People know you.
Speaker 1:Exactly yeah, but as we're in the political sphere, still we're looking at, we're in an election here.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Which I think we take long to do this, but it couldn't be a better time. Long to do this, but it couldn't be a better time. So I think the pnm have their thing going on and we're waiting to see where that falls. I see up to last night I was seeing more screening going on and things advancing. What's your take on where unc is today, as the as that, you have two main competitors, right?
Speaker 3:let me give it to them first. What would you?
Speaker 1:take on where they are and just remember ready for cameras to step down. I put in that audio because, again, I was thinking that when Roli stepped down she would just say all right, cool next and put a U2 and see a young battle.
Speaker 3:Sorry, so just remind me for us to talk about the two-party thing right after, but in my opinion, from looking from my side of things, it doesn't look like UNC is in a good place. However, a major problem we have in the political landscape in Trinidad and Tobago is these politicians talk to the, they talk to the chorus.
Speaker 2:They talk to the choir.
Speaker 3:So, and that's the problem. No, the thing is, we could sit down here and watch what we want and say we would like Kamala to step down, but clearly the people in her party, the people, the members of the party, want her there. You know what I'm saying you think so yeah, of course, Because when Russian Pari went up, and even personally for me, I think one of the best people and it could be my bias, because I've met him in person and and he's a wonderful person is Vasant Vasant. Oh yeah, you right.
Speaker 1:The thing about the politics right to be fair. Anyone that I may meet in person is great people. Nah, I wouldn't say so.
Speaker 3:You meet some of them who you find was, of course, I met Stuart in person and I I mean it was one of the best.
Speaker 1:But I find these I wonder sometimes when you say, like the party won them there Because the price to pay for going against a political leader is beheaded Right. So how much of it is I really want you there or I can't say I don't want you there.
Speaker 3:No, but we're not even talking about on that level. We're talking about just when they go in to have the election, the internal election.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the base, the party cardholders.
Speaker 3:It is huge she beats everybody.
Speaker 2:Real bad, okay, right now the thing is as we were talking about before.
Speaker 3:Um, I have some family who is is close with with sure, with our miss besessa and them, right, kamala besessa and them, and apparently she is an angel to them. You know someone saying, and if there are a lot of people that she interacts with like that, like, for instance, I think it was his uncle, father-in-law, I think he died and they were in power and she took the time to be at the house and at the funeral of every case while they were in power you know it's hard to beat on those things right, and and so, at the end of the day, her membership yeah yeah.
Speaker 3:No, the thing is it's for them to sit down and and realize okay, we need more than the membership to win the election. And that is the problem. They only cater at pnm is the way to the only kids to speak to their membership and they totally disregard the yeah yeah, they must forget they're working for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they think they're working for both parties.
Speaker 3:the thing is, I'll give you a perfect example of this with dr rowley, and this is what I tell you for me, I, I have my, I have been tied to this. You know, I've been in press conferences, I've been in all these things, and I always remember there was a local government election and a journalist asked, he questioned, he asked, he say dr said Dr Oliwell, you know, so far it's looking like you're all winning, however the case may be, but it's at very low. It's at very low voter turnout. And his question, right, is how you know that you work in the EBC? Yeah, he's got bad.
Speaker 3:Right Now the thing is when we go out there on election night and as they bring in all the tallies or whatever the case may be, you start to get an idea of what things are looking like. You know what it was before. You understand Exactly. When you have to give reports and you have to call back to the station to give and they say, okay, normally after five hours of tallying we just see 5 000 votes. But after five hours or six hours this this year we see in 2000.
Speaker 3:So clearly the vote is lower right and he and he and he told him man, he actually how you know that you can evc. I was like all right. And then the comment he made right after was well, who was important to's? The people who come out and vote, not the people who didn't vote. And in my opinion, yeah, that is an interesting thing to say yeah, because those people are telling you something and you're choosing. You're saying oh, it's not really. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, I don't like that narrative at all yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I remember listening to Dale and Tony and them backing it, with them having that debate where they'll say he don't vote Right and Tony say, well, you don't have a say. Right, that's the interesting thing to say, and not voting is a say, it's a say, it is a say.
Speaker 3:You understand, and so that's why I say you know, you look at things like that. When you hold that kind of position, then you really I would say people the undecided, because exactly yeah the undecided vote.
Speaker 1:But listen, that is a hell of a discussion to be, because the people who every time I see polls, it looks like it's a one-two, a growing one-two. That is undecided right and I think that once the election period done not just election day, but maybe, maybe the year of election and maybe six months, I come right after that, that is the first group that's forgotten, right? Yeah, maybe after you're opposing this.
Speaker 1:You know, I mean you just forget that and you and you play to your ways, but you're going to talk about this two-party system um and if, if pnm have any issues, they say unc not in a good place. What do we do if you have a two-party?
Speaker 3:so the thing is, I think, is we don't need to have a two-party system alone. What I could guarantee is that third party cannot come and win outright win an election, but what we need to start doing is other parties need to, instead of trying to focus or instead of trying to run for 41 seats run for one, run for two.
Speaker 2:You understand what.
Speaker 3:I'm saying Because the thing is, this is expensive, this, this is expensive, this is extremely expensive. A lot of people don't understand For you to have a constituency office that's a rent.
Speaker 2:Of course.
Speaker 3:And most of the time people just put constituency offices on main roads, of course.
Speaker 1:Six, seven, ten, yeah, so if you had to do 41 of them.
Speaker 3:Right, exactly $1,000,. You talk more. Let's say $6,000 to $12,000. Rent Of right. Then we have flyers um ads. Yeah, the image of each one of the candidates. Right, it's expensive, even if you had to just do photo shoots. Yeah, a photo, a simple photo shoot for a client, for a candidate, could cost you a thousand dollars twelve hundred.
Speaker 1:Come to affordable imports and see if you've got something.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but yeah, right, so the thing is don't do that. Focus on. And now what happens is if you could win, if we have two or three other parties winning two, three seats each, and they sit down in parliament, they have a say, it loses a stronghold of the two parties, exactly. And now? Now what happens is you had to bargain with me. You know, of course. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:Whoever won my vote or anyone to pass a law, you want to change something. You had a bargain with me. You had to come and say you know now, but you want to do this and you want to do that right. And the other side, you come and say, well, you had a sound. Well, you know now, but you rode bad in maruga, wherever I just seen for so long. Sort it out now and we work out something right. These people in my area need water and we just only get water two, two, two days a week, you know. And then you could start a bargain and you work for right. Now. I understand it's a battle fight because a lot of people but yeah, but you need to sell it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you need to sell it to say that one of the things that we could do differently with the, with the to get out, because we have to get out of it and I feel like if we had a girl, particularly because of the two parties we have now entrenched there. But the local government system is one where I feel like is a place we had to make inroads, along with what you're talking about there too, but so that people start getting local representation from, call it, smaller parties.
Speaker 3:Right. The system itself was difficult because even if I give NTA, let's use them as an example in St James and I give them control of the corporation you're dead.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because at the end you will suffer. Yeah, you're still answerable to government, exactly to central government and they're going and squeezing where they can.
Speaker 3:Well, you're going to make sure that you can never run and win again exactly because the thing is you had to make and once again you lose insight because you doing that punishing this party, but you're punishing the citizens you're punishing well of course we don't establish that the citizens is not a factor in man power but, it's one of the reasons to why, as a voter again, a layman who knows nothing might have a hard time going and say, alright, let me go with Kizil Jackson.
Speaker 1:What's her party name? Again, I have no idea. You can't say it like that. You had to say it like you was interested in what she did. If she run for my seat alone, I might say, oh God boy, even if I like her policies and I like what she's doing, and I believe that she because all of us come from communities where it's have people within who are ready for the community before they get into the politics.
Speaker 1:And let's say they do the localization strategy you're talking about. The fear for these voters might be. You could get squeezed there too, because then you could end up, let me say 41. You have a voice, but then you could get pulled to the place like Watson. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:It's hard, all right. So like, for instance, I have voted once in my entire life there was a local government election.
Speaker 1:Your voice is not caught Well in this institution.
Speaker 3:And it was a local government election the last local government election, actually and the candidate happened to be a PNM candidate. And if the candidate was a UNT candidate or NTA candidate, I would have still voted for that person, the reason being that person was from my area, grew up in my area, and I knew that person to always be a person that want to help the area and help people generally.
Speaker 2:You know what you mean.
Speaker 3:Right, I knew that it will always be difficult for me to vote for somebody not knowing them personally. Yeah, and these MPs especially, or people who are growing up to be MPs, they're doing a horrible job. Why am I only seeing you?
Speaker 1:you know what I'm saying? One of the main complaints that people have.
Speaker 3:And the thing is you keep treating us like, like peasants. Let me tell you why I say that but you're rewarding that 100%, I would tell because you come in music chuck me. Can I start making whole noise in my ear? You understand, and take two weeks, or whatever, before election. Why aren't I seeing it all the time?
Speaker 2:You understand.
Speaker 3:And then here you are going to tell me well, the office day, I could always come out of the office. Well, election time, sit around the office and wait for me to come too. Nah, no, you don't do that, right. No, yeah, in a community and I have an issue too with people not being of a community and want to go up- to be an MP.
Speaker 1:Yeah, tricky too, yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean, I'll get into that quickly too. But when these people so, when you walk in a community and you might meet somebody and they say, boy, you're going on a two teacher, and I just say I mean, unfortunate, but you have to teach her, and there's the problem. You as the mp at that point could tell this person you're going on now. Boy, um, I have a little grant here, so so. So, so, pass by the office and give me a name, and I put I put on your name in the office and you come and you sign up, and but there's so much people that need help but they don't know the help exists because they're not going to look for it online but but whatever, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:You know that there are a lot of people. There are a lot of people who already wear it all.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So not to go and look for it Exactly and then say you don't have it Exactly Right.
Speaker 3:So the thing is. But when you walk around and you're, I am, I moved into Locketer checking in. Now is that about 4?
Speaker 2:years now, yeah, 3 or 4 years now.
Speaker 3:Right and somewhere in the mixer things, a pipe burst in front of me. A T&T truck came, put down the jack and burst the pipe in front of me because the pipe, that's the pipe, the main line that run inside by me I barely get water.
Speaker 3:Water had to come real hard for you to get water Water had to come real hard for me to get water and I remember at the high school on Instagram and see something about this Foster Commons Connect app or something like that Going on the app. Okay, hey, look, I can lodge a complaint here. Lodge a complaint Calling less than half an hour. I see a number calling me. The number's right. Hi me, no business, right? I call him from foster comments office. All right, you're gonna call buster. Sure that was the tuesday, monday, good day, good day. The court says the next morning. And for something like that, next morning, and for something like that.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying it speaks volumes, exactly Because now I could feel confident in possibly giving him a vote.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you're right. Things will go wrong. There's no way to avoid that.
Speaker 1:In a community of thousands of people, things will go wrong. But I think you hit the nail on the head where we started the political conversation, because leadership has always been lacking A lot of times and maybe there's been great. I always say and always, always tell mothers you and jude always say I'm not saying the best and the brightest is the people who run in the country. Yeah, I, I strongly believe that even the ones who are disagree with I find they should step aside.
Speaker 1:I is talking about camilla stepping aside, for instance, but I don't mean disappear right, we need what she have to contribute to whoever is to come next, even in the unc, or we need them to. Even the political parties, as myopic and not myopic but as utopian as it might sound, could mentor the other parties that coming up. If it's about trinidad and tobago, then let me put it this way philip had to be great, gary had to be great, kizella anybody who willing to put it herself. They had to be great first to do well.
Speaker 1:But the void sometimes is in the leadership and a good leader know that presence, that being able to even if he can call back himself setting up a structure that somebody because it's water you're talking about. That's a major issue. I was in Chagonas buying water twice a week.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:And paying waso.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, you know I had to buy water twice a week.
Speaker 1:And they were running out of cellulose. They don't buy water.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's something else.
Speaker 1:But if you have any third force, that is Right now Mm-hmm. Um no, I see Prakash saying they're having secret meetings and so on. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Last trade force yeah, it appears the last trade force. I think joining with the UNC obviously is what? Because a lot of people were there to be away from the UNC. I guess that made them a spent force exactly now the thing is, I understand exactly why they did it right. Most people wouldn't understand, but they did it because they were out of financing. They just went up. They were running out of financing, they just ran for the election.
Speaker 1:I think it was two years prior, I think that was when, the time they had the election, they had some by-elections that I think they sent people for as well.
Speaker 3:And so you're putting off money.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it had a lot of elections in the five-year strategy, right? Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3:And then you know, you start to realize why money is running out and you start to realize why money is running out, and then obviously they thought, or they believed, that they would have gotten answers Now. With all due respect, however, the case may be. I mean people. There's only one election ever. Unc won by itself.
Speaker 3:I think that was only a year. It only lasted a year, right, but other than that, unc has never won an election by themselves and people tend to forget that COP gave UNC, I think, or brought seven seats, I think oh, it was as much as seven, it was four.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, cop.
Speaker 3:Right, this guy, the pastor guy I forget his name, he was in Arima. Right Right, he had Prakash he had Arima.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so they get, they get the strength there.
Speaker 3:Yeah so.
Speaker 1:Seven seats.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:But we're in a position Now where we do have. You've not seen any of them.
Speaker 3:No, no, no.
Speaker 1:Who's the best in the lot? You think Because Gary said he's going to all seats. Kizil said she's going to all seats. Philip, what did he say? 41-2?.
Speaker 3:No, no, he's giving his arm, his support to UNC.
Speaker 1:Oh, he said so, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, I missed that.
Speaker 3:I thought he said he was going up for all the seats.
Speaker 1:No, no, no yeah yeah, yeah, it's strange a lot.
Speaker 3:He's retired often there's a lot going on, yeah yeah, so he's a hard one to keep up with and I do understand why they fail to realize that type of behavior. Can I lecture in that killer? Yeah, that type of behavior tends to make it hard for people to take it serious. Of course you know what I'm saying, but it's a force, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:But the third force, that undecided, when you take it serious, I think some people taking them serious no yeah, but listen, don't get twisted.
Speaker 3:Let's tell people this from train parties back in the day it's a long time when I was in school because I started DJing at a pretty young age and I say DJing, I say DJing professionally because I've been paid to DJ from about 15 years old in record times. Times at record. Yeah, I'm not no one I know yeah, right.
Speaker 3:And so sometimes somebody be having a birthday party and they would come to us being djs in the school too, and so we try to figure out how much people come and I say I buy a hundred because I invite everybody. Bonnie daddy party this is a free party at 12, 20, 20 people right come right. And so there's the point. This is the point I'm making in terms of people can really support you on social media, but when it's time to go and dip their finger, that's the next thing.
Speaker 1:I'll be real awesome well, you're right, you're right, you're absolutely right about that, that, that and it's look like support yeah because, you're alive are plenty people, and just to get people to leave home like I want to sell people. Everybody know about business until you have to sell one of something if you sell a ticket or you get somebody to listen to a podcast, then you start to know what it is to put it out there. But Trinidad Killer, get rewarded. Trinidad Killer, get Nicki Minaj on his song.
Speaker 1:So when you say that the man make a fuss so is he?
Speaker 3:so, alright, tie back the same thing with Philip, and I think what Philip do understand. He thinks that he in charge of views now and he in charge, so that he train us to talk for Gary, or whatever. The case may be right. Oh, you only get 12 views. You only get whatever yeah, right but the thing about it is, right now the algorithm fevers him, especially on TikTok, and it's something okay, tiktok could be really yeah, it could inflate the ego it could, because I tell nearly anything I post on tiktok right now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I see it, I just get 10 000 views all right, I don't know how. You know what I'm saying because their things have posted on youtube their podcasts have done.
Speaker 2:You know and you see those numbers but tiktok thrives on controversy, right?
Speaker 3:yeah, because, yeah, because polarization, you know, once you get people in the comments arguing, it will push right, so, and that is what he's good at, and so it pushes him. And I guess it's the same thing. I did a video on TikTok as well, about the Shun Daad killer thing. Right, yeah, and the thing is, I wouldn't doubt it's because of the controversy is why's why I reached. It's a move, it's a to reach Nikki.
Speaker 1:So you're saying that, the controversy I hear you talk about the algorithm, but to push it to where it reached without that. You don't think she's seen it at all.
Speaker 3:I think they might not have been Because clearly, Nikki, when she went to reach out to him, she said that I saw her send the messages before.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying, which means she didn't ever check that Exactly. And she said she didn't know there was controversy behind his song and all that.
Speaker 3:She just said it was a good song. Yeah, now I think it's the controversy that. But from the start, what do?
Speaker 1:you feel, is it a good song? The?
Speaker 3:full is a good song. I didn't like how they processed the voice in the first version. But over the processing of the voice, you realize they're real autotune or pitch correct in the first song, but they had it a little more natural in the second one.
Speaker 1:And I really love the second one because when you say, the second one, the one that played now, the one that rebuilt, the one that, yeah, that rebuilt.
Speaker 3:The one that, yeah, that rebuild, yeah, okay right, I don't think he sang it, I just think.
Speaker 1:Whoever, has used the change voice.
Speaker 3:Yes, process it differently. And yeah, I think, listen, I think it's a wonderful song, I know, yeah, he captures sentiment for sure, exactly, and I have always said this and I will continue to say it until that changes Trinad Killer is the most influential artist in Trinan Tobago.
Speaker 1:He is. But he's a star, yes, Because when he's sick I know he knows how to make a hit, because that Terrence thing that didn't come out when the same day or the day after.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, and more than one Terrence song had come out Right.
Speaker 3:And he Listen, he knows how to connect, especially with the ground. Of course, Big up him for that. But and he, I think he, because he's connected to the ground, he knows how to grab all his sayings and he knows what will catch. The guy said well, that term right on till we lie down was out before right. But when he came and he said it, everybody that carnival.
Speaker 1:Even now people are still saying it's right on till we light up. You know better than me, but I find that for songwriters that's a difficult thing to do. Most times I see songwriters take a slang that was on the streets and try to make it into a song. It don't work, but somehow he's figured out a way to make it stick.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because? A? Because after a while it might sound bad, but it is kind of a little elitist, you know and it's not, that might be your intention. It's just not time to lie, you know. So you write in song, you do whatever you have to do on here, but chill that, killer them. Them on live right, you them fellas. So so they connected and once they connected, they understand how to talk to the wrong. It's not, nobody could talk more than a man on the corner.
Speaker 1:Well, that's true. You know what I'm saying as we stay on the corner you keep sharp yeah exactly. Yeah, of course you keep sharp and you can laugh till. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anybody who missed the block missed a part of their life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:You had to be there, but I see that.
Speaker 1:The last thing I saw was where she say when I get a million.
Speaker 2:I say this.
Speaker 1:As good as the song is, you think it would have stand up on its own or reach this five. He had just done it on his own rhythm in the first place, Um probably not, probably not as fast.
Speaker 3:Okay, I think. Yeah, I think it would have still done well, but not as fast. I think the country obviously helped think it would have still done well, but not as fast.
Speaker 1:I think the controversy helped, right, because the rhythm was done big, right, yeah.
Speaker 3:But let me tell you the what is the funny thing about it? Right, and the ironic thing about it.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, he stole a borrow, or whatever, I don't know what it is right A lease a wet lease.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all the backhanders went on right.
Speaker 3:Now he is trying to get a million views for Nikita Duavos, but there are so many people uploading his song that if you go on YouTube and look for his song, they are taken away from his views.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, If you look at it collectively he passed a million.
Speaker 3:He done, passed a million.
Speaker 1:Including people re-uploading the original song.
Speaker 3:Exactly, you understand pressure. It works against him re-uploading the original song. Exactly, you understand pressure. It won't get to you. So you see the same thing you did that kind of you understand that caused you back and people doing you and keeping you back.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm glad you raised that right Because I wanted to talk. I don't remember if I talked about it in the last episode or not but I see. Muti come on his live and say I come to promote it, he cut him off. He's like yeah don't come to promote your Jambi anything. It's like man do any same exact thing.
Speaker 3:And here now.
Speaker 1:Muti look like he genuinely was thinking Trinidad Killah would have gave him some shine. Yeah, yeah, none of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So yeah, you did talk about the podcast, Okay good yeah, and. I mean, I just laugh at it. It's funny as hell. But you see, but to children I kill on them Is the same kind of thing. When they're full blown, I don't know if they get into this, but yeah, the thing is, and I I've seen him on going on the press it's full blown, yeah, full blown, and I realize this thing. Away from the topic, when people chat, the accent it's the same.
Speaker 1:Away from the topic, yeah it's the first, last and never again.
Speaker 3:You're talking about it no more, but, and it's still it's still in the water right, but people who in the industry know and they know and I don't want to be the one to bring it up because it could work against full-blowns and right now they're trying to turn their leg up.
Speaker 3:So I don't want to block their blessing in any way, right. But what I will say is they were going through the same fight, don't? That's why they sing that song don't fight me, don't? Yeah, of course you know what I'm saying. They were going through their own version of fighting. You know what I'm saying. So when you come and you think and you're trying to say they're fighting you down, they're not trying to get a leg, this is with voice, this is, but what is what? What are you talking about?
Speaker 1:Right, the man said we had to. He said everyone make their choices. We make sacrifices. We block all the noises and we had to forget the voice.
Speaker 3:No, no, no, that is not what they say. I told you what they say. They say forget the voices. I just forget lyrics, sometimes With a capital V. I just forget, right.
Speaker 1:Sometimes lyrics you know as my age Right, but it's the same thing. It's the same thing Because what you're talking about there and you in the industry, you know people who get in fight though, and get on top. It's just a cycle. Maybe it's our industry, and I hate to come all the time and compare it to Jamaica and the way it's worked, because if you talk to people on the ground in Jamaica, they will talk the same fight, don't they, but I can tell you if a man do something and catch a length, if the thing's showing promise it could be a vagrant already.
Speaker 1:They bring it in.
Speaker 3:No, but the thing is, I think Jamaica culture it has some differences with Jamaican culture, right, that not here, and is so, for instance, in Jamaica culture they don't really thrive on royalties, the big artists the Saturday Rob, but most of the artists coming up it shows, it shows right and job plates, exactly here. We just really try for radio airplay. You know what I'm saying. It's only now Killer and the man what KG and him talking about now, you know they realizing that what's the good Bill on the ground? Get some radio play, but still not getting a book in son boy. That's what the money is. You know something I seen.
Speaker 3:But in jamaica is the next round and in jamaica build from the, from the ground, in terms of artists. Here, when they release music, they're looking to go on radio. Artists in jamaica, when they release music, they're looking to carry the dance, they're going on tour, right, they're looking to go on the dance and get dj. You know, some people tell it I it's a yeah, artists will walk up, you dj in jamaica and this will walk up, you DJing in Jamaica. Artists will walk up to you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I see it many times, yeah, and the people big artists do it too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the thing is the people in Jamaica. They also receive music differently in terms of they look forward to a new tune, busting in the dance and listening again and it's props. Yeah, so I'm not mentioning that we had to hear no new, new, new, new, new song.
Speaker 1:I suffer from that. Just this weekend I went to a fete and I who like to talk about this? I was like, oh god, just sing it. You know what I'm saying. Men want a fete, but it's a very big cultural. A part of it is the size too right, because if you make a local hit in Jamaica yeah, you could do well, yeah, every parish have dance every night and you could move around and then you dub plate money.
Speaker 1:I know if you follow this man. I like to follow him on TikTok with Shalam Nah nah Shalam. You know, my man, that Rasta man Shalam, come on Just little vibes on TikTok and he make a few songs. He was on Cartel Show too. They bring him on the show and he just talking the other day about dub plates building your mother's house Right In Trinidad. If you have a local hit, you're not building a house for yourself, much less your mother, a local hit you're not preaching.
Speaker 1:It's hard the way to get a hit here, as I rightly say, even if you didn't get it on the radio, which is tough too. But you had to do our local carnival, soka, particularly you and yeah.
Speaker 3:So I think, even though the Jamaican industry is not like the American industry, it's still more of an industry than it was. Yeah, a little bit Right.
Speaker 2:A lot more.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's also because they, you remember, even though the government or they would say that the government fighting dance all day, whatever the case may be, they still have cultural tourism. They still have tourism for their culture, I mean. So they claim that they had traffic in the airport for Cartel show.
Speaker 1:Private jet traffic yeah, private, yeah, yeah you understand.
Speaker 3:No, I don't think it might have been traffic. But I think Is that a few? Yeah, I think that a few, and you know what I'm saying. How much of that air do you get in here?
Speaker 2:You know, what.
Speaker 1:I, I suppose, I suppose.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So which leads me to there's a battle between DJs and artists a lot of times.
Speaker 1:Well, let me talk about that, because when you say radio plays the holy grail, right, right. I see the thing with Hakeem last week, right and Hakeem in an interview saying nobody, don't hold back, nobody.
Speaker 2:I like how he says he's not a DJ.
Speaker 1:That's the greatest statement I hear in a long time. You know what I mean. You say i's not a d, I don't. I just select the songs right and then like it shows you how much we put with the selector right the name that going in front is the name that we stick to. Who play me? So right but and then benji had to respond to him and say, well, basically only fighting and squeezing the music when I listen to I try to listen to as much music just from YouTube what I could find new.
Speaker 1:I just play in Soca 2024. I listen to everything and I could tell you Ben Jai's song good.
Speaker 2:No no.
Speaker 1:Just say Ben.
Speaker 3:Jai's song good, tell me, the one you play on the podcast was good. But Ben Jai has other songs. He has other songs. That not so good, that not so good.
Speaker 1:The half and a half is is not good. I kind of like it, but I'm gonna say good, I just I kind of like the vibe of the song, but I could see why nobody right, that's hard, so the one I play. The one I play is the um that song.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's some good. No, the thing is all right.
Speaker 1:First of all, let me give ben that benji kudos for doing his own show and whatnot and whatnot. Right, that went right. Yeah, so I saw you, yeah right.
Speaker 3:Um, that is the direction people should be focusing on. Um, so I want to give him kudos for that. So me watching that benji video had me real back and forth, yeah because it had some good things, he said, and that's some rubbish. He said right, right, right. But let's, before I jump into that, I have the blessing and the curse of playing music long time.
Speaker 3:Right, right, that is what Over 25 years as a DJ Right Back then, Corey, see if you can remember Mm-hmm In a carnival season, we could have put all the music that barely in rotation on two CDs, three CDs. You're probably right about that. Compared to now, when I was on radio, before I left radio and you watch it 20, wherever year, it was folder. We're talking about 1,300 songs.
Speaker 1:Let me add to what you're saying, because back then it was also such a task to get to record a song.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that by the time you get that little bit of songs compared to now, they had a baseline quality that you would get and I think that now we're recording like how I record my podcast exactly bedroom, and people don't want to admit this that when you had to pay the, the thousands of dollars to produce a song, true, you would have listened, you would have gone through that.
Speaker 1:Sometime you go back in the studio men will tell you no long time if your song is not good enough your lyrics and good, your vocals and good because the few studios that I had compared to now, the few ways of recording, we don't have time Exactly To groom the artists, you're not ready yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and they will go and learn a show and come. We have a session on the show and they cannot record, but now anybody can put out a song and the timing would have taken back then, Of course, of course, because I'm telling you I had to yeah, you can't get this one and you can't get that one.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying. Now a man mills the whole rhythm. He says Exactly One musician.
Speaker 3:Listen, look, the other day I think it's Penny Penny went in, he was doing a thing with Mikael, teja, right, and he went in and Teja billed him for 20 minutes. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:So he built it in 20 minutes. So now and he started kind of paying you Sure, sure, sure, so you could save it in two hours, three hours, you have a song Right Before. That would have taken a month, right, and the quality control would not be good. So when I put out my $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 to do a song, you know what I'm saying. I'm taking my time with this thing. But now you know what I'm saying. It's a man putting out nine songs.
Speaker 1:I hear this lyrical at 20 songs of the season yeah, I was just listening to Shal and I interview and I stop at about five.
Speaker 3:I mean it still took much.
Speaker 1:What else?
Speaker 3:you know what I'm saying now and I'm going to. I'm going to speak now, being a DJ for a while, because, even though I was an announcer, I used to DJ as well. When I was doing the morning show, I would DJ and talk that shifts. I work by myself, so I had to DJ right, and I have flown to other countries playing music in events right and. I can tell you some men you face that full. What you're grabbing for is the names that come to mind all the time and the people you know.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying? That's the reality.
Speaker 3:People just want to take away the human aspect of this. This is not AI playing music here. You know what I'm saying. This is a human and we're able to play in our world. So I play in a song at 128 BPM. All right, you do so, you might. You're using Serato, so you're watching everything at 128 BPM. That's the next thing. Strato game get DJs kind of lazy, of course, and if you start with it they miss a certain skill, right. So you're playing 128 BPM and they start to scroll through and just imagine you're seeing about 40 songs at 128 BPM. But you never really played that, benji. You never played this song. You don't know that artist's name. Hey boy, look, bonji Bonji. Good boy me. And second star, good you understand. Hey boy, look, second star boy, I'll give you second star play. Is that the way it should be?
Speaker 1:probably not, but let me ask you this as a DJ, you still have time to listen to all them things, or you find yourself in a dance where you had to play it without hearing it, no.
Speaker 3:So here's the thing, right. And I would agree, there are a lot of DJs who don't do that and they're not willing to do that, and that is awful.
Speaker 1:That is terribly awful, so you, as a DJ, should be hearing these songs before you go to the concert.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you should be. No, the next problem is sometimes when the song is sent to the radio station, let me say, it goes through the process or the program director. The program director, he verified, he said, okay, he'll put it in his station computer.
Speaker 3:Right, you, as he did, you didn't get his song, you know what I'm saying and you're not gonna play it on air because you didn't really know it, unless it's a name. You know what I'm saying. No, I don't know if people saw the um, the video with hakim and selector carry after the benji thing, you're laughing at the right, half and half right.
Speaker 3:So what they were doing there is actually playing the song in in studio for them to listen it. So apparently that was the first time, okay, because right. So benji thing, so they and there's two, there's two songs I think they played. You play one and you play right. And it's because okay, benji saying let me pull it up at this point in the session, because if Ben Jai in a sudden carried that song, personally, how can?
Speaker 2:he get that song? Yeah, I guess, yeah.
Speaker 3:Exactly so, and when time to pull, he'll pull. I'm not waiting for my song to bust, but that's kind of how men end up now, Is that okay? I hear that song playing. Who could?
Speaker 1:buy to get that song. Yeah, I find there's that difference. Like you come from these kind of clash era too, right, yeah, yeah. And I find that that's one of the differences now, you see, with young DJs, because I see men, I see men use a bill song. Yeah, yeah, yeah, jugglers are a determined song. That was not good yeah and the men play that ice, green and gold until it gets to be a hand yeah yeah, you know many of them do it over the years.
Speaker 1:But I think what you're saying there too, when you talk about the amount of songs, that kind of unlock something yeah, because there's no dj. I guess who you have the time to listen?
Speaker 3:it can't, it's impossible and, as I say, you're not getting it. So when you go in, when you go in.
Speaker 1:I see what you're saying. Your folders at DJ is different from the station, yeah, from the station folder.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying. And some of these stations they lock their computers because obviously they were playing in music.
Speaker 1:So what's the process for a station?
Speaker 3:Let's assume they get different processes right. You would find next to be a little more open, because people might not like to see this, because it's not as big as some of the other stations that you need to kind of, you know, hone in and make sure it's playing right and quality control.
Speaker 3:Glenn from Boom tends to be very open, you know so the program director decides what the radio station will play they sometimes okay, right, some stations, some djs actually not all some djs have a little more levy, okay, so if you have a little more respect for dj, anything that did. You know what you're about?
Speaker 1:you know something he could play from his folder right he could play some.
Speaker 3:Some of them will let they were on jack and use their laptop, however the case may be, but it might never happen with everybody because a man come and he played a song with two, three cousins and you had to answer to that, right, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Also, when you play with cousins, it's probably the DJ playing from their folder when he held his slip. Okay, gotcha, you know what I'm saying. And then Tat calling you. Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3:You know what different processes and procedures. But, um, somebody taught me something because I had a stint in in in artist management. I'll never call myself artist manager. I managed two artists right, um, two artists who were making the transition from one was doing reggae to suka and one was doing hip-hop to suka benja is no one by chance. No, no, okay, um, and so I. What I did is I I worked with ian pantin for a while as an understudy, to understand you know what your management.
Speaker 1:What is do?
Speaker 3:right, um, and one of the things ian pantin taught me, and well, you're not going on. Probably, probably secret here, but I do think you're doing artist management again so I don't know right.
Speaker 3:Hopefully you didn't get back to me, but one of the things he taught me is listen with all the artists. You managing, you, managing this artist. You make an, you make a meeting or you organize a meeting with the program director, right, and you carry these songs that the artists have. The artists are three, four songs. You carry it and you reason with them because a program director wouldn't want to tell. And that's what the manager is, for. People fail to realize this. The manager is the bridge, because sometimes people don't want to tell our artists certain things or wouldn't want to say certain things. So you go now and okay, how are you feeling about these songs?
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 3:And then we could come to a consensus that, okay, you like these two out of the four, so you're willing to play these two. Yeah, work with that for me, all right. So then you work with it, because now it takes away me just sending music. I don't know how the program reactor feel about it, and now all of a sudden it's Fydong. They probably didn't like it, yeah, and I mean.
Speaker 1:Ben Jai saying in his thing think it's gonna be.
Speaker 3:I mean, if I was a dj, and tell me if I'm wrong, because, coming from a complete layman, I had to build my name I have a brand, yeah, yeah, so if I go a party, yeah I had to play what work exactly, and that's that's an extra discussion you probably have later on in terms of people arguing about if you know how much new soaker should play and how much old soaker should play in an event.
Speaker 1:That seems to be an argument.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that seems to be an argument, but everybody obviously watches it from their perspective and not the other people's perspective, thankfully for me. As I say, I have experience in managing artists. I have experience in DJing and touring parties touring FETs as well working with people like Bungie.
Speaker 3:As I say, marshall, right. So I have a lot of experience in different fields so I could see from different perspectives. But yeah to that point. At the end of the day, as a DJ, as a person who runs a radio station, I make money based on listenership. I can't chance it for your music that people change off the station. Let me say I am championing bussing songs all the time Right.
Speaker 1:Rio is usually not the best place for that.
Speaker 3:Exactly so. I champion in bussing songs and when I champion in bussing songs, people not listen to my station Because I just want their heads.
Speaker 1:Most people- or your advertising dollars in trouble, exactly.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:And then when?
Speaker 3:things start to struggle. And I can.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course but if that is the case, then you see, I'm seeing where the gatekeeper thing coming from because, if I.
Speaker 1:this is the way I was thinking about when ben jai went on the run. Ben jai has done enough already in this industry where if I sign up in front 40 songs and I see ben jai name, his name should be good enough. So I have a question to ask you about Ben Jai management. But before I get to that, if the program director could be seen as a gatekeeper let me change the word gatekeeper and mafia and everything he's a tastemaker. He had to decide what was playing on his station. He in charge of quality control, gotcha.
Speaker 1:So that's different to fighting it or squeezing it I listen and I don't like it and I'm not putting it. And unfortunately in that kind of work you cannot please everybody Exactly and the more people trying to get in, the more people will be vexed. Is it the same in FETs? You would say like, for instance, does a FET promoter?
Speaker 3:from your experience, he fit, or what can I play um? Is that normal? The first was nine. Oh, here locally you did it publicly. Was um was friends of friends, I don't know um lead a god. Yeah, okay, right, um, and I don't think it was done maliciously and it wasn't so. It was basically. You see, all these songs are people just push to do to get falls forward or easy forward.
Speaker 1:I remember this this was like pop a bottle right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, that was funny, right, kind of come on work for it, okay, gotcha right and I appreciate that in terms of selling them not to play certain artist music, I've never really had that experience. I would admit I had the experience DJing on the road, where you were told what song to play on the stage and that only happened to me in the how much of a years I played on the road playing with a big band okay, right, when I played really smaller bands. I think I was one of the probably the first or only people when we're approaching the stage and they're waiting by the stage test out some things.
Speaker 1:I know I I ask him okay by the stage Test out some things I know.
Speaker 3:I ask him Okay, by the show of hands. Let me see, that's even better what you?
Speaker 1:want. So you're making it about the masquerade, yeah. All who say I work, All who say and I'm telling you, yeah, well, if you do that, you come from a long time for real that was something.
Speaker 3:That is the next thing, but and I tell you at no point in time, it was ever the same song. Behind the other gotcha, the people said the next song, and you know someone said so that was the year when I was here. I had come to me, fian had dropped on the ground and rule Marshall had whatever he had.
Speaker 1:I can't remember at any point in time. You kind of get them the choice and they go with the majority.
Speaker 3:And we go with the majority and everybody enjoy themselves and the next time around. And that just shows that sometimes people are the same thing all the time. So, don't force that on them.
Speaker 1:So one band tell you how to play this.
Speaker 3:Right, one band. There's only one band I've ever had the experience with. They say, hey, enjoy the stage. That way of playing, not get paid. You're not getting your money. Yeah, oh like no, no, no, we're not doing that yeah, we're not.
Speaker 1:No, we're not. We're not doing that, you're just asking me to ask you questions. Yeah, but I could see again. Let me ask you one more question before we move from that.
Speaker 3:Let me just say, I just want to say this the reason I'm not doing that is because the dj who I worked with at the time I I been a, uh, an announcer or the hype man that DJ is still in the industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 3:And I don't ever want you know anything to be taken away from him. Yeah, of course, of course.
Speaker 1:Well, that idea of something being taken away from you if you don't do our bidding? Yeah, you can hear where the mafia takes you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And and it's not uncommon, that's something you hear, and if you talk to artists who you call veterans and the old men and them.
Speaker 3:That was the sweet in Calypso, 10s and all that, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, I have an episode from years ago with Short Pants talking about that too, oh nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that man know. Yeah, yeah, it's a brutal world. But in deciding on what is going to, what artist is going to perform in the effects, how are you doing that in advance? Because what will you have? You have music from the artist and you're deciding. Or is it just name?
Speaker 3:Right, so some people will go with name because they think no matter what this artist will do, well you know they'll put out music that's good enough for the season and I think, listen, we can't deny that at at this point. We have artists like Marshall, no matter where you do quality and if Marshall put out something and not catch it, marshall will go back in the studio. Yeah, but can I find right now Nathanie Singh? He has one song. I don't want to name it, sorry, because I'm not paying that much attention. I think they try to push the party. The party is not that great, but he has a next fast song.
Speaker 1:Two car, is not it? Neither saying that me, I have a wife.
Speaker 3:I want one car? Yeah, but a lot of women have that problem yeah, I can't dance good in the fat weekend.
Speaker 1:You want vex two car and a car, have like five seat too.
Speaker 3:I'm a strong advocate for polygamy, so that's a no.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you like that.
Speaker 3:I mean it's not an answer that I like that but you're not against it. I'm not against it. I think if we take any stance that people can love who they want to love, then people should be able to love how much people they want to love. Women should be able to have two or three husbands if they want, and men should be able to have two or three wives if they want.
Speaker 1:He talks views and opinions of the alternative podcast and not necessarily the views, but yeah with. But going back to Marshall, I don't find any of the songs this year hitting. But you're right in that if you pull a Marshall song out of the folder and there's about 10 artists like that if you pull it out of the folder you're going to get something of quality, even if you've never listened to it.
Speaker 3:And the thing about it is too, even if Marshall come and sing his old music, because they have repertoire so it's easy to hire them. It's easy to hire Marshall. It's easy to hire them. It's easy to hire Marshall. It's easy to hire Bungie. It's easy to hire a lot of people.
Speaker 1:But, the men on the fringes know how you decide if you're hiring Swap.
Speaker 3:Right, so you had to wait. You had to wait to hear. Oh, I see, yeah, you had to wait to hear.
Speaker 1:So there's a part of your budget going towards shore shooters, Shore shooters Aye.
Speaker 3:They run on artists and they kind of listen Right. So you have in your mind they run on artists.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so at that point you book your artists already. And then you realize wait, now, full-blown catch on you already, Right?
Speaker 3:And I guess they can't charge you like all the big boys. And then we start to balance budgets, right Gotcha, because we start to see yeah at that point. It's a balanced budget. And then sometimes you engage artists and this artist, let me just say this artist's budget is 10,000. But then we find by tickets and things and things and things, here's a promoter made by EngageM right, and they say 10,000. And then by this artist doing 5,000 but their song Catchin'.
Speaker 1:How would I say it? You understand what I'm saying. Make perfect sense. It's a business I struggle to understand and do like promotion and things. I always wonder about how those things work.
Speaker 3:And for me, I always advise clients who I'm working with. Listen, if artists can't pay for themselves, I'm not booking here. Listen, for the lease you have to be able to pay for yourself. In terms of, If I put you, let me say your price is 5,000, my ticket is $100, you're just saying right, you have to be able to sell them 50 tickets. If I put your name, at least 50 people have to want to come and see you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's business right Exactly right.
Speaker 3:But obviously there are some people who figure well, now you should hire me, because he called you Whoa whoa, whoa whoa. I could tell you, listen, I too have fed and lost a hundred and something thousand dollars.
Speaker 1:Yeah, nobody looking for you. Nobody looking for that. No, no, no. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, nobody's not calling you back to get a rebate.
Speaker 3:Wait, now you lost it. Boy, dog boy, no, not at all. Well, who lost 10,000? Back now, boy?
Speaker 1:Yeah, business is business, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:All the people, nobody not doing that. No, no, no, you understand. No, the thing is when you risk it, no people, as a businessman, it's your risk, exactly. And when it's my risk, when I win and I make the big, the big box, that's my reward.
Speaker 1:For the risk I took, of course, of course, and you know me as a one percenter, I like that. I hear private sector. Is private sector DJs who singing? I hear Benjai talk about that too. What's your take on?
Speaker 3:that? Well, first of all, when he said it, I went to research and there's no law.
Speaker 1:No, I was looking too.
Speaker 3:Especially no federal law. If you had to say there's a law in some states, then it might be harder to find.
Speaker 1:Federal law Policy, in some stations maybe, but when you say federal law, that means it governs the entire United States of America including Canada that would be hard, that would be hard, that would be hard.
Speaker 3:So when he said that and you see when he makes it when he said that, bro, it takes away from your credibility.
Speaker 1:It makes it sound well boys sometimes Naldo is one, though, because same thing we say about the politics, sometimes when you're talking to the masses, true, true it's sticking true, true. So that's why let me go and look it up, because it didn't. That was songwriting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah yeah, djs who singing oh listen. If you're complaining about gatekeepers and then you're trying to keep them out of you're trying to keep them out of the gate because they want to sing too, then you're being a gatekeeper as well, right? No, I disagree with DJs who singing and they're forcing the music down your throat. That's where the program directors have to get involved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you say it to no man. It's human. It's humans you're dealing with and I feel like not that I defend it but if Charles Singatruna isn't catching the length, charles also produces another level of quality where it's an acceptable song Whether you like it or not is a different thing, but them men go and beat our song.
Speaker 3:Them it's another different thing. But them men go and beat our song, but the.
Speaker 1:Thing is.
Speaker 3:You know this is no way to take away from Tweez and Raw Fusion and them, but you know that wasn't happening. When Paul Luchas was there, did the putter stop to it Listen. No, it went past. It's not playing Right. Oh, he decided and dies. Yeah, show will tell you right. Show that song right and carry for Paul and Paul's like that not playing?
Speaker 1:oh my god.
Speaker 3:I'm telling you that's rough show, will tell you that?
Speaker 1:yeah, that's how you have to go into politics now you can't really radio, correct? Yeah, it's a cool world, right, but I see the importance when he's talking about this right, it shows the importance of the program director's quality.
Speaker 3:Yeah, more than just a gatekeeper exactly, and then plenty of times we target the DJs and them, but sometimes the program director yeah, the program director determine.
Speaker 3:And then, like you know, on the same Benjai topic, benjai bashing Hoppy. However, the case may be right because apparently he was on a call and Hoppy said how the song, how the music song in, he don't like that. Wait, wait, hold on. Once again, this is a man investment. I had to ask what quality it is. If I'm selling let me just say I'm selling food and somebody come and say, hey, well, here we are, we have some fries to sell here. I had to ask what's it called?
Speaker 1:It's a good thing, it's not a good thing. And listen, I'm a culture defender. I always say a carnival better when Benji have a hit. But it has some of them things I can't agree with from that standpoint, because Hoppy is not a DJ again. As a radio station owner, you have a wider responsibility. You have a vision. As a businessman, you have a way of doing things, not saying that you don't have your own biases too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:But I don't think so nah really, yeah, hoppy is a very interesting individual. Um, he is, he's one of the people I've been around and hoppy's business. Hoppy is business.
Speaker 1:You understand what I'm saying I didn't make that profit, or not?
Speaker 3:yeah, and hoppy is a person who listen. If you and hoppy, good, if you're up to business, hop, hoppy will leave you right there. Yeah, hoppy's business. You know what I'm saying oh, it's you, hoppy's business, hoppy's business.
Speaker 1:Okay, got you. You know what I'm saying. So you're right to ask about the quality of his song.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:Listen and.
Speaker 1:I don't think he's sitting down listening to no folder 400 song neither see.
Speaker 3:You know so when he asks.
Speaker 1:It might just be. I felt like if, when he said that it's like, but the man could ask that yeah, yeah, I mean yeah, what the quality is like, is it?
Speaker 3:and if a man say it, because listen for me I would say it has some songs that could grow some songs. I will never make it. It has some song you heard one time, yeah, boy. Yeah, people talk about this gatekeeping thing. It's about artist I know.
Speaker 2:I think his name is jungi or something yeah, right and you gave a good song and I think you get a little length, oh it is yeah, you get.
Speaker 3:You get any play on certain stations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I cannot run for a song, right?
Speaker 3:and right and he get. He get a little play, but when, um, mr fien was come out to play, more local. So who's because? People keep talking about these people gatekeeping who's gate? Listen once a song is good. Well, boy, go ahead Once a song is good. Once a song is good enough. Because you had to understand and ask yourself am I an artist who could come with a half a song or a song with 60% strength and get through? No, there are certain artists because of their name.
Speaker 1:Which they work for right, right, yeah, they didn't get a name by chance. Exactly who?
Speaker 3:could come with a song, you know, with 60% power, 60% you know quality, or whatever, and they put it between two hit songs and people start to love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it still gets. But this is your opinion, because I heard Hakeem saying this too where you can't fight good music. I don't know if I agree with that 100%. I don't think you could stop a hit. When you have a hit song, it will make its way. But I always feel as if a good song we call that a 60% song. I think what you're saying is true. The 60% song could catch a length. It could be in the bubble.
Speaker 2:It could just bubble.
Speaker 1:But the truth is that if I sing a 60% song and I don't know nobody, don't know who's me, that is automatically a 20% song.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:And if you have the right management and the people around you, then working the song, because the passion that Ben Jai has is needed for him to create the way he's created Right. But then don't deal with no DJs, don't deal with no djs, don't deal with no. You understand, like is it like in work by me? It's not certain people I see clients, it's not certain people.
Speaker 3:Them is not to see no client right, right yeah because I don't keep that buffer right and so and I think that is what ben jr and I need to do I think that's what a lot of artists need to do probably we need to actually have proper record labels here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the record label, yeah, management and they will deal with the publishing.
Speaker 3:They will deal with the pr and whatnot. Right and keep some of these artists off the internet right, because that is where a lot of the fallout happened. Because what's a car? Come on, cost me today, dog, and you need me, and then feel that I'm only human. Of course, right, yeah, it didn't cost me directly. But he said, oh, dj, all them DJs, yeah, go feel that way.
Speaker 1:Well, all that's a weezy problem. I know cool Like popcorn and scatterbore earlier. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100% credit is on what you say with PR Because, as you say, I feel like if more artists should take the initiative to start to do their own shows and build one another's shows with one another. I see voice on them. Do that to an extent A lot of them and somebody rise to that level.
Speaker 3:Listen voice is a perfect example. Now, all right, I don't want to be hypocritical in saying it In terms of because of voice being part of Full Blown and the writing for certain big artists, the door was kind of ajar you know what? I'm saying the door was kind of open for them to step in right but at the end of the day, voice never stopped working. You know you can say what you want about him, he never stopped working and during the COVID period they come and they do their lives and they.
Speaker 3:Let me tell you something a lot of people had no voice music and, okay, voice most people fell in love. Yeah, covid, make a difference with that man, with that vibes, with voice, you know, fall in love because they come and talk about everything.
Speaker 1:Naldo me and you was podcasting at the time so we watching how you could connect with our audience.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the men do it right and you don't have to do it, and the thing is it's commitment because they were doing it on every Wednesday and Tuesday and every other night it starts off with Salty and then it's on a Bill, Bill, Bill and then Travis, and you know what I'm saying and it was an energy.
Speaker 1:Elon was also one of them who did that journey, and Elon profile.
Speaker 3:Bill you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:This is what't need to start off with a thousand. Yeah, I wonder sometimes if, because, as I say, it's a good PR technique, as much as I like the culture, I don't leave my house.
Speaker 2:I have bad habits with that.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. But the live and any other show in Kaiso Blues is how I end up there on Friday night. They could say it worked right you know I mean, but even going the show, the show had ziggy orlando. Octave prophet benjamin uh, gaylan was. It was nice to see benjamin and sung great together.
Speaker 1:You know, I mean, and it was, it was a, it was a good show, like that, right. But I always have a complaint about these shows and I typically have the complaints with the calypsonians that I like, the older actors like I remember going to explain a memorial show and me and my mother going to show naldo. She was supposed to start seven. My mother is a woman. If it's not in seven she's reaching out past three and boy, when you reach seven o'clock, xr cable on the ground still nothing set up and I felt that way in benji show weekend too, weekend 2, I want to see Benjai.
Speaker 1:I come to see Benjai, but as Ziggy Rankin would perform great, but I'd hear him sing Bob Marley for about three of his songs out of the five. For what I don't? Know, Orlando was real good. Prophet Benjamin is Prophet.
Speaker 3:Benjamin, one of the greatest to do this in China boy listen as a performer.
Speaker 1:A grip on people. Orlando too. But let me tell you something by the time Ben Jai, come on now, though I's the youngest man in the dance.
Speaker 2:Other than Ben Jai.
Speaker 1:I's the youngest man in the dance. I'm middle aged.
Speaker 1:You can't do shows where it's starting at 7, you coming on at Ben Jai, come on, must be about midnight right by the time, ben Jai, come on, half the people who was there standing up by the door just trying to get a little taste of what he's doing and leave. So whether you feel, because to me you see that plain mask when I hear that I wanted to buy a costume, not so much for half and half as a whole, but I think, as you said, dj, when I see Young Brother and Benja I must play that.
Speaker 3:So, and energy, although, it's a weird song, but he's a weird man, yeah, and weird men go make innovators, yeah, and that's fine, you know, and but it's even better when you build, you build a true fan base and a true audience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the same thing you say about voice. Voice connect with people directly and then so when you come, I don't know, but I'll be honest with you, right, you see that song where you say you see that trust in me and all that talk, that could not work if voice was not so connected to people people who fetten, do not care about trusting exactly is he wearing a song?
Speaker 2:this man's singing backstage.
Speaker 1:He's singing about issues that the average person don't know nothing about. The average person might not have Google voice trusting will always trust him. Yeah, but again, the idea that all that fancy thing we just come to fete must work, yeah, but people love voice. So when I see benji, of course, as a performer, when you come on stage you're going to sing your classics. You think benji come on the stage and sing about six songs? No, nobody don't know. Slow one, right, but it's your show, right. And then he went into real classics. So my point I'm trying to make is, even if you say radio announcers fighting you, djs fighting you, fet promoters fighting you, in your show you choose to perform your songs that you're trying to promote after everybody leave, after the biggest part of the land men are to leave Older people going home by a certain time.
Speaker 3:And going home by a certain time, and there's something to that One. People have learned to respect the industry, but they were treated like an industry. People are treated like a hustle right One. They have to learn to respect the industry. If you have an event, you have to know how to manage the event, because having an event is one thing, but then hire the professionals, and then people have to. You have to sit down and discuss your set list, sure, but if it's disconnected, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:It might be difficult because you have to know. But starting with, I think Chini is probably arguably Benji's biggest tune. Right, I start with Chini, get my next song, my next popular song, and then I come into a new song and I break it down for you. I take my time, I break it down. That is exactly what I'm thinking about though, and then you roll again into a next popular song. You know, yeah, so you sandwich it in between.
Speaker 1:When you have a weird song with a difficult concept, you have a chance in an intimate setting to explain it. People might get to like the song. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like the song, yeah, but I don't know, boy, you think a lot of artists willing to take, because if I am ben jai right, let me say the next side of this argument for a minute. I've done performing in front of 20 something thousand people updating the soca monoxidous world. In other words, should I say I have enough respect where I don't have to show no little show in kaiso blues for people to hear my music? No, not in trinidad and tobago.
Speaker 3:In trinidad and Tobago, most artists, 90% of artists you're a new artist every year. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is. Look, a perfect example is Turner.
Speaker 3:Turner had some amazing years big songs, but now people treat Turner like like he's a now come again. Of course you know what I'm saying. So in Trinidad and Tobago, you, you could end up being a new artist pretty quickly. You understand. Back to being a new artist. Then Do you understand? And I could tell you, working with a lot of artists, working with artists that I manage, working with artists just helping them build certain profiles, you know, artists harden boy dog that is hardened by the listen. No, I tell him. No, here's the thing. But that is, that is where their talent comes from, that creativity. So it's hard for them to listen to somebody else we have to.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because a particular artist I was working with at a point as dj info and big artists you know, but the artists came from singing with that band and the artists wasn't on the ground to understand, because the person who was organizing setlist with the band is a person who knows this thing. And when I was working with the artists and they started organizing setlist I realized you're certainly set wrong, you're certainly set bad you know what I'm saying because I'm out here playing your certain to be set bad.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying because I I'm out here playing your music all the time. You know all over the place, so I know which songs people want. I know which songs. You know where you gotta start you know, and if it's one thing I understand, it's to either start low on climax or I know how to keep us steady, but sometimes plenty of people there's only running, yeah, and then and then, oh God, because it's worse when people leave your experience and it's low, yeah.
Speaker 2:They will always remember the end. The end, you understand, so no, art is very difficult.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, it's so interesting you say very difficult.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, it's so interesting. You say because if you want to call that elite level artists in Trinidad, right, let me just use Marshall and Patrice as examples, or Bungee and Fianna's as examples. The rate at which they reinvent themselves is impressive but it's not just renaming, but a different look at different feel, different type of music, different vibes, different types of collaborations. You know what I mean. They do it at a rate that maybe the average artist who finds some success wants to hold on to that spot and stay.
Speaker 3:No, the thing is, I mean I must applaud Marshall, because you just see Marshall in here. I don't know how he just stay in a sort of grounded.
Speaker 1:He's been watching everything.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I know he's watched everything.
Speaker 3:He's seen everything. Yeah, I know, because watching things on social media and reality sometimes could be totally different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you could see, I mean he come from well, even our era maybe before us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, a little before us, yeah.
Speaker 1:So it had to be that he was so connected.
Speaker 2:Same thing I said, with Tr coming up.
Speaker 1:He might be so connected to the ground that he could translate it to this digital era probably, yeah, one of the things I see him do all the time is once you show a talent online, even yeah, he is going to reach whether he's a musician, a comedian, just a social media character at some point yeah, he's reaching out and even waiting for you to build a big, big following. Now, once you realize you have people, he's he.
Speaker 3:You stick to that yeah, and I think sometimes a point I want to make, sean, because watching an interview that KG had with Jidel, and you know, jidel was saying that so much times people write songs and they hold back the song because they're saying, well, nah, this is an ex-artist, we'll get a bigger artist right, and this is our next artist, we'll get a bigger artist Right. And I understand how that could be real hurtful.
Speaker 3:But sometimes men understand the politics. Or men understand because first of all we are again into royalties and splits. Right, when you do a song, the split is between, mainly between, two people.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:The split is mainly between the writer and the producer Right the writer and the producer Right Right.
Speaker 1:So I had to look back for my return.
Speaker 3:Of course, you know what I'm saying yeah, so if I give you a song, and that song is not really going to reach anywhere, yeah, once I give the person, it's not going to reach places. No, the thing is if and I'm not saying this is not the situation in.
Speaker 2:JL.
Speaker 3:But if you're willing to outright, you buy out everything.
Speaker 2:you pay 40,000 for the rhythm which might be a little bit risky for them.
Speaker 3:You pay 20,000 for the writing. Okay, take it and go, but if it's a matter, I just charge you $4,000 and I take it, I'll do it for the person I could get the best man.
Speaker 2:Exactly, I could get the best return on.
Speaker 3:And, as I said, come down to and this is why I've seen again having people to deal with. Business is very important. Yeah, I've seen that Because an artist is very emotional about their craft? Of course it would be yeah, and the art, a business person, is very Matter of fact.
Speaker 1:Yeah About their business and they will protect you. Yeah, yeah, they will protect you. They will protect your emotions and your intentions.
Speaker 3:Right, so that's where you need that and that's I mean when I was managing artists. I am the one dealing with the writers, I am the one dealing with producers, right, you understand yeah, so the artists?
Speaker 1:you're putting them through that exactly.
Speaker 3:I would debate, I would think I would bargain, I would negotiate, right, and because the thing is, let me just say I get to drop the price or whatever the case may be. At least, if you have to show anybody bad, yeah, I understand.
Speaker 3:I see you, many other people I talk to into management to say the same kind of yeah and it's the same thing when, when you're taking artists to an event, the manager is the one to come and say no, no, if you don't like this, set this tent. If the artist said oh, the artist is a prima donna, you know. But if I am the one as the manager, I come and say it's nah, boy, the writer had this in it, this, not this, whatever, whatever, give X with me. You could come and say, and he could tell you, well, that this artist manager is an ass you know, what.
Speaker 1:I'm saying which you hear a lot yeah, but that's your role yeah, but when you had to come back, you know, and often too right, but when, when, when you're producing songs like when I look at hip-hop interviews, for instance on breakfast club it's clear that men will get feedback from radio djs before they finish a song. Is that common?
Speaker 3:here Not so common. Let me tell you what has happened to me. A lot, A lot of artists would have sent me music because I am known when I was working Next 99, I was known for busting songs Because, as I say, I came from the song class here. I came from, and I'll go as far back as to say back has to say um, listen to hoppy.
Speaker 2:And them I was. You see, jugglers, you remember?
Speaker 3:yeah, you remember the rotation friday morning right and then right, yeah, right and and then saturday morning, so I came from that year where they were boss songs and yeah, so I that's what I did in my time and right. I come out and I come to bust songs. I come to bust tunes. Some people knew me for that, so artists would send me music, but they would send me music for me after the main mix, you understand, and I say nah, boy, this has to change, this has to adjust.
Speaker 1:You understand the flow after the mix yeah, exactly and they tell me the flow.
Speaker 3:And I would tell him listen, if you get the melody to flow better, people will sing along better. And it could go further. Boy thing done.
Speaker 3:Mix already boy and then yeah, and I ain't want to thing, and I ain't want to, because that's the next thing too, when I tell you this and I go back by the producer who is he, what he know about that, and that's the kind of push back here again and then. So now they end up in another song that in reality it just in, you know, a little bit to the ticket, to the 60, to the 50 percent, that might again be blind, but you know, yeah with you, because I I saw many times when they're talking about the, the dj being in the process almost in studio, giving you feedback on the beat, giving you feedback on how you say the things and all them types of things.
Speaker 1:So they're much more connected.
Speaker 3:So now you would, luckily, you'd be like voice on them. They will have that weekend for them, that's why they have a unit. Exactly, they have a unit of DJs and people involved.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like when they had artists Steve and Marshall Right exactly.
Speaker 3:And then Ding Dong. That's why you can DJ right. And he wasn't wrong, so he knew the song people was looking for.
Speaker 1:That's right Exactly, he was picking songs based on themes and melodies.
Speaker 3:That would work, that would work, and so Dong just implemented. So that's just one of the things. One producer sometimes doesn't want to hear the feedback from the DJs or whatever, and then, well, sometimes I see the artists come late and some of them are afraid to be produce stuff for whatever reason, and I guess sometimes we could produce again. Man bligh, you know what I'm saying. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, the thing about it is this as much as I talk about the Alternative Perspective podcast, I appreciate all the fellas' efforts. I know things just ebb and flow. You know what I mean. Time has come. I'm still waiting to see Jude. I'm putting it down as Jude ducking his smoke today like why he ain't come. You know what I mean, Whether it's true or not you know what I mean and if that is the case, but I can be present to make sure that you keep coming back out in any podcast.
Speaker 3:You need it, your voice needs it. I'm really looking at coming back out March after Cannibal. Oh really, yeah Good, because now the reason we stopped is no longer there, gotcha.
Speaker 1:So, march, all right, good, well, listen whenever you're coming back out, come back, true, let me talk about it. Yeah, we talk about it. Yeah, man, and I want to be your first guest when you come back. Sure, we could do that. Yeah, man, all right, so salute. Thanks very much, sir. You're welcome. All right, man, thank you.