Corie Sheppard Podcast
Corie Sheppard Podcast
Episode 238 | XplicitMevon Bonus
In this bonus episode we get back with super producer XplicitMevon for an unfiltered conversation that dives even deeper into the beats, stories, and realities behind some of Trinidad & Tobago’s most impactful music.
Mevon recounts his transformative experience leading a music workshop in Anguilla—where he was welcomed like royalty—and contrasts that with the lack of recognition at home. He shares the powerful, never-before-heard backstory behind “Anxiety,” the emotional collaboration with Patrice Roberts recorded just days before tragedy struck.
The conversation explores:
- Why soca is often seen as an “old man’s genre” and how that’s locking out young artists
- The origins of Trapso, blending hip hop, soca, and Trini slang
- Creating timeless hits like “Ponani,” “Annie,” “Come Home,” “Sugar Daddy,” and “Every Time”
- The systemic barriers that keep emerging talent off the radio and out of fetes
- How memes and double entendre still shape modern soca
- The importance of documenting these stories for the next generation
Whether you’re a longtime fan of Caribbean music or simply curious about the creative process behind Carnival anthems, this episode is full of honest reflections, cultural insights, and moments that might change the way you hear the music forever.
👉 Subscribe, share, and click the link in my bio to hear the full story.
#Soca #Trinidad #XplicitMevon #Calypso #Trapso #Carnival #MusicPodcast
Yo guys, this is Mevon Soudin, also known as Explicit Mevon, and this is part two of my episodes on the Corey Shepard Podcast. So we do the drop before, right, so you're looking fresh. Everybody Last one, I was looking sweaty. The lighting was halfway done, nobody can complain about that. Somebody watched me like, hey, get that boy Angula. Seriously, I was like that was a month ago. How was that, bro, how Angula went down. Angula was a real good boy, right?
Speaker 1:Angola was an experience and a half, because I feel like, for one, what that trip to Angola taught me is how they value us in Trinidad and Alisoca. Music, bro. When we got to the airport, it was you and Kit, right yeah, the Minister of Education greeted us in it. Of got to the airport, it was you and Kit, right yeah, the Minister of Education greeted us. Of Education the Minister of Education greeted us with camera and things. It was three entities who put together that workshop. What was the workshop exactly? It was a summer camp. So apparently they do this music summer camp in the Angola Music Academy every year and they do different things every year, and this year they were focusing on calypso. And well, calypso, and because we do a lot of music with an artist they call yama, in anguilla for the past three, four years, and they kind of put in a word to bring us across.
Speaker 1:But, um, when we got there, as I said, it was the Division of Youth and Culture, the Ministry of Education I think that is like the over-governing body of the Division of Youth and Culture Got it. And then there was a tourism board, so there were representatives from each agency, as in the Minister of Education, the person in charge of the Division of Youth and Culture, and then the director or the head of the angola tourism board. They all greeted us at the airport. Yeah, kf's camera thing. You expected that. You knew that was no bro, people were behind us coming out of the um arrivals and it's not somebody else. No, no, no, okay, you could see like we just sitting down on because our ferry to get to Angola, right, so we just on the ferry, normal, normal. And when we reach and they see all the fanfare, they start to watch us like these, the same fellas very much. Who's them, who's one of them, you know because I tell his camera people, the minister and people in shirt and tie meeting us and greeting us. I was like, wow, I have a video of it too. Nice, I get shirt here. But it was.
Speaker 1:It was an experience because, from start to finish, they treated us like royalty. They treated us with so much love and respect, like we didn't have to worry about anything. Sure, and they value what it is. We do and we did for them now, because we left there with a song that the kids did from start to finish. Really, we built the beat, we came up with the concept, we wrote the song, we recorded the song and we put it up on iTunes and all platforms. And on the final day, we went to a radio interview for them to launch the song oh beautiful. So we gave them a full artist. How long was it? It was a week, a week. We arrived on Monday and we left Saturday, got it, but the camp was Monday to Friday, so they got the full experience. We didn't just talk, it was a proper workshop.
Speaker 1:So tell me something the children who are participating in it. They are like in music. Like in music, yeah, yeah. Some of them are calypsonians, some of them are musicians, some want to be producers. Some of that's their parents sending them there, got it, got it, and you could have seen the transformation from day one to day five. Yeah, you could see the confidence, you could see the interest starting to develop now, and then some of them were shy and the ones who went and they spoke on the radio on Friday were the shyest ones. Yeah, yeah, and they went and took, they went and sing, yeah, yeah, that is amazing, and the good thing is they have camera footage of all of this, so when that comes out, I probably share it.
Speaker 1:But it was a touching experience for me because I felt so valued there. You know they really look up to us and what we're doing and they treated us with utmost respect. Love and tourism is their thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's all they know. Hospitality was amazing, got it come on five stars. And that's your first time in Angola too.
Speaker 1:First time in Angola, yeah, and the sun is really, really nice, and the sun is one of the places you had to go. Bro, anguilla is a secret gem. A lot of people don't go there, especially in Trinidad, because there's no direct flights. You go to St Martin and then it takes a 20-minute ferry to Anguilla, right, right, so it's not in our orbit per se, but the island is beautiful. It's very small. I think it's only like 14,000 people. Yeah, it's very small, but so much talent. Yeah, I could imagine. I could imagine all that happened to some of it. Akilipsa was big there, you know. Yeah, so much.
Speaker 1:So they invited me over to come for carnival this August and I'm going, you're going. Yeah, alright, I'm judging Roadmatch. Yeah, because they judge Roadmatch. They judge Roadmatch at the stage. They ask judges. I guess they I haven't seen the criteria, but I'm assuming it's called Reaction. Not anything Makes sense, and they have like a brass festival thing called Band Clash. So you're in that After Georgia too. Nice, well, congrats, that's real, real good. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:So, like, we went there and they treated us like, hey, these guys know what they're doing. Well, I had to tell people that, right, that, uh, in terms of bonus episodes for anybody who's come on, this is only the second time I've ever done this, and the first time was with kenny phillips, right, because when I sit down with kenny, kenny have a way of cool, nonchalant, saying like, do this and I do. We use the same thing. I was telling you that over the course of this week, like when I talk to you like yeah, well, I do that too and I always talk about these things, like you know, it's by the way. It by the way, but to me is is legendary because I tell you before, like, what you're all doing now is the same thing that kenny and them was doing in the season, impacting so much people.
Speaker 1:But I have to ask because I had a conversation with scrunter time, who I hope to god at some point, scrunter, come here, right, I'll try it. Right, but he said that he has a song called take the number right. The song was about people who are it's the car number. It was about a thing happening to school children, right, and he was saying, reiterating the point, that when you're going in a car and you're traveling home or you're getting a drop, take the number Number right. And he said it's taught in schools in Grenada. So I had to ask him. I said, well, do they ever teach it in schools here? No, no. So I had to ask you Because the reception you get here, how many times you get called from minister education here to talk to youths, never Is something you would do. No, yeah, of course.
Speaker 1:Like throughout my career and I guess, life, I've always, I've never been shy to share information, right, and people have always told me like, bro, you don't get into into teaching. I've always gotten that because of my personality and because I speak so real and and so down to earth, I guess. So students, especially younger students, they gravitate towards me, right, and um, I did, uh well, the same star broadcasting when I I did my. I did two courses there in music production and about two years ago yeah, it was right after Come Home 2023, right, they asked me to come and do a lecture, guest lecture for the current class, and I did that and so much so the students still message me on Instagram, send me stuff. Much so the the students still message me on instagram, send me stuff, you know. So I I think I don't think I'm ready for it yet because I don't want to focus too much on that, but I do believe that I have the personality to do something like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and anguilla was our next example of that but even if not continuously is a question I always ask, because there's a week, you take a week out of your schedule to get done, you're gonna do the thing in august, like, but and locally, no more, you never reach out. This is what I mean. You didn't dig. How much school did I have after we? They saw what we did. People was like how come all they never do something at home? Um, come on, let's do, let's have a conversation about doing something like that. Yeah, I was like sure, but why are y'all now wanting to come and talk? Of course, of course, of course, anguilla the size of probably a fet, the whole country. We are fets, bigger than the whole country.
Speaker 1:But change, you know what I'm saying. You could see and recognize what we're doing. Yeah, and pay for us to come across there to educate their next generation. And we write it. Yeah, boy, and we don't value our people. No, I find that the more I talk to people, you're finding that that's the case across industries. It's not just a music thing, you know. You find that a lot of younger people don't know how to access. I guess social media make it a little different now.
Speaker 1:And message my phone as I use it. Hopefully you know it might get responses. I just want everybody, you know. Yeah, I just want everybody. You sure you want to put this on? Yeah, I hate to see. I have OCD. I hate to see notifications on any of my apps. Got it, even if I open it and I close it? Yeah, they check it, I will check it Right and anything he'll say something. Yeah, I will respond. Yeah, got it? Got it? I always wonder like for for? Because and you know, you spoke about this when we were here I was telling you that I was my son, was doing a part of the editing of the episode and he had on headphones.
Speaker 1:So I just see him saying exactly exactly, and I said, well, what's going on? Because I know I say something wrong. I said what going on? He said, well, he's talking about music, because he's doing music theory too. Yeah, and as far as he's concerned, it's boring, it's hard to keep up with. Sorry to hear that, and you know what he's like. Why can't I just go by him? Yeah, you understand, because I think there's sometimes the men who are doing it, or even Kenny here, when I talk to y'all, how much you open up your space to people, how much you talk to people, how open you are, even for these interviews, because people don't believe that.
Speaker 1:I don't know, we don't know each other at all, bro, I just reach out somebody, so some someone my friends used to me and it was like, bro, you know, like yeah, yeah, no, no, you just seen where you live and I think just, I was like I didn't even think about because because I, just to me, I am just me now, I don't, I don't see myself as a celebrity or anything like that, I just I was telling this before. I just do my, I do my work, I just live in my life, I just do what I do and I just do what I like. Yeah, you know. So when people say your story is inspirational and you inspire me to do these things, it kind of blows my mind Because to me, I'm just regular on my phone, I'm just doing whatever I like.
Speaker 1:You know, as I say, I didn't go to school for this, I did IT, you know. So this is a hobby that I turned into a career. Yeah, imagine that, based on passion, into our career. Yeah, imagine this one passion. But you see, is inspiring for me because it means that, with all the issues we have in Trinidad and Tobago and all the crime and them kind of thing, it means that if we could do it, anybody could turn a hobby into a career, correct? You know, my time, the time I talk too much in school. Yeah, I know you're making a career talking a day. I write on as a young fella in my teenage. I write all the work. It's how we talk it. I write down one by one. I say, right, this is talk, this is talk, media is talk, lecturing is talk. And at some time the other day I find the thing and I say, but wait, I end up doing all these different things.
Speaker 1:You know, before I met you, corey, I was a fan of the podcast and I would have tuned into a few of the episodes before. And I said I tuned into a few of the episodes before and I said I was really impressed with you and I think I told you this privately. I was, like I really impressed with with your interview skills, the way you articulate yourself and the way in which you formulate your questions. Not just that, but the tone of your voice, the way you speak. Yeah, it is very commanding. I guess you know what tone of voice is you doing that for? Yeah, yeah. No, because it's Got it, got it, got it. No, because it's a very a voice that is very cut it cuts through, right, yeah, you know. So you have a voice, bro.
Speaker 1:That was a gift all along, it was just blocking your blessings. But why? Why, we can't train Because teachers are going to need help too. But if teachers could see that, plenty less crime in this country. Because I tell you like I remember I had kegs here and your name came up. But again the explicit boy, which again I'm proud to have a drop with, explicit, I have it, have it. But when, when I see that and I see and and kegs brought you up, I know kegs was working with you, yeah, and then I was four or five songs, yeah, you hear it all the time and the one I like, the favorite of mine, is yours is you do it too.
Speaker 1:So when I listen to it and I'm thinking I put the episode and you don't know who will respond to what it's like this idea that there's this guest that everybody, you have no idea, you just post where you post and I remember seeing you repost something saying but I hear watching my phone and I was like I'll go in and call him. If my phone's watching, he'll come and let me see, because once you're watching, I hope people will come. And you know, that's something I was real surprised by on this journey here, because I always feel like, well, I hang on to a message, I call my phone and I'm busy. It just feels like people are larger than life to me. But it's been surprising to me how much people are willing to come and talk and share this story and that kind of thing. I think how I look at it too is that this is, this is marketing and promotion for me, but not just in the immediate, but it's history. Well, I'm so glad you say that because I keep telling you too. It would be so good if I could watch him all age. When I can't talk, no more, some youth come into you and say, boy, please come and do this, all right, and I teach this about you and taking the university. And please come and do this or write a thesis about you and take it to university. But let me go back to where the last one ended now, or where the first clip went Pona Annie. You know you tell me that I take more Pona Annie and I say but wait, that's true, people might not even know.
Speaker 1:You see how much people in the comments on Instagram and TikTok, a lot of people saying and you said, older people might know it, but you realize, plenty of people say what. That is what it was really. It shocked me because it blew my mind, because I want to know what they sing when it's on play, when we find out All this time, yes, it's something else, it's something else. And you know, like Roma is just saying he writes dirty songs. He writes clean songs for dirty minds. Well, you're damn dirty songs. He writes clean songs for dirty minds. Well, he's damn right, the guy's one of them, dirty minds for sure. He's like, if you know, you know, yeah, I put my thing on it. Really, that's what it is, because the truth is the scrunter, the Kenny J, the real licksman for saying Kenny G instead of Kenny J, but Kenny J, I listen to that. I'm shocked. You're saying the wrong thing over and over.
Speaker 1:You know, baron, all of them had that and Kaizo and Soka. I saw one person in the comments say that that that is what Kaizo and Calypso and Soka is. It is, it is, it is, and I feel like it's a dying art almost, because I remember I work at Rome a lot, very closely, and there were times we were vibing in the studio and he would say, well, vibing his studio. And he would say, well, people would say, well, yeah, come on, because that double entanglement, that double meaning thing again. And I sometimes tell him I was like, bro, don't shy away from it. If that's what comes, if that is your style and that's what making you money and that's what people know you for, then do it, don't limit yourself to I mean, obviously, as a creative, we don't only want to do that but don't say, well, people will say this and nah, bro, do what you want, do what you like.
Speaker 1:It's funny to time this passer because, the same way, I remember crazy as an example of the who's the creator, the soccer party genre, really, you know, I mean, and, um, I remember he's had a point in time in crazy career, like he had. He had go the religious route. Now, yes, so he wasn't singing, remember that. And he wasn't singing Jesus, I say in the Christmas. Well, here now, when he come to perform a time in Central Bank, crazy had no song to sing. You know, because his songs they suck me. Sukuya, paul, your mother can't fuck off, use this. So he was your real double entendre man. He had impulse, so so the spaces always need them things, and the thing about it is I look at Crazy now and I feel so good to see Crazy everybody as one of the men who in the older space and he Crazy, didn't Trini bad that thing. That's what I mean. Trini bad, he performing everywhere, he viral everywhere.
Speaker 1:Crazy in the gym, what do you mean? Crazy touring still and active on social media, more active than me. Crazy posting everything, crazy, real reposting. He in the mix, he and Radha too. You know, yeah, radha, them fellas real current, them fellas current Radha in your comments. Yeah, you know what I mean. He don't miss nothing but any any kind of world news, of course. He's a cricket man too. Any kind of cricket news or anything like that. He posts on about it, of course.
Speaker 1:So when I see Crazy get older still commanding youths and that kind of thing and I remember the time when all his songs was banned from radio Every time Crazy come out with a song, it's news Banned from all airwaves, right? The earliest memory I have of Crazy's music would have been Paul and Mother Come Right. That was banned, couldn't play that on the radio. And then he had about Six years and I remember that Because my mum had a friend named Paul, I see. So when I was younger, I had Uncle Paul Right and that was his song, got it. So that was. That was my earliest Memories of Crazy's music. Yeah, banned, can't play that. They vex them days. I know YouTube. If they ban it, they stifle you. But look at where the songs land now. Nobody don't watch that. No, how.
Speaker 1:So I talked to him the other day and he was saying that his first road match was a song named Sak Mesukwe and he talked to me Sak Mesukwe, I don't mean that, that's just, it's cool, it's only sucking if it didn't have the word suck. Yeah, that's what Rome says. My mind, you associate sock with sexual things. That's the idea. That's how it goes. It's generally the kickoff. So the thing about it is, when I listen to that as a child, I don't have that in my mind yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I am saying the Pope come and the Pope was here and he read the police band was playing and the Pope dancing, but he feeling that way because he know what it mean.
Speaker 1:But you see, time over time, and it's the same thing with Pona and he was where. Yeah, you remember 2017. Yeah, look at that. No time has passed yet and people done saying, well, what's the issue with this song? They have a few people who say it, but you know we get fried to that song. Yeah, like there was a point in time, but the song was so big and then YouTube was a thing and Instagram was not kicking off, they couldn't stop it.
Speaker 1:And then Rome was performing everywhere. You know, I remember the first time we performed that song was about in Arima Main Road Serious, yeah, and people received it well, did they? First time we performed that song, yeah, it was with a local parang band from a real man thing and the people it's just random people are walking and spitting by and people went crazy. And that's when I said I was like dog, nobody don't know the song. This is the first time we ever gonna perform the song. Thankfully, the band kinda played the chords, because it's typical parang chords, right, and they pick it up and they roam along the pavement. It was on the side of the road by Cleaver, somewhere along there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that song I think it will go down just the same way.
Speaker 1:All them other Christmas songs Come, go and all them things. It's in that space. Yeah, I thankful to have one of that, because I said One yeah, one, yeah, you say one. Well, I always won that one, say one. If I had Spanish woman, I think I'd come in here and talk to you Wow, bombing. Talk to my sister. I just played, I just played. Nobody's saying like in Trinidad, it's like Mariah Carey, and All I Want For Christmas Is you. Mariah Carey does not need to sing another song for the rest of her life for sure because of that song. You know, it's funny. Like the older calypsonians I heard I want to say melody, or one of them talking about that in an interview.
Speaker 1:They were saying that with the christmas calypsos, before it had took up around, they say that what they used to do is really put a side with the song that they push into the carnival season, put a christmas song on the B side. It was really a strategy just to get in the radio station in November up to December and then they go flip it and by all of a sudden, late December, you're Soka playing, right. So, comparing anything, it's going nowhere. You own it already. You're saying one song, but it's plenty. Yeah, I have a few, I have a few, I'm I'm thankful enough to have a few, and that's just consistency.
Speaker 1:You know right, every year I would say I am doing a christmas song, right, and I haven't stopped since 20, since liquor, that's in the 13, 14, I think, 15 and 16. I didn't do anything, right, but 17 I had annie, then we had a poo with room, then I had, um, the one with destra, lie, lie, lie. Yeah, how'd I come about? Because that was that was you, that was during covid right and the show was bummy. Oh, there you said that, yeah, mass dong and thing, she wasn't playing, that she was doing something before that. Well, that's true as a catholic, that's true as a christian, right, she's a catholic. And, um, she always wanted is a Catholic, desha is a Christian, right, she's a Catholic, and she always wanted to do well, she did a gospel thing. She always was interested in Parang, music, soka, parang, the culture and, I guess, gospel to some extent. So she was always paying attention to the space, you know. And then I guess she and Rome had a relationship in terms of they would have known each other through the industry and that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:And while we were doing the song, there was this meme lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, that Indian man, and that meme was popular and we was like, hey, let's turn that into a song Serious. And we wrote this song based on that and he's like it can't just be about life, it had to be about Bacchanal, and what else than man versus woman, bacchanal. And it worked. And if it's Bacchanal, you had to get the queen of Bacchanal. And the queen of Bacchanal was Desha, and we wrote the song. We had to beat everything and Rome sent it to Desha and she was like, yeah, this is about right down my alley. So she did it, she invited us to come out to record her and that kind of stuff. And it was easy because Rome and I had the demo done fully. So she just had to do a verse and then she come on Destra is a perfectionist too.
Speaker 1:She was like, nah, let me add some harmonies and let me add some backgrounds and real pretty up the production. And you know, that was a hit too was yeah, that's gonna be fair. Yeah, that's the next one that's playing right through. Yeah, yeah, because in parang, you know, parang is blending the, the, the phrases and and and the, the, um, the, the patterns of soka, parang, of parang, got it, you know, and blending it with soka, but still adding the trinniness and the bacchanal. Yeah, and that's just being in touch with the culture. Yeah, that is a hell of a thing.
Speaker 1:You see, that meme and all these people going for that, because there was a series of some of the greatest calypsos ever it was them like Lord Nelson. Go wrong with lying and honing, because you see honing problem channel win road match with my own song called horn in vincente, yesterday. Horn will always work. So, talking about creating genre, right, I appreciate the fact that you'll dive into suka pranga with some other last time, where there was this huge gap in none point out. But I know that you have done some work.
Speaker 1:A lot of your work was initially in rap and you would tell him about traps on the creation of that too. How would that come about? It went out specifically to create something. No, no, no, no. So, as I said, that was just a relationship that was forged on just pure vibes and energy. Right, right, we came together and we did Pumpin' first. Right Around that time.
Speaker 1:Pumpin' has an interesting Story too, because I had the beat For Pumpin' and I named the beat Pumpin'. I see, right Around that time, simba man. He was a reggae artist. At the time, right Was being managed by Hans DeVins. Okay, hans from the Vale. Yeah, yeah, I managed by Hans DeVins. Okay, hans from the Vale. Yeah, yeah, I from Dego.
Speaker 1:So Hans and I were friends and Hans Simba brought Hans with him in the studio by me at the time, right, and I just played the beat, because anybody come and me, a real beat is the place, yeah, everybody else I get excited, I play beats. And he's like what's the name? And his hands, who came up with the pumpin, pumpin, pumpin, serious, yeah, because the notes were going. And he's like, hey, let's follow that and go pumpin, pumpin, because the name of the beat was called Pumpin, right, and Simba kind of freestyled a reggae thing on it and around that time I knew Mark and Rod. So I was like, hey, guys, simba have a vibe on this and I feel Oli could really make it something, because Oli, more in the rap, simba want to do reggae, right, so if it is, we blend the rap with the soca and the local reggae, because local reggae was on the dregs at the point in time, got it. I was like me and Simba, good, me and Oli, good, let me try and make it work.
Speaker 1:So I did the song Pumpin and that take off. And then I was like, well, let me do it again. And we did Nah Boy, and Nah Boy was was the song that really people took us serious after Nah Boy over Pumpin, pumpin was was the big one, right, okay, but Nah Boy, when we did Nah Boy, back to back, people was like, wait, these fellas serious, because at the point in time it was nebula 868 and thing right, nebula was running it, right, you know. And um, so now there was more people to add to the pot, to the local rap, thing, right, and um, nah boy was a thing. And then we realized it was like, wait, now, if it is we doing this, these slangs on these trap beats, right, let's brand it something. So we had pumping, we had naboy, we had wiz, the scene, right, we had, um, a few songs, well, but they were all based on popular trinidad culture at the time, gotcha, you know.
Speaker 1:So we decided to coin it trap so, which was the fusion of trap music and soca, right, it's not, I mean, it's something, because, but it was more yeah, and rap so too, because we were rapping in trinidad accents, you know. But it wasn't like rap was different at the point in time it was trap beats, atlanta style trap beats, with heavy 808s on bass, right, but we're talking about trinidad culture in our way, you know, and using trinidad slang and and stuff. So after we did once or twice, we decided to coin it Trapso, you know. So that's why we decided to do an album that never came out. We got David Rudder to do a job for us for the intro and he said Trapso, trapso, trapso music.
Speaker 1:And you still have that. Yeah, yeah, trap some music. And you still have that. Yeah, yeah, and you don't throw in nothing. So you still have that Session loss. Oh, they crash. Yeah, oh, you're the coolest man. I have videos of it, though. Okay, nice, nice, nice, nice, yeah, yeah, so you're supporting it.
Speaker 1:Well, I guess, I guess Rod could speak on that, of course, because I know they have a very rocky relationship. Yeah, with regards to him supporting Rod being a rapper, yeah, of course, and not a Calypsonian. So I'll invite Rod. Come to the party, yeah, come in. Come in Fathers and business, yeah, yeah, yeah, but he supported it so much he came to do that for us, right, yeah, of course, yeah, no, so Trapzo was a thing and it just so happened that culture kind of twisted and turned and trap and hip-hop at least local hip-hop wasn't really a thing anymore. Yeah, it's at one point.
Speaker 1:You know, I've seen that a lot like other genres or even artists who do other genres. That is a tricky space it is. It's almost like If you're not doing Straight up kaiso and soko, it's kind of tough, yeah, and especially if you're Coming out of the gate Not doing Like you were talking about Crazy, right, crazy done. Known as what he is, yeah, so he doing as this, so A Trini bad, a Trini bad, it don't, he wouldn't get labeled that way. But I've seen it in the Trini bad artists. You know the youths man, I mean, they're good, they'll be fine too. But I've seen where people want to label them as okay, you's a Zess man or you's a Trini bad man, or you's a this or you. But there's a difference. Eh, you know, to me artists could do anything. Yeah, artists could do anything, even in talking to you, because a lot of people, when they look at the interview and they're commenting on it, it's like wait, he do this, he do that, he do this. So it's not like if the producers limited to one genre, yeah, but sometimes, unfortunately for me.
Speaker 1:I was. I was blessed to, um, I blessed to have hits in multiple genres, you know, because my first major it was pumping. That was like the first time like one of my productions played on radio. At that point in time, yeah, I thought of it as hip hop. I never thought about trap, so I never heard it. Well, it was hip hop, you know. We just coined what we was doing trap, so, um, but that was the first time I had a radio hit. We went great, fit and things. Them fellas get real brand deals with Bel Air, oh, beautiful, and Hennessy, yes, bro Got it. We eat our food, yeah, yeah, off of hip hop, nice, off of local hip hop. I eat our food off of Parang too, yeah, yeah, yeah. I do real corporate thing with Rome, of course, and so can I. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was fortunate enough to have certain breakthrough songs with different genres.
Speaker 1:But you're not limited to that. You, whoever presented to you at the time, you're willing to work on it. I do anything. So Trinibad and thing you're working on in the space, I have dancehall beats, right, like the kind of song like Trinibad Gotcha. To me Trinibad is just dancehall, modern trap, dancehall, right, but what they're singing is Trinidad, just like what we call Trap Zoo, got it Is dancehall songs, beats, right, but with Trinidad content.
Speaker 1:So when I say this and you say for me, trinibad, zest, steam, all of them have a different sound, all of them have different topics, but that's what separates it, the topics itself or the sound of it. The sound of it too, got it. Like the tones, trinibad is essentially what modern day dancehall is. Got it, yeah, yeah, yeah, got it. 808, israel bass is trap, got it, but with a dancehall groove. The way they flow, everything, the way they treat the vocals, everything is the content of it is dancehall. Sure, right, zess is a different beat, a different groove, altogether right. Is Steam and Zess? To me the same thing, similar, yeah, right. And the content is that what whining girls? It feels like 90s dancehall, exactly. So it's a clear distinction. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then the players in the game too. You don't see Saki singing at Trinibad, only the lovers singing at Trinibad, right. Or young brothers singing at Trinibad, they sing for the girls Right, or they sing for the clubs and the parties and the zest, you know, but in Trinibar they tell them their story. So it's a big difference, of course, got it.
Speaker 1:And when you approach now, because let me ask you, when you start getting approached from people who would be mainstream, working with your team of people, when it started to be that it's called Mevon, yeah, the first major soccer artist to reach out to me was Blacks. Yeah, out to me was blacks, yeah, yeah. And that's because of my good friend, dj adam. Right, dj adam and I would have been the creators of explicit songs when we were djing right and um, true time, I would have broken off and but not broken off, I would have more venture into the production side and adam kind of followed his dj side. And adam was making a name for himself in the soca game and he reached out at a beat and a demo and I was like who you could hear singing this song?
Speaker 1:I sent it to Adam and I was like, you know, I'm a Senator Blacks, I'm a Senator Blacks and Blacks hear it. And I was like, yeah, come by me one time. Yeah, blacks, ask no questions. Instantly. He's like, yeah, tuesday, I come by any night. Make sure you're rum, that's the one thing. Black, yeah, that's him playing. Black's gonna smoking cigarette and drinking rum.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, what was this song? Um, it was a song with vaughn yeah, serious it was. So it was called keep it. Right, it was supposed to be on his album, but at the point in time vaughn had no roots gal on for blacks. So vaughn wasn't really big yet. I think he had no hard trouble anymore until that year, right, but nobody really knew who he was, you understand. So I think Vaughan was in Trinidad at the point in time with I think he was staying by Blacks, right, you understand, and moving with Roy K Barnum had a song with Blacks and Vaughn. My first soccer song, imagine that. It's on YouTube. It's called Keep it, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll check it out.
Speaker 1:Vaughn was an interesting story too, because Vaughn just got big Without people knowing. You just don't know who is this person. But again, he has a couple of songs. That would be, yeah, but Blacks was the first person who really gave me that chance, right. And then I would say the year after I got the confidence to say, well, if Blacks believe in me, I could do it again.
Speaker 1:And I did a rhythm with Rome because Rome had the opportunity to do a song for the girls' cruise. He was on VH1 with Lil' Kim and them Got it Right and he was like, bro, I have an opportunity here to do songs to put in the show now, so let's make a Caribbean-esque summer song. But he didn't show us what capacity. What were you doing on the show? It was a reality show. Oh, okay, and you were about it. Yeah, it was Lil' Kim, simone and this other big Instagram. They're big now on a cruise to the Caribbean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Rome was like a staff member on the boat. He was like the fun something. Yeah, yeah, yeah, really, yeah, I never heard this. I don't know Gary Romeo now. I thought Hollywood was. When Rome got Hollywood, he been Hollywood. Then, bro, yeah, seriously, I let Rome come and tell his story. But I let Rome come and tell the story. But obviously Rome looking out for me, he's like bro, yeah, I knew about the show, but obviously I couldn't talk about it. So this was our summer thing, right, and he's like boy, I had a flight to New York to catch this boat in Miami to come to the Caribbean and it ended in Trinidad County.
Speaker 1:But and he was like, let's do some music because I want, yeah, take the opportunity. Yeah, if people looking for room, I need to have music all the early time was ponani yeah, serious shit. Yeah, this was like 2018, 2019. Right before covid and um, he was like I need to get music out, right. So we did this uh song for him called good, good and. And we said, well, nobody really know Roman Suka like that, so let's sing it in narrative and get artists on the floor. And I reached out to Blacks again and he decided to jump on it, ola decided to jump on it and then Turner decided to jump on it and I had a four-man rhythm and I put this out in like the end of summer and that had kind of take off Because that was Black Song.
Speaker 1:If you're feeling like a bite of chilling, crazy, yeah, and the momentum just started to build after that. It started with Keep it, then Kambule, and then I did same way with Blacks yeah, if you cut me, you're going to see blood. That was a big song. Yeah, it was a big song. Yeah, if you're caught there, you're going to see blood. That was a big song. Yeah, it was a big song. I like how you say that yeah, huge, yeah. But I'm just saying that that momentum and that relationship with Blacks really developed because of that, got it. And after that, that is when the cold started to come.
Speaker 1:Because Blacks, because blacks was in soca monaco, that, uh, same way it was a covet soca monac, right, I was in utt, I think. In nappa yeah, that was in nappa. Oh, that would have been covered already. That's when farmer doing yeah, 2019, 2020, that's right. Yeah, that feel like so long ago. Yeah, but I'd ask him when?
Speaker 1:Black, especially with the tag, right, like I saw many genres of music doing that before. That was not something you used to hear in soca music. Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, I guess in parang at all. Yeah, I don't know who it is. So I just take what I know in hip-hop and apply it and everything. It don't be a problem. Like artists, though they have any say over if you use the tag or not you can't tell me that, yeah, if I make this beat and send it to you, all right, the most I might do is move the tag right, because in the intro, yeah, if it is to find space, I don't want it overlapping or competing with what you're saying, but if it is, it's too busy on top of it. At the end, yeah, got it. I mean I don't put the tag on collabs, or for respect for the collaborators. Yeah, I see, I see. So come home doesn't have a tag. Right, take me home doesn't have a tag. Yeah, anxiety doesn't have a tag. Got it Working with people? Yeah, so let me talk about anxiety now, as you bring it up.
Speaker 1:That's one of the songs we used to get to last time. Yeah, I remember the whole issue with Patricia Roberts. Ricardo Dredd passed away at the time. Tragic for everybody, everybody feel it. You know that was palpable. Young people, young couple, young children. So much promise, so much boy listen, two, two, two legends in my eyes. And you hear that news and my first thought was okay, she's gonna be up for a while. I, she's not gonna be in cannibal for a minute. That was my initial thought. We felt so too. Yeah, we felt like our season was over. Also, you, you had this song, bro. We started that song in. She was leaving to go Miami, so it could have been like September, right, we started that song, serious, yeah, and the theme of the song was always going to be like that, yeah, so I'll give you the story now.
Speaker 1:So Patrice had like a short space of time in Trinidad at the point in time and she works out of Millbeat Studio in Trin City, right? So one of our management team, warren, they reached out and they was like, hey, let's do a session with Patrice. I was like, cool, so we come and we vibe, and we was playing beats and Patrice was there but she was like tired, jet lag, she wasn't really feeling the vibe. So we playing all our beats and patrice was there but she was like tired, jet lag, she wasn't really feeling the vibe now. So so we play all our beats. I'm real excited, me too. Yeah, there's vibe, there's vibe. No gas, yeah, no gas, energy low, right, the mood in this studio was real heavy now. It's kind of yeah. So patrice was just like, well, my driver coming in an hour, right, and well, let's play what they had to play and we're playing things.
Speaker 1:And then it was like, well, kit and I was just having a conversation with her in the studio after we done play beats and realized she's really feeling none of these things. Sure, sure, he's like what's the vibe, antoine? She just had to open up about well, boy, she's tired and she's stressed out and she's dealing with a lot and she's not really sleeping properly. She's staring at the ceiling, the songwriting itself. By the way, she's like I just home and tear sometimes because there's a lot she's dealing with, a lot, silently, and she's beginning anxiety on stage and she, um, she um, doing all kind of different things to try to to cope with this, whether it be friends or or trying to get distracted or, um, just trying to sleep, and she can't sleep and it was bothering her and that was bothering her. And that was the first time she really opened up to us, because at the point in time me and Patrice did like herself, but we wasn't really that close to say she would open up to us on that personal level, you know. So she was opening up and telling us her truth and her story about dealing with anxiety and depression and mental health. Yeah, gotcha, you know.
Speaker 1:So the whole mood in the room just got real serious, of course, you know, and Kit was like, well, hey, let's try to turn this into something positive. And the same time Melbita played the loop, the keyboard loop, and everybody was like where's that, you know? And it just set the song track, the keyboard loop, and everybody was like where's that, you know? And I just set the song track of the room. It was like so, it was like divine intervention. I played that loop, yeah. And he was like, put that on, keep that loop in. And we just had the keys just playing. And Kit was like, well, let me go in the booth and freestyle. So Kit and Puchis in the booth, freestyling, but remembering the conversations as I lay in my bed with my head to the ceiling, you understand.
Speaker 1:So we're just drawing from what she just told us. No, but she told us these words. This was her words, and we decided to put it in song. And she also told us that when she hit the stage is go, so that's your therapy, so charisma therapy, and that's what we decided to put that in song. That song, no line in our song, is made up. Every single thing that we put into that song is what she told us. So that was real.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this had nothing to do with drunting at the point in time. This had nothing to do with that, but this was like september, july and december. So I'm just saying how powerful I was and we were saying, boy, nobody, this is unprecedented, this is uncharted territory. Of course, nobody ever deal with mental health. I never hear it. I could tell it it In Soca. Yeah, yeah, soca is a happy genre and on top of that we deal with mental health and depression and anxiety. We're making a sad Soca song. Yeah, for a fit, for a fit, mm-hmm. So we was like you know me, I love the idea of it. Yeah, it's really Because it's a challenging thing for me, you know, and I came to be a part of history to say, wait, we make the first sad soccer song.
Speaker 1:Even in the chord structure and everything, it really is gripping. It's an emotional thing. Yeah, it is, it's an emotional thing. So we had a few sessions with her and that song. After the first session I tell her she in the boot, freestyling from moving, sitting on the couch waiting for her driver to come To in the boot driver had to wait, yeah, something, because she was getting it out. Of course, she was letting her feelings out on the mic, even though it was gibberish. Yeah, she and kid, it was real, that emotion was real. I can't explain that mood in that room. I have real video footage of it, but it's something I can't put into words now because it was. It was so spiritual and it was so real. That's not fake at all. Yeah, you can't fake it, it's so real, bro.
Speaker 1:Well, to not to be so prophetic, because anybody who listened to it from outside of the stage, you would assume that that song came up after that tragic event. So, when you're getting news of that, what are you thinking so fast forward to? When the song is out? And the song is doing well, because it was our two or three days before the song came out, right, and we did a radio interview. So the song came out after. No, no, no, the song came out three days or two days before he died, I see, I see, that's why, for us as fans, like most fans would think it came out after yeah, so we did a team. Patrice told us a team a team is a band so we did a live on the Friday night with A-Team live in the band room and perform the song for the first time, and Drew was there Her Drew and her and the baby. So they were there, lily and all of them was there.
Speaker 1:And that was the last time I spoke to Drew online with him, because she performing or be outside yeah, cool, talking online and all that thing, and we was talking about doing songs. And yeah, because I would have sent him beats and things. She was like, yeah, yeah, we had to come in the studio and like, you still come at me to record songs. So me and Drew was good. So the Friday and then the Saturday, I think they had an interview on radio and that kind of stuff over the weekend and then I remember she was on interview on Slam. She did Boom Champion and she did Slam and it was like a Monday or something like that. I can't remember the exact date, so that'll be on the promo run to the same song, that news break while she's on radio. Yeah, I remember. I remember and the last clip she was talking about I think it was five star, five star, hakeem, 5.2. Right, had asked her about Drew and thing, and she was talking about how good he is and how great he is as a father and as a boyfriend and a partner and that kind of stuff. And then she came up with Freddie and he died, yeah, life.
Speaker 1:So we had all these plans for promo, all these things with the band room and to do a live performance, to do lyric video, to do interviews for her, to break down mental health issues with Soca Artis and things, because we had a full campaign. We was going in full to really embrace talking about mental health, because I myself deal with anxiety and things too, you know. So we wanted to talk about it, you know, in a way that let people know that, hey, your favorite stars, your people, you look up to this, the human, and they deal with these things because it's a real thing, you know. So we had all these plans and then when that happened you don't know what happened at that point, yeah, and we was like, wait, this was our big song at that point. Yeah, and we was like, wait, this was our big song and what to do at the point in time, I also had a collab with her and voice called Carnival Day. Got it, yeah, so, but this is your. This is when you know you're going to our next level here.
Speaker 1:Well, remember, anxiety was done like since October, november. We had it done, yeah, and then I was working with Voice and Voice had invited Patrice to be a part of a song called Cannibal Day and that song release. Well, we had the song to release, like the weekend after Drew passed Right, and me and Voice was like, what are we going to do? No, but we done, shoot promo and everything. We done the stores. We were little roll, we done shoot promo, we done the stores, we ready to roll out the next week because we say produce release this week, we drop out the next week. And Drew passed and Voice had to manage by himself. That's why I think the song did nothing, because it was a different mood, bro, of course it would be. You can't be happy. And then Voice run out by himself to sing a song. He tried to push it, yeah, but tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, I guess, even for him you know everybody in the industry eventually we just, yeah, it is what it is, call it what it is.
Speaker 1:So when did you realize that the anxiety was going, like she was gonna perform it? Well, when she told us that she was coming back out to perform for carnival, for her show, we was like, okay, well, it was a surprise as us, as fans. Oh, I was shocked that she was willing to do it. Okay, but I would have known because she would have told her we had a group and thing, okay. So she kind of told us and our management told us hey, she jumped in my car but the first performance would be her show. Right, right, um, and then it was like, well, we had to be there. So we went and she broke down on stage and it was a moment, you know, but I didn't expect her to perform at all. Sure, I did not expect her to perform at all, yeah, but that song, really, I think, in a in a weird way, drew pass and helped the song grow too. It added, it added, it added a realness to the song that we didn't expect.
Speaker 1:Well, like from a fan, right, one of the things and we were talking about this last time like how songs, some songs take a long time and they grow on you, right, but then they have some songs. That's holy, immediately. The thing about when, life, life, he was forced to listen to the song because everybody who's a Patricia Swann like myself, you want to see, well, where this one is the song suddenly took on new life because it's like is she forecasting this? Yes, it's crazy. Is she seeing into the future? Yes, sure, sure, sure. Well, that's for you, because you know the song a long time, but for fans I think it happened when Oli made that. You know, you don't really realise, as a fan, how long a song in the making. I think the song bust. I think Oli finished this after no the night when I heard it. In fact, I think Oli now come out from his studio, you know, and he now do it I don't realise since August, september, yeah, and you think this is an important conversation to have as a country, the whole thing around mental health and anxiety and all them things.
Speaker 1:As you say, it's a happy music. Let me say a distraction music too, because I need that one kind of all year just to reset. So it's the fact that somebody was willing to dive into it. Well, that's the thing With Kit and I in particular. That is something that we like to do. We like to challenge the status quo and push the envelope of what soccer is. So doing, sad soccer. You could be sad or you could address sad or serious topics. It doesn't always have to be I go drink a rum and be out on the road and we go across the stage and you're on me, I go on your back, you party. It doesn't always had to be that. Yeah, you know we could push the envelope in terms of the topics, right, and the um, the content, the lyrical content. That's okay, got it, but is it normal?
Speaker 1:For I always want to ask producers, for instance, the starting point how often is it that you have the beat and people come up with ideas to it, versus somebody come to you and say, I want to have an idea for a sad song, what are we going to do? The last part is very rare. Yeah, serious, very rare really. It used to be that way long ago, but now I think the business of it is I think it's so far space right that artists now just call send me, send me and vibe it, send me rhythms and we go vibe it. But anxiety was built on the spot. Yeah, I could see what you're saying. That was tailor-made. You know, it's very rare that the artist comes to a producer with that idea anymore.
Speaker 1:Really, most times, I think Big Up, kc too, precision, kc and Nicola I think they kind of really changed to the international model of making beats and writing songs, pitching demos to artists. You got it. You know, when Precision had their era of dominance, you know I would say the 2010s, when they lock everything. They got Casey and Nick Calais, my boys. They dominated because they adopted that approach, men like Irfan and Priddy born because of that. They would have had writing competitions and writing camps, yeah, camps, yeah. And Irfan Voice, fullblown Priddy, all of them come out of that camp. Yeah, got it, you know. So they would have introduced that system of making beats first, writing songs and pitching it to artists.
Speaker 1:I with you, so much. So that is the standard now. Yeah, I got it, I got it. I would not have thought that at all. Yeah, I would not have thought that at all. It makes sense. So it kind of is de facto standard. Now, right, where artists expect to hear demos coming to them, I with you. Only the bungees. I got you, I got you, you know, pretty, the writers can start with one of the writers' own songs too, but majority of other people, they want them more. It makes sense. It makes sense, you know.
Speaker 1:But the rhythms now, like you were talking about dancehall the last time and dancehall when we know 90s dancehall, it was rhythms, rhythms. Yeah, you know, I don. Weekend, when bounty killer performed in new york, yeah, I did, I did something else. I so glad to see them and land with a boy from my scene. You get back your visa, so that first, I so glad.
Speaker 1:But I remember like early days of sting, 1994, 95, and the man was super cat and ninja man and thing. You remember them days I was a fan of the music bro, right, all right, them things interest me. Yeah, so you was watching it, I was watching them things. So when I see Bounty Killer go all day and shell that on VHS, yeah, oh yeah, vhs cassette. Two terrible days, horrible days, yeah, and then DVD and things, yeah, it come up from then. Yeah, but them days was rhythms and I always, I always used to watch when Bounty Killer because Bounty Killer in dance hall might be the man to put on most artists, right, but rhythms is part of the way he used to do it.
Speaker 1:So you identify a man, the man. Good, he said, come, put all of them on the rhythm. That time, 20 man on the rhythm. But Sokka had never, was not like that at all back then. But slowly but sure, I don't know. Yeah, casey, I think Casey has so much of an impact on modern day soccer that people just not acknowledging. Yeah, you know, because, casey, I think the first rhythm he did was I don't want to call the wrong name, but I know he was responsible for a lot of the early rhythms Him and KMC.
Speaker 1:Yeah, kmc was one for sure. Yeah, and KMC had that dancehall influence, exactly so KMC. But KMC would have worked with KC too in the 80s. He come from Kenny down to KC. All them concubine rhythm and them kind of thing in 2003 and 2002. And thing right, dougla rhythm and thing I think it's KC, do that, mark Seamus Angel, I think it's KC, do that. And them concubines, it's KMC and them early rhythms.
Speaker 1:But to me the biggest soca rhythm was, well, it's not really a soca rhythm, but pigtail rhythm. Yeah, pigtail rhythm was bad. That man, that dasha first song, that dasha first song, really, and that rhythm. I didn't realise that people even know dasha in first song. Yeah, really, on that rhythm. I didn't realize that people even know that show on that song. Yeah, that was, but no, but people know, people know my third bass on that show. Yeah, that was back in the day. I didn't realize I would never have that done as the first song. I don't know, but I think that's one of the first songs that probably made.
Speaker 1:But even when Bungee and they had Asylum, some of them rhythms that they come out with and things was hard, hard them times. So when you're approaching things, how do you decide then? Because you tell me you're making 400 beats of them. When you make them beats, you have in your mind, okay, this is where I want a rhythm and this is for individual artists. You just kind of know the beats has going to be rhythms and then sometimes, as I said, a beat of various writers and I get back three good songs. I'll be like I tend to that's kind of dictate if it's already more not got it, because I'll be like, okay, I can't waste these. So, yes, sound good. Sure, these songs, good, I turn into that rhythm, right.
Speaker 1:Or if I shop the beat around to various artists and I have interest from various artists, I'll be like, okay, is that rhythm, you know? But there's some beats that's special, I understand. Yeah, there's some. You'll be like, nah boy, yeah, well, some of them. I made some of them last time. You know who you're going to send that for. You're not going to shop, yeah, how it's here.
Speaker 1:So the beats I shop when I'm around, I kind of know, yeah, it could be. Well, there's a bungee beat, there's a voice beat, there's a martial beat. Well, he said so, he said so. But does that rhythm, know? We have that culture here of I saw it this year with anika berry on um saddle. What was the name of the rhythm? Again, till the whole, till the whole. So the, the, the rhythm have big artists on it and then a Nickerberry who, again, for a fan, you might know a long time, as a fan, you don't know who that is.
Speaker 1:No, and I wonder if we miss an opportunity sometimes, now that we have a modern rhythm culture, to put a new name inside, because that's what Dancehall did. No, we do. As a producer, I could vouch we do put unknown artists on rhythms right. The problem is nobody stick them on. They ain't playing no, so so as a producer, it's kind of heartbreaking sometimes because the same effort I have to do to mix, promote, master record, write the demo for that young artist, I have to put into the big songs right, and you spend all that time to put do this song for this young artist. Yeah, nobody cares why. You feel, boy, you feel that somebody said one time we don't have culture. Yeah, you think so.
Speaker 1:And then, timing a dj have an hour in us in a party. They want to play the big songs, they want to play the big names. Yeah, they're not going to risk dipping their, their sets. So they want to play the big names, they want to play the hits. Yeah, I find, I wonder, I wonder if there's something that will change your cultural libero. Because I'll tell you this, right, you used to find that in the clubs in jamaica. So if you go court on them, clubs or maybe even asylum to extend, you'll find that. Right, it's my father and car, tell them time. But if you go pasaapasa or Wedi, wedi or Bembe, you're getting everything.
Speaker 1:I rode a plane for a long time, like you say, it's 20 something man, I only rode it and the selector, especially earlier the selector watching, he said so, if that, and he get a little length, he said, well, right, I will keep pushing. So by the time he go back weeks after, it will come down to maybe 8, 9, 10, the big boys and about 3 new ones, and they push it like that. But you see, I would give credit to Anika Berry, because Anika Berry took that opportunity and she really marked it herself. She did live performances with the band, she did music video, she did performances everywhere and she came to trinidad because she's based in in new york, I believe, and she came to trinidad for the entire season and was everywhere. Yeah, she was. So.
Speaker 1:Doing that groundwork is important. It's not just about having a song on a big rhythm. You have to put in the work and even with that work, she would have entered Soka Monarch. She was everywhere. Yeah, now that you're saying that, I understand, you know because she deserved everything that she got this year. Like, are you talking about Bembe? But one of the things is that that artist was there. So when it comes 20, 30 men in the rhythm, they're in the dance, yeah, yeah. So even if they don't go and talk to the selectors, yes, they're there. Or performing themselves.
Speaker 1:I would say Wadix is our next example of that. Yeah, wadix was everywhere. I'm so glad for him. Wadix was everywhere when he had a beat from Bad. Wadix was performing in every event. Yeah, because there are two people there he going, he going, yeah, yeah, yeah, and he have camera footage right. Yeah, now we have an opportunity to do more of that.
Speaker 1:We was just talking about that before we started with my partner there. You know we were watching to make ourselves because somebody was just telling me, like Trinidad, respect, the only respect stars after is a big star or superstar, like we do. I don't know if the audience are the patience to say, well, let me listen to this artist, because you say, if I fit dip, yeah, it's the DJ getting blamed. So I understand both sides. Yeah, as a producer, I know we want to give opportunities, but as a DJ, you run the risk of people saying, hey, that DJ played madness, yeah, he wasn't good at all and that could affect the rest of your season Well, the rest of your life in Trinidad and Tobago, exactly, and all the awful rain and all the DJ lame and all the DJ trash, bro, you understand. So I understand both sides. I with you.
Speaker 1:So when young artists get a chance or opportunity to be on a rhythm with big names you had to put in the ground, it's up to them. Your song could be the best song you know. Look at Fullblown. Yeah, on the big links with them, they are essentially the weakest in terms of status, name and face and all that right, nobody knew who Fullblown was but me. Know how my money them spend on clothes because they buy two sets of clothes. They're my swag man. They got, they got as stars. Every time I watch it I spot them men by real clothes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're like that got it. Got it and them understand it because they work with Marshall a long time. Yeah, so they are wrong stars. Got it, so they understand what to do. But what I'm saying is when you see Kes, young brother, marshall on a rhythm and then full blown, yeah, and they, the Marshall on a rhythm, and then Fullblown, yeah, and they went the distance. The average man don't know who Fullblown is. Yeah, they went the distance. They went the distance and I would say that they had one of the best songs on the rhythm. Well, you know, funny, that rhythm was one of the and some of that is your experience. So, like it's almost every part of Carnival. Like I see Young Brother performing with the fella in England what's his name? Aj doing that. So it's like that rhythm, just keep on. And you hear Mr John Paul, yeah, yeah, imagine that it's a big link, but you know, it's almost like the same place.
Speaker 1:We start off because I feel we had to do something about young artists in Soka as a society, as a producer, I could talk real long about that, because I think Soka is seen by the younger generation as an old people genre. The youngest Soka artist is Aaron Duncan yeah, I suppose, maybe that known. Yeah, yeah, I guess Saki Saki is 22. He's a big man, but Saki Saki is 22. Right, he's a big man, but Saki Saki is 22. But Saki is more a zest artist. Right, that's double. I'm a hell of an entertainer. Whatever he do, it's entertaining. Yeah, he have a commanding presence and he's a star. Yeah, he's a star, you know. So, beyond that, there's a huge gap. The nearest person is probably Teja and Teja Bordet. You know, teja's 28, or something like that. Nyle's closer to that age too. So when you have the Shenseers, who's 25, and the Skeng and the Skilibeng, and them who's 20 something, and the Asian and them who's 19, and all these new dancehall Artists who coming up every single year, who's 19,? Busting at 19, 20, 20, 21, of course, what xbox at 47? Yeah, imagine that, don't buzz the man age. But yeah, now we know it's that old man genre, bro.
Speaker 1:To the, to the youths you 16, you inform five why you want to listen to soccer, for you can do it if you have a creative idea and you want to try something. You might. To Soka, for he's 47. You can do it if you have a creative idea and you want to try something. Yeah, soka might be the first that don't appeal to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that don't appeal to me. Remember I was talking about hip-hop, and dance was cool to me. Yeah, of course I never mentioned Calypso or Soka. You know, yeah, of course, how Dan Sol and Zess and Trinibar is cool to the youth.
Speaker 1:They don't see soccer One, they don't see soccer as cool and they don't see it as a lucrative genre. But is it that they could do good as artists, particularly Like? I see Kit in an interview recently talking about it? I think, yes, yeah, okay, I think the answer is could you yes? Is could you yes, the, the um, the amount of people who could do good is very limited. It is designed for certain people to win or associate yourself with, with certain people to win Right, right, right, um, very rare is fine. Young artists bossing, yeah, and making a name in Zoka and a long time there's nothing this year. Yeah, it's not designed for you to really come through and bus.
Speaker 1:I think it have a lot of gatekeepers in Soka. Yeah, oh, you agree with that. You feel like it's being held, I think. I think a lot of people because it's seasonal people want to solidify their space and their spot and their name and their brand. Yeah, they want to come back to it next year. They want to make sure it's not nobody going out blocking people.
Speaker 1:Sure, sure it's not so premeditated, right? It's just a man saying, well, I had a C about me before I C about you, understood. Whereby in Jamaica, bounty killer could say, well, I want to see about everybody coming up here. Blacks used to do that, correct, got you. Blacks were only few people who would say, boy, bring a man on stage and game and play and share my stage with that. You don't really find that in soccer. It's a little different in that.
Speaker 1:So like I saw it, like even keep in mind, when I was in Jamaica, it was 2006-07, it was about 2010. So them days Cartel and them done gone already. But Cartel had that Gaza Empire and Popcorn Da Vinci. Them was really young, it had really young people around him and Sean Storm at that point, cartel and them putting out songs every day, every day hearing a new song coming out. But before Cartel it was Sizzla and Buju. Same thing. How much album Sizzla have? Listen, sizzla, sizzla. I saw a thing with Louis Culture talking the other day about putting Sizzla on.
Speaker 1:I never knew that story. I didn't know that either. He said he carried him in the studio and he told him hey, you had to get this man a blight Because he hear him. And in the background or behind the scenes, is it that easy to access? Can I access voice and let voice hear? I have a link, so can I access my phone and say Social media? I think voice can add to social media, right, even with the Sabga Challenge there was a lot of young artists who got exposed because of that and a 13-year-old girl went and actually no, no, oh, paris Coutin. Oh, right, you're right, and he was in the junior soccer monarchy, right, yeah, yeah, he been coming through it. Yeah, I don't say junior soccer monarchy, but the junior ultimate soccer champion. Ultimate soccer champion, that's right, but it's the same same place you're starting.
Speaker 1:Because when I look at what Anguilla doing because I always hear this discussion, right, like I listen to KG and I hear them talking Soka and they're not wrong but I feel as if it had to be broader than the individual one artist or the individual producer to say that it's systemic, because you say if the blockage is there, we had to figure out what way anyway, and part of it is from school, because what's the age of the train you talk to? In Angola, bro, the youngest one was seven. You understand what I mean? Seven to 21. So them leaving they would have. One was seven. You understand what I mean? Seven to twenty one. So them leaving there with a feeling that, whether before, right, them thought soca was cool calypso, we assumed they didn't. You know what they're gonna leave with mevon cool and kit cool, yeah, and them fellas on instagram. And they're talking to us and we responded you understand. I mean, we went on your decision together, you understand. So all of a sudden now and I ain't saying all 10 of them go, but yeah, one, two, yeah, and that's all it needs to change. It's okay. Yeah, because there's a generation we impact. Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1:I think the systemic thing is a serious thing because it starts with government corporate trinidad um, the radio stations, the djs, the promoters. Right, because the reality is I could put out a song, but the real impact that a soca artist could make is in the effects. Right, you need to be booked, you need to be given a chance to sing on the stage and if that is not the case, your song needs to be played in the effects gotcha. If that is not the case, your song needs to be played on the radio. If that is not the case, it needs to be funded somehow. So corporate China needs to invest in that, yeah, and the government too, of course.
Speaker 1:So you see where is a systemic thing? Is not just a producer giving an artist a chance? Of course we are on the lower level, bro. If I put a young artist on a rhythm, nobody cares. I understand what you mean. Nobody cares. You're making the effort to do it, but you're seeing it disappearing. Yeah, nobody cares. I'm losing. Of course, I'm spending the money and the time and the effort to promote a song and an artist that nobody knows and nobody cares. But I'm just doing that for the love of it, of course, and I'm doing this year in, year out, and nobody cares. Yeah, you're doing it knowing nothing's going to come out of it. I'm doing it half of the time, 90% of the time, nothing's going to come out of it.
Speaker 1:Remember, before I move into selfish time, right, when you talk like this, I'd ask you when you're starting your podcast, when you're starting to talk, all you fellas got to talk to one another. We've been talking. You know, as I was telling you earlier, adam and I, we started an online radio show. Right, we started a real online radio show on. This could have been about 10-15 years ago. On livestreamcom, we invite artists to the studio, where I am now, and just have conversations with them. Yeah, I see you sent me a picture the other day of a free tongue that is not the free tongue man beard, black, blue, rash, yeah, no turban. And I see Kes, you and all looking like a baby, you and Adam, young, young, young.
Speaker 1:So what was that? That was just Oli talking to that's. Before you produced anything, oli was DJing. I know, saturday Belly Studio got it. That was happening in the studio, but then somebody went to hip hop gotcha, so you're known to people at that time because I can tell you how hard it is. Adam was he like. So yeah, that was a dj, I see. So artists respect djs more than producers. And then I will.
Speaker 1:How you come up with this. This is facts. Why is this? Because the artists need a soaker dj to play the music. Remember I was doing hip-hop, but they might need a producer.
Speaker 1:All right, yeah, I'm not valuable to them. Got it, got, got it, got it, got it, got it. I don't power on hip hop. Yeah, I'm not valuable to them at the point in time. Little did they know. You never know. So how was that? How was them conversations until that time? And that is where I realized I could carry on a two-hour conversation with anybody. Yeah, everybody say only know one another.
Speaker 1:From before I was like, nah, it was just that. So I had the practice. You know, I people say, boy, you should go and work on the radio. And da, da, da, da, da da. I was like that's not my passion, that's not what I want to do. I don't want to talk for a living. I could really. I want to be creative. I don't want to know how to read no script and talk about ads and big up. Nah, I don't want to do that. Yeah, that's the hard part, that's work for me. Yeah, of course I can't leave my job to go and do our next job. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:You see how much people from the ministry in the comments to tell that, like the poona, and it's confirmed, everybody's like yeah, I remember right that we didn't get to get to last time room lai lai lai was one of them we talked about, yeah, and um, one of them I want to ask you about was, um, I ask you about every time. Right, that, that nadia. But we never really talked about sugar daddy. That is you too. Yeah, so nadia. That was the first time I met nadia nadia is nadia at the time when she was already very big at it. Yeah, but that was during covid too. All right, that's just why this song, like they're so long ago to me. Yeah, that was during COVID. I was 21, I think 21 or 22, around there. But again, right, shit, that's real recent. Yeah, everything now this song is like forever, but that's going to be one of the biggest.
Speaker 1:But that was a beat and I wanted to find something for Patrice, I see. So the beat was kind of tailored to Patrice, that kind of Bajan Bunks kind of vibe, and I sent it to them and they didn't like any of the demos and, nah, they was like, hey, well, if nobody taking it, I wait for myself. So let me ask you this when you send it out, you send it out to people at the same time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, got it, got it. I said Aiko is a producer, so we have a producer whatsapp chat, I see. So Aiko is her manager, right, right and um, he's a producer as well, so I'm closer to him, right.
Speaker 1:I didn't know Nadia at all and I reached out to him and I sent him a million and he's like this one, real bad. She like this one. I was like, well, I'm trying to make it a rhythm, but so far nobody bites. So I was like, give me a little while, and if nobody bites, sure, I'll give it to her. And I sent her the beats and she sent back the idea for sugar daddy and I was like, well, yeah, let me go one time, because this is a vibe and this is COVID, this is 2022. So I said, well, boy, we inside she should video everything. And that, to me, was one of my first major sockets. Yeah, because I had same with Blacks and all them other things. But Sugar Daddy was a song that still plays in. Suffice, that party song. She know how to do that, though. Yeah, she should write it on thing herself. Or you had a demo for that.
Speaker 1:Nadia's a writer. Yeah, she's writing all the songs. Yeah, nadia's writing all the songs. So, as I said, people like Nadia, second Star, I know she would've been writing. But when they hear something that you do, if it, yeah, okay, got it. Yeah. But most times Nadez writes all this stuff. Nadez writes, yeah, and everybody else yeah.
Speaker 1:And Aiko is a producer. So when I send him the beats, I get him back a full song. I see I don't do nothing. I get harmonies, background and pre-mix everything. Aiko is a man mixing on the spot too. Yeah, he knows I get him back a full, nice project. Yeah, yeah, one time.
Speaker 1:What I could, I could organize too. Right, I could get a color coordinated things there backgrounds in pink, leads in blue, ad libs in green. That makes some sense. If I learn how to do that, I make less mistakes. When I go send a locker session, it's ready for mixing, it ready, right to go. Yeah, and that's already the relationship with her and I started Right From that and I think after that she trusted me and I decided to send every year do beats and send it to them, gotcha.
Speaker 1:So when I send the beat for every time, I kind of hinted but I didn't believe in her song at all. Yeah, you were saying so. Yeah, when they sent it back, I was like wait boy, my expectation was real high and I was like this night boy, so you finish singing back on your alien, like it. Yeah, full song. Yeah, we're here now. The song never changed and I was like I go boy, I thought I'm not sure, I don't think there's it. Yeah, you know, because it just felt worthy to me and that time she had market out to me and that time she had market out, so I, comparing this to market, so I saying this, not better than market to me at the point in time, and I was like nothing. So I sent it around and Cohen sent back an idea and I was like this idea cannot be added life after fat, like the concept.
Speaker 1:Melody Israel, cohen is Melody God sent back and I was like you know what? I don't want to do this with Cohen alone. Nadia, have a song, then we just show it out on that two man rhythm, right, yeah, so we pay it out and boy, people just latch on to that every time. I don't know if it's because market get beat so much. People just latch on to the next best thing after that. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know Because Maketo's already I mean Maketo's gone, maketo's done like two million views and things. Seriously, yeah, that song hit a million views in like a week or so, one month or something like that. Yeah, kind of universal the theme of it. But, boy, let me tell you something, because that's the way it feels every time you take a drink. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:But she has a way of doing that too. In her writing and, as I said, she wrote the whole thing, sent back the idea I go send this session. It was easy to mix, it doesn't level up color coordinates, it was quick, it was quick, quick, quick. But but I didn't believe, I did not believe in it. Yeah, you say that I just want to go work. You say so.
Speaker 1:When we say comparison, it's um, yeah, the tea for joy, that's what it was. I suppose I was comparing it to market and I say to myself, nah, boy, day's night, boy, yeah, like I tell you, since we record for the weekend and keep on coming back, like coincidentally, randomly, as I bring up DJ Adam, I meet him as a fellow the other day, sean, and Sean say, because he was asking like what are you doing? And I show him the last episode. He's like my friend Adam, and them is my boys, i's the first man to let him DJ. We are little small gigs in Bobby's since back then. And then I saw something else recently where I want to say it's New York, but I'm not sure where it was where Lyrical brought Roda on stage to present our word for him and then somebody's like you know, my phone don't it suck, it's major damage. You would have been, you'd be like what would that come about? Now, that's deliberate.
Speaker 1:So Lyrical had the song. He wrote it on a different beat, right, and he was like I don't feel this beat giving me the vibe I want, right, so let's do over the song and do it over totally. And he's like well, lyrical when he's in Trinidad. He stays really close to where I am. Oh, indigo, yeah, so lyrical. If he has any recordings to do when he's here, he comes by me, right, so help me with this boy.
Speaker 1:So he sent it to us and we started working on the beat and we would have here explained the vision that he wanted and we slowly developed the new beat and then he did the vocals and he said well, I want to get rid of this. It was him alone, yeah, it was just him alone. And he's like boy summer, kinda the real Baptist bounce? Yeah, for sure. He's like, I feel, our rudder on this. And he got rudder. And yeah, the rest of the history was real simple, real easy, real straightforward, because he had this song before, so it's just for him to sing over on this new beat and then invite rudder to do it. And rudder recorded his vocals by kit. Got it, got it, got it. There's another one of them.
Speaker 1:That same thing you say about every time right, like when people first hear, I think people, I think nicolai was a part of that right then too. Oh, really, yeah, it was me, nicolai and kit, I see, and also um, mastermind productions. All right, right, master. So mastermind um works heavily on lyrical because that New York connection thing now, right, right, so that was his boy and I think he wanted some live drums or something like that recorded after, and he did it. Yeah, when you say mastermind, it's the kings and soca parang, it's you and me alone. I wish I had black cake and syrup, if I get that, if you get that. That's on Spanish show man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, every Christmas you're watching the top 10 uncut. Yeah, it's Black Kick and Surrey, and he'll even be there. Yeah, a lot of radio stations don't play and he's still in. Yeah, it's just, it's just known. Yeah, for real, because of the same thing. Yeah, I guess, I guess we still got to fight. Let me see. Let me see what this Christmas brings. I'm so glad you come and explain it. Hopefully before Christmas I get room to come and explain it to that easy, bro, so people will understand. All right, good, good, good, but yeah, it just comes down to the major damage was a real, easy, easy, easy thing. I was gonna say it's one of them. Two same thing I can say about every time.
Speaker 1:People just expect fans just expect this thing with collaborations like and you're going with too high of expectations sometimes when you hear Lyrical and Rudder, especially for people from that era, but I see that song just slowly, slowly, slowly become a permanent part of the culture that will be here forever too, you find. So, yeah, I find it did not get the love or the space to grow. No, I agree, because when it first came out and it was here, I don't think people hold on to it, but just watch it. I think it's one of them that, just because Spanish woman is one of them, spanish woman has worked for a long before people like it. I was more happy with that, and two of them too. I feel good to see that. Well, I'm lyrical about Belmont boy, you know, yeah, really, he's Belmont. Yeah, so he's a Belmont boy. So I think he is kind of right a passage I understand.
Speaker 1:Coincidentally, next week I have an episode coming out of that girl from Belmont, tyco. She's living in Belmont, she's a playwright, right, I know Tyco, you know Tyco. Yeah, yeah, slim and Gosses yeah, tyco is something else. Jameet and Jarell yeah, she and Jarell, I did their song. Yeah, I forget. All in the same bowl. Jameet Oman, I do that.
Speaker 1:Blacks, jor-el really do harmonies to me. I see, look at that. And Jor-El is a pangil, yeah, but they're in the culture, culture. So I mean I really enjoy talking to them. So even my relationship with Jor-El and Antaika and them, I learned. But I would have learned through the friendship and the relationship with these people. They got Jarell, man Jarell, yeah, they solid, I will get Jarell here one day too.
Speaker 1:But she was talking about teaching Jarell in Belmont in the arts and the point we were making is that both of us are saying, hey, why would you go to school in Belmont? Because my wife's teaching her school in Belmont, right, and I find every little child in Belmont should know lyrical from Belmont and rudder from Belmont yeah, we just skip past all them things. You know, yeah, you know. But I'd ask I tried this with Kenny, I tried this with the rudder, I tried this with a few other greats, right, no way.
Speaker 1:And I had to try to ask you this of your production. Should I expect this of my production? Yeah, for you, okay, yeah, what would be those for party had to be there, party there, the significance of my first road match party has to be there. Imagine that. I think come home has to be there before you go, party being, when you start off and where you started from road match and them things in your mind like you feel you would have been, no, even up to then. No, yeah, I appreciated roadmatch this year, right Before that, I was never a chaser of roadmatch Really Never.
Speaker 1:So with Patrice, now it was making her run, which, patrice, not anxiety, the one you said you would have done before, like yourself, like yourself, that was the same year as come home, as come home, right, yeah, 2023. But what ended up? Winning road matches? You say Hard Fet, hard Fet, won. So it wasn't them three. Come Home came second and Like Yourself came third, right. So I remember being in a Fet in the Oval and you know Angus, eve, angus turned that up. Yeah, I'm going to say they go, man, and when he's leaving they go.
Speaker 1:And this was ring dong, different in that song. Everybody in the feds saying boy, these songs, and I'm just like nah, but I like yourself. So all then, you're not studying your road mattress at all. Um, when I noticed how bipolar it was, I realized it was team Nyla versus team Bungie, it was hard fed versus come home. I started to back myself, to back my song, you know.
Speaker 1:But as I said in the last podcast, that wasn't a song I believed in. That wasn't a song we say we're going on win road match with. That was never the intention. I just wanted remember come home right after COVID. That wasn't a song we say we're going on win road match with. That was never the intention. I just wanted remember come on right after COVID. It was right after COVID.
Speaker 1:I had no songs before that. I had no power soccer songs. So I was just glad for the opportunity that I have a big song out and remember that was done, for the song was written for Marshall and Destra, right, yeah, yeah, you understand. So I, when I realized that wasn't the case, I was just like, okay, cool, that's our song, yeah. And then Come Home came out before. Like Yourself, right, I'm serious. It came out December 31st, all years day. Ah, got it, got it Right. And, like Yourself came out in January.
Speaker 1:So to me, my first Marshall song is a song with Patrice. It's like 10 years since Band of the Year. I was banking on my song I said, boy, like yourself, even though it's not a road map song, my focus was like yourself, yeah, yeah, yeah, because that's my first Marshall song. I understand, I understand as a soccer producer, of course that's a big deal, that's a big deal, of course you understand, not saying or trying to downgrade, it's not diminishing anything else, but I understand it's just. I know I had other songs in the pipeline to release still, so I just had come work, come home came out and I said, cool, but yeah, come home, yeah, up to yesterday, when you post the things, you see how that go, boy, yeah, you post the thing, come home and then party, yeah, and party. So I didn't.
Speaker 1:Roadmatch was never I focus on yeah, I was under the accolades and I still am right to say well, I work at Marshall or I work at Patrice, or I have a big song with Nile and Skinny. Yeah, I song with with nile and skinny. Yeah, I like that. That's your joy coming from there. Yeah, because that's why I do it.
Speaker 1:I'm not doing music to win a competition. If I do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But that is not my motive in in or in in creating it from start, got it? You know, I am not motivated by winning the road match. I was like no, gonna.
Speaker 1:Actually, if you feel like you motivated by winning a road match, I'm not going to ask. If you feel like You're going on a road match Runs, that's not the intention. Just do what you do. I mean, I feel like I should Do power soccer songs Because I'm good at it, you know. But If it, that's something, that's so. If it don't come, it don't bother you. Yeah, yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 1:So party you have as one. When's the second one? Come home, come home, come home for sure. Yeah, um, it's four or five in it. Four, four, come home Party. Oh, it's really important to me too, buddy, as my productions are looking. Yeah, your productions for now, you get to the next one. Yeah, your production's for now, we'll get to the next one.
Speaker 1:It could be any genre. Yeah, any genre, your call. I think I think Annie had to be there At least this week. Tell us anything, annie there, I think Annie had to be there, right, and I think, from my trapso days, my hip hop days, I think I'll put Nah Boy Boy, I was waiting to hear Over. I was waiting to hear over pumping. Yeah, I was waiting to hear which one of them you would choose Nah Boy over pumping. Nah Boy gave us so much opportunity, right, yeah, pumping opened the door, but Nah Boy made people take us seriously. Yeah, I guess. Well, I mean, both of them will play. Even now, if you're doing a hip hop set, people will speak to you.
Speaker 1:So for me, I put in songs that had significance. Yeah, in some sense significant or pivotal moment in my career. Right, annie, it was the same thing. Come home right and party. Well, I was going to ask you about rushmore artists you work with, but I had to assume it's the same thing is easy. Well, you know. Funny enough, I never had a song with guess, not yet. Yeah, you're working on it. I had demos with kiss, right, and I would have recorded kiss for other people's songs, right, but I do have original song with guess, so that's on your to-do. Yeah, bungee and Fionn yeah, yeah, yeah, and multiple songs with Bungee and Fionn Okay, good, through, nikolai, right, you know my Monroe Schwab artists, marshall, bungee I want to make this interesting.
Speaker 1:Destra boy yeah, up there, I feel we had a pedestrian there too, right, and I had to put somebody from the old school, mm-hmm, too much names, exactly, yeah, boy, is there any more Pokédex? Yeah, too much names, exactly, yeah, boy, is there any Pokédex? Yeah, um, for me, boy, I think I'll put Kitchener boy. Really, you know, I went straight back to Dingo boy. Is that Dingo thing? Because not just that, I could go back to primary school too. I remember the first time we had like a primary school juvie jump up right, and the first time we had like a primary school juve jump up Right, and the song that we learned was it was Beez. Oh, yeah, it could have been that era for sure, yeah, yeah. Ms Brung again. Yeah, I reached out to her, you know. Oh, nice, nice. You must send her the episode, man, you must hear it to her son and her son said she saw the thing and she was really happy. So I feel like Kitchener boy. Yeah, I feel I'd represent for the Digo. Alright, we accept that. We accept that.
Speaker 1:Clemen, marshall, as a Westman too, carnage, you know, I didn't know that. Yeah, I find out. That must be. If it's this, if it's not this year, it's last year. Des Desha went to James Tech too. Yeah, I know Desha and Maximus, right, yeah, maximus. Yeah, I play more West people. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, all right. Bungee, parima. I was at Marshall and Separia. So when I heard him say some more carnage, I was surprised. So, marshall, bungee, desha.
Speaker 1:Somebody tell me a little birdie, tell me, I hope and you don't answer this if you don't want to but somebody tell me, catch down on the road match next year already. Well, I heard it. It's good, I work to do. You're not accepting that? Your time, I work to do. I hope we don't have him here before he said he'll come. I hope we don't have him here because I'm in private school with colonel. Colonel is our man, our real stories. Colonel needs to be here. I was surprised. I was here before him, but colonel is.
Speaker 1:I don't like my thing. You know my phone, don't like nothing and don't share nothing. I do, as I see you share something, I say let me message my phone because you want to tell you the truth. Right, I was always like when I first started off, a part of the journey is really it's the same thing you're saying, like working with brother, I want to document the men while they're here. So when I list people to work with for for podcasting or to tell this story, it's real old school I go and trust the writer with this one, that one, that one down.
Speaker 1:But I intimidated to talk to men from now because my knowledge about them way stronger. Like I know I'd be like shit. I don't know, yeah, I can't really talk to all you stronger. Like you know, I used to be like shit. I don't know. Can I really talk to Oli, but you know what's been real interesting. Most of the people who from well, you, you're a different old soul, but most of the younger people who I'm talking to now, they know way more about our history than me, oli fellas, real connected and staying, as you say, students of it.
Speaker 1:If it's one thing I would say about the producers in Soka is that we, we have a tight bond, a lot of. We have a a producer's WhatsApp chat and thing, right, not everybody, but a lot of us and we work really close with each other and even for each other. You know, sometimes I record other people's songs. I would have a session to do backups for somebody else's song, or they're not available and they need a studio. I'd record it for them and send them the vocals. But thank God for that.
Speaker 1:I was asking about the collab thing. Thank God for that with Padi. Look how the story for Padi come out, yeah, yeah. So thank God for that kind of relationship and bond between the producers, you and bond between the producers. Yeah, it's important, it's really important because even for pushing the sound and the genre forward, I can't do it alone.
Speaker 1:As I say, if you want to go fast, go by yourself. If you want to go far, go with others. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And it's the same thing because I happen to stumble upon and I say when I see you, I'm not expecting to watch, nothing, I'm doing. I think I'm doing this for my mother. I'm doing this for my mother. I come in here and I know my mother, go watch. I have one person just like you see, the same way you talk about mummy. That's mummy for me. She watching, she don't care who come.
Speaker 1:I knew your video had like close to 100,000 views on TikTok. Oh, mummy, you video nothing to do with this. Why my name? But, yeah, I saw, when are you now? My mother was really happy to see that. I am so glad how I could share this whole clip. You know, when they repost on Instagram it's kind of yeah, yeah, yeah on the stories, like I want the whole clip to share. Good, good, good. She had to get her credit. Thanks to mommy, the song could have got shelf, she could, yeah, I. I was surprised when I see you think I was like this man watch this from the cpu come. So, yeah, I could definitely come because them stories it had to be too.
Speaker 1:I was telling somebody recently that I mean I real glad to have at least documented rudder by by um kenny, by colin lucas, but when you think of it, right, just what you and kit and all are doing, if, if you talk to all of them back to back, you're really talking about the same. If you talk to all of them back to back, you're really talking about the same era. You're talking about the same time, the same stories. So after a while it's like, okay, you had a that idea of pushing the genre forward. We're going back to 1970, something in challenge rules, to talk about what they did to push the genre forward. So why not talk to men who, in it, mix it up?
Speaker 1:I'm telling you how similar it is. Well, let's just say, like boy, I just make them beat on anything and I call this one the stories behind it. I think it's critical. Yeah, you should do like a compilation of us and them to see how similar the answers are. You see, in the vision. You see in the vision, because one day, while we sit down here, I will, and everybody was involved in anxiety. You know what I'm saying. If I don't have it like that, then we documented it. If you want the link, I'm making it up. Well, alright, good, good, good, good. Have it on camera, have it documented. Anybody have it documented. But I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:As I say, the second space has ended up opening up. When I do Kenya, I say I had to play some of the music too much people asking about this and that, and he comments too people was like, and one of the most frequent comments I get was how do you think done just so? My mother-in-law was like how do you happy? I said, mommy Gail, I booked the wrong time, so I appreciate you coming back. Thanks for coming. Yeah, I think we need to, and I want to say too that part of what I do is not. I realized somebody was here last week, last weekend. They were saying you know, it's a life story, yeah, but life story to end. So, as we continue to add to it, come back, let me talk. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I think it would be interesting to have like a panel. You know, somebody told me that just yesterday Get me, like Kenny me, mix it up and see, have a big discussion. You gonna lead the panel. Yes, you only did it. In true, I don't mind. Yeah, for real, I don't shy away from things. I like that, I like that, I like that I could do the panel, but I want to facilitate it. I'm young Keniger too. Yeah, I've heard. Yeah, I've been on my Keniger all the time. I've heard. I don't mind. I think the conversations kind of brewing and they could kind of see trends that I didn't expect to know. That the same thing I do in my story, or my version of it now, is the same story that they had, you know. So, having the conversations you know, it kind of realized. Wait this thing a little more, even to add to what you're saying. You see that I am very.
Speaker 1:I watched you and Kit last week in them videos, right, you know what's real interesting? I was telling you when I was editing your video, right, how your faces change when they get serious. This man is me laughing and things when you're talking about and you know I saw it in Oli's video when because I know Kit for a long time in her next life too just around. And Oli video when because I know Kit for a long time in her next life too just around. And when Oli went behind that board. You watch back the video, right, you see when men go more than Oli thing with the trail, it was just like both Oli and I was like shit, you know.
Speaker 1:But the fact that other islands or other territories or other people could recognize our greats before us, we had a change of mind. We're middle-aged now. We can't still here be talking about the government do this and corporate do this. We's the government now and we's corporate, but this is not the first time. Last year we did a song with Father Fox and Nikita that the tourism board of Barbados flew us across.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so then, how come it has so many schools in Digo? Let me just say where you live in yeah, why wouldn't we have a ministry education? That calling only on a regular basis to have music teaching every year? You went St James', you went boys' school. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:Even during Carnival, I was speaking to the whoever running the Instagram page for St James and, um, they did the video for party, the competition, right, and I was like. I was like, hey, you know, I did the song. I went, I went, I went to the school and I was like serious, and they started to share it and I was like, yeah, I was like I don't mind coming back to talk to them. Yeah, exactly, they did it. Okay, nice, good, they did it Because I'm friends with people on the alumni and things Got it.
Speaker 1:But I guess they need an organization and structure. We had to help change it. We had to change it ourselves. It's not going to change us. I don't shy away from them. Teachers, busy, busy. You was in a ministry before everybody busy. So if we do this one by one and change them things, I hear for it, and a panel is a part of the way to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because this is education multiple interviews in one episode. Well, think about this. So a part of a part of my purpose now is so that I I I spoke to a man yesterday. I call him alvin daniel. You remember alvin daniel used to calypso showcase. So I doing I had to do so much research watching his show and I said, but if I'm watching a show from the 80s, 90s, somebody had to do a show now Because you had to see how you had Muhammad and them fresh face. They had to see all of them here now. Then they had to see all of them great up all these youths. It's important and important and that is the education, because at least if they have a you if this is some, don't fix it before we go and they have a youtube curious, the youth must pull up my phone and see about three hours.
Speaker 1:Well, that is a big problem that I think exists in china, not just in soca music. But documentation is a serious issue. We have here they from our history as a country, there's not a lot of documented, um, I don't know, like it's not well documented, nothing and what document is difficult to access. A lot of it is in membrane. Yeah, so that's why, if we come here, become into it in your brain. No, because they'd have no curriculum developer who come in and sit down and say, mevonon, kit, casey, kyle, kyle, whoever, yeah, come, I want to get all your experiences and put it on Spotify. It does not happen. It doesn't exist. No, it does exist. So we had to change it. Let me change it right here. We're still in the recording. It's good, yeah, when we see you and Daron stay out of the box. I only had to meet one another. I don't mind. I don't mind. I'm always up for them. Things, bro, alright, good. So the panel is the next step. I did, thank you.