Corie Sheppard Podcast
The Corie Sheppard Podcast
A trusted space for honest, Caribbean-rooted conversations that connect generations, challenge norms, and celebrate culture through real stories and perspectives.
Hosted by Corie Sheppard-Babb, the podcast explores the lives, journeys, and ideas of the Caribbean’s most compelling voices—artists, entrepreneurs, cultural leaders, changemakers, and everyday people with powerful stories. Each episode goes beyond headlines and hype to uncover the values, history, humour, struggle, and brilliance that shape who we are.
Whether it’s music, business, creativity, identity, advocacy, or community, this podcast holds space for the kind of dialogue that inspires reflection, empowers expression, and preserves our legacy. It’s culture in conversation—unfiltered, intergenerational, and deeply Caribbean.
Listen, subscribe, and be part of the stories that move the region forward.
Corie Sheppard Podcast
Raymond Ramnarine: Faith, Family, and the Legacy of Dil-E-Nadan
In this powerful conversation, Raymond Ramnarine, frontman of Dil-E-Nadan, sits with Corie Sheppard to share the faith, discipline, and family values behind one of Trinidad & Tobago’s longest-running bands.
Raymond opens up about:
🎵 Growing up in the Ramnarine family band and carrying the legacy after his father’s passing.
🙏 The mantra “We pray before we play” and how faith shapes his leadership.
🥁 Why he insists on full live-band performances — no tracks, no shortcuts.
🌍 Touring South Africa and the unforgettable airport welcome.
🎤 Protecting chutney soca’s core instruments — tassa, dholak and harmonium.
💞 Balancing fatherhood, family life, and performance.
🤝 Collaboration > competition at Chutney Soca Monarch.
It’s part life lesson, part cultural history — and a masterclass in humility, longevity, and love for the artform.
My name is Corey, and of course, David scheduled a voice scheduled with one of the greatest voices in the Caribbean, and my voice is a mess. David, you should come on camera and take um accountability for this though.
Raymond:I understand.
Corie:Today we have the great Raymond Ramner. How are we going to it?
Raymond:Yo, I good, man. I good. Thanks for the compliments. Feeling special already.
Corie:You're feeling special. Yeah, man.
Raymond:Yeah, man. It's a good thing to feel special, Corey. It is, it is, it is. We all have to feel special. You wake up every single day and just just just be thankful, boy. Thankful for everything that you know God has given to you. So be special, feel special, and just go there and take over the world.
Corie:I like where you're starting. I want to talk to you about that. Because when I listen to your music, which is, I would say, maybe you need a year or two to listen through the all, right? So the catalogue is why I was talking to Richard before we start. Like looking up the discography of our grades sometimes could be disheartening because it's so hard to just figure out all the stories behind them. So that's why we're here to get some of that. Appreciate that, man. But one of the true stories in your music is that positivity. I hear it over and over. Just this morning, I see I see a post on your Instagram about love and the show that you had early this year. So that's deliberate for you. That's me.
Raymond:That's how that is all that's that's how we grew up, bro. And I have to give all the times really to my parents. And you know, the way they they grow us up and the teachings, especially, because I've I've always told you guys in my band too that we come here as a family. And as a family, we have good times, we have bad times. Um, but at the end of the day, show me respect. Let's all show respect and show the love and be humble, my boys. So these are the little things that daddy and mommy taught us to be humble and and I take that all the teachings and I put that into my music. Correct. So when you see Delina down on stage, or when you hear us, you feel our love. Because that that is who we are. Nah, nah, nah.
Corie:You know, you can't fake it neither.
Raymond:You can't fake it neither. Something that is something that has to be natural. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Natural. You know, born into it. And I thank God, this is the only way I know. Yeah, you know what I mean? And through my music, Cory, I I have like tons of stories I could tell you about that, you know, like how we really impacted lives outside there, tuning from negative to positive, yeah, through the music. And for me, that is the win-win for me. So you get our feedback from your fans, from the audience, yeah. That's nice. That is that's a blessing. That is the win-win for me. It's more than the lights and the you know, the glitz and the glamour on stage. It's more than that. It's really a purpose, bro. And I thank God every day. I'm a very praying person. You know what I mean? And when I say praying, it doesn't mean that I have to be in the temple or the church every day. Because my dad always taught us that the closest temple or the closest church or mosque is right in your heart. You know what I mean? So I just try to keep that one on one relationship with God.
Corie:Um very Trinidadian thing, you know, plenty of people say that. I don't know where some somehow things change over the years, but that that connection on what the parents it was important. But you say, just come back from traveling so you make some runs, as always.
Raymond:Hopefully, we here, but yeah, we had to come to what percentage of the year you're entering there. Well, I could tell you, I just watch me time to put on the indicator where his wipe is wipe, windshield wipers. I put in on. I guess so. Going on the passenger side just, but um the the the touring has been great every year. It has been, you know, new doors open. Um and it's it says a lot with the music because we're really, really a hard-working team. Up to last night, them boys had studio sessions, the night before, studio sessions. I think the night again, studio sessions. So it's a lot of dedication. Um, we don't we don't really say that, you know, we coming out and just having one one day real for the month. Whether we have work, whether we do have work, this is our passion and these these this is what we love. So we we devote a lot of time into the barroom, you know, and and really get into trying to perfect our craft and paving that part to perfection. Um, the touring has been amazing, bro. We've hit stages and places that I never thought I would have been. Yeah. Recently, South Africa, which is which was like the biggest thing for me in all my career. Yeah.
Corie:I want to read something you say about South Africa, where it stood out to me, right? And I want to say before we get too deep to salute to the great Michael Mondezi, who, without his articles, but without Michael articles over the years, I could have never done it. Anytime I had a research, somebody who comes in here, that's one of the first ways. Let's check.
Raymond:Michael is uh is one of a kind, bro.
Corie:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dedicated to man, real dedicated. For sure, for sure. So he said here, there's a quote from you, right? When I arrived in Johannesburg, there were hundreds of fans gathered at the airport with Raymond Ramner and t-shirts and banners welcoming my team and me. He said you'll move to Tails. I was. Yeah, I was, bro.
Raymond:It's something that you know, every destination we go to, whether it be the US or Canada or you know, Europe, London, wherever we go, you have different reactions from fans. They, you know, they they have different ways of showing you the love. But knowing that us as a little dot, bro, on this globe and what our music has done to the people in South Africa. That I was I was totally shocked because when we landed at at the well, Johannesburg was the first first first stop. When we landed, but um, we actually went to get we luggage now, and I hear this kind of uproar outside us. Like, first thing I started to think, I see South Africa. Why is it a line or something? We see getaway or something. I used to say something wrong now. So I pulled, I pulled the arm from it. I say, excuse, bro, bro. Check on that. I said everything good outside. I say, Wizard noise outside, everything, everything good. Uh-huh. So, Raymond, you have to see what's happening outside. I say it's good, right? I just want to see. I know I'll have to see what's happening outside, but I want to make sure it's good now. It's safe. He said, bro, it's crazy. That's sad. Man, as soon as we started, you know, reaching closer and closer to actually exiting out. I just saw people with these big signs and was just shouting, you know, Raymond, Raymond, Raymond, and they were singing, they had the little speaker and stuff, playing your music by the hundreds, man. And they they came out and they had like these garlands and stuff, and they put it around your neck. It was it was up on all my socials, and they were doing bro. It was crazy. It was crazy. And it's it's like you're in tears, but you're crying because you're so happy, but internally. And it was um, it was an experience that I experienced. Um, that was last last last day. I went solo. Oh, that was also that was I went solo to South Africa, but my intention was that I just wanted South Africa to experience the band. And I went solo, we did Johannesburg, we did um Durban.
Corie:Right.
Raymond:Two solo shows. So with that, I said to the promoter, you have to experience the band, yeah, the warmth, the love, the energy at Delina Dan, and what we bring. And bro, this year we went to South Africa and it was the greatest experience, not just for me, but for the entire team. Yeah, the band must be. Yeah, boy.
Corie:What's gonna hold on to it? What do you mean? I want to go back into some early days, but before I get to that, you were talking about settling your sons into school. Your sons were into music too. I see the other G3 was in your work. They all, yeah, yeah. You know what the kids actually, we can't run from that.
Raymond:The kids they were born into music, it runs in their DNA. Um, excellent singers, and just born with the music. Um uh Richard, Richard, his two kids, excellent singers. They attending UI here in Trinidad. Um, even my niece, my brother, who passed away uh in 2023. Rennie, rest in peace, Papa. His daughter was also a really good singer, but they all went their different ways. Uh, I think she's she's now a lawyer, she's practicing law. Uh, my two sons who went to Naparima College both won scholarships. So my big son is out actually, both of them is in in the US, um, attending university. One doing mechanical engine, mechanical engineering, and well, this small one. He into aeronautical. Oh, nice. Yeah, boy.
Corie:So you go fly the ban all about.
Raymond:If that's the case, you can ever say fly, you know, but I ain't gonna have space, you know. Yeah, when I hear you talk about aerospace, I say, we're gonna know what you boy. Then for dealing now, say that I might be any place all the way. Watch my dealing now. I'm going there alone. I ain't going there. Space. Now boy, I tell him, I say, son, let me tell I love your son. I said, son, Venesh, I love you, baby. Watch me. Organized if you get in a job, they have men who'd be working on earth. They ain't gonna, nobody ain't gonna have to find no space, boy space needed, space need it.
Corie:Oh god, boy. So, one more question on this before we go back, right? Um parenting, because your touring, I'd tell you that I had Franco Phillips here, it must be in February, and as soon as we're done, I think she see the vision, she sees what we're doing, she says, Hey, you have to talk to Raymond Ramrillan. You know what I mean? Yeah, but Torrin, I think only fellas, you know, people busy. So, how you manage on the balance with parenting? Because you're real close to your sons, you're a family unit. How you just deal, boy.
Raymond:When you have when you have that that that partner next to you who is like a rock, my wife um she is just super amazing. Uh, first of all, to to to to really deal with me. Um, first of all, to deal with me and my schedule. Um she has really been that rock boy to to really stand by me uh through the ups and through the downs to really take responsibility with both kids um with the extra curricular activities, the the the the extra lessons. I was on tour while she was doing it on our own. So um when you have that person next year, bro, that that person next year who could really you could depend on and who really wanna see these kids excel in life, man. Because we bring kids into this world, bro, and they didn't ask to I this is how I look at it. They didn't ask to come out here, man. You know, we bring them into this world. So um just as my dad and my mom tried to give us you know good things in life for us to spread our wings. We want to give our kids something, things that we didn't get from our parents. We want to, you know, make them better. So she she was the one, you know, you know, my wife really was the one who stood by the family and really, you know, tried to make everything work. And I have to give all the kudos to her. Yeah, she made it work, she makes it work.
Corie:Two scholarships is two scholarships, most families can't say that, right?
Raymond:I still still up to this day, career. I just can't believe it. You know, I said my two boys, you know, won scholarships, and I want to say something, but if I see it and she watched back this way, she goes, The one scholarships are maths, huh? I was real good in maths. Oh, you're not a maths, man. The call now that subjects well maths. Yeah, I was good at maths. I was good at maths. Well, English and thinking as Spanish, yeah, but the science and thing will go. It's a headache. Science, I said, just watch my just do weakness just to come out. I just doing wickedness just so you know. So when the teacher says, Ram the Ryan, go outside, stand up and put your hand, put your hand by your by your ears like this, and stand up before a while. Man, I still enjoy that, bro. That's the best part of me. I rather be outside. Science is to stress me, boy.
Corie:So it's still stressing me, I have to tell you that in the right place. Yeah. So them early days for you, like we go back to your childhood. I saw you say you when they're in a went on swanting, you're there from four or five years old. You have a front process.
Raymond:I I'll give you this thing, though. My dad, my dad's my dad, his first trip was to Suriname. Okay. Um and he went to Suriname, came back home, and he told my mom, I am, I will never travel without my family. My dad was very close to his family. His everything for him was family. His wife, his kids. That was it. So said so done Corey. You know what I mean? The next in 1980, 81 around there. We were like little babies, boy, running around. And they did their first Canadian tour, and he took us, you know, and from there it was he he never left Trinidad and left us behind. He always had us close to him. Yeah, I guess that that is why we all grew up like this. As an education, as a scholarship together. Yeah, so my dad, you know, my dad, man, my dad was everything to me, man. Rest in peace too. You know, we lost, I lost my dad and my brother both in 2023. So it was really, it was really tough for us. But the whole nation saw it, you know. Everybody was like, My dad was my best friend, bro. Best, best friend up to this day. I would sit down, I would be in my corner in my zone, and you know, tears will fall because I really miss him. Yeah, I miss my dad. Yeah.
Corie:Special fathers are important things to talk about for as a nation as well, right? Us now as fathers. And I mean, you're doing it.
Raymond:Man, you know, everybody's, you know, we focus sometimes so much on the mothers, and sometimes people kind of tend to forget that you know, we we have feelings too, we have emotions too, and you know, we work hard just as just as the mothers, and maybe you know, sometimes the mothers always there to nurture to but some I mean, daddy, daddy, daddies, we work hard. We work hard.
Corie:All investments are important, yes. The investment in time, the investment in the work, and and for you, I would think the investments are the example because you get into just seeing sometimes not he in fathering, you know, he's playing or he's setting up or you're healing, but just seeing it.
Raymond:Yes, real, real important, man. And and the thing is that we live next to each other, and that was one of my dad's wish wishes, too. We said, um, well while we were growing up, we said, when you all decide to get married, too, you know, Dyson's wish, you know, look, let's just have this house here next to each other. So we actually had three houses, three homes right next to each other. Right. My dad and Richard, myself and my brother, Rennie, just live right there.
Corie:So I see. That answers plenty of my questions now. Because Delina Dan, the family, the feel of the family almost comes through on stage. I take a peep backstage at the time and see all the before you go on stage. They kind of everybody hyping themselves up, but there's a closeness and a togetherness with it. Comes from your family life.
Raymond:Yes, definitely. And we would always, every single time Delina Dan goes on stage, just before we hit the stage, we pray. Come on, we pray. You know, tell the guys the importance of prayers now, right? Sometimes we tend to kind of get taken up with the materialistic side of the world, and everybody just kind of spends so much more time focusing on everything outside here, the physical, um, we are life, and just tend to kind of forget you know, forget God. And man, there's there's no time or no place to give thanks to God. And that is me. God, God has really been there for me through my journey, uh, through the ups and through the downs. And I mean, we had more ups than downs. The only downs I would say that I ever had was in 2005 when I had this sporting, I had a sporting accident where I actually tore my ACL and ACL, meniscus. Serious, what are you playing? What's the ball?
Corie:Basketball football.
Raymond:I love ball. I mean, basketball is my favorite, right? But I learned something out of that curry, is that follow your heart. When your heart said, don't do something, boy, don't do it now. I was in our studio in Coover. We was like, me and our partner, we just, you know, vibing with some music, friends and call. When they didn't get me, they end up driving up Coover. They have a six-man match done in Penal. They say, hey, we go and kick some ball. So nah, they beg me for about 45 minutes. I said, nah, don't worry, nah boy. Boy, when I eventually went home, I told my wife, I sick, do we just take a drive down Pinal? We go watch them boys play some ball now. We just we can't do that, right? Watch what? Yeah, now my wife was pregnant too. She was pregnant with the second son, boy. And we go down there. Boy, that time I drive a little black land, son of so I drive down there. When I drive down there, the man, I only see a tugs belt. I said, What do you how the men get thugs at the club? Bama, they say, tall man, tall man. They used to call my tall man away. Tall man, you reach white. But one now, the next side fool, them now when the next side say was six aside. And they run the whole field. I see. But why I'm to the next side now, them had twelve. So them sobbing away. So we boys now walk at six. So them and sobbing. But we boys now gain they again burn out now. Yeah, so I went there and well. What's my creator impact one time boy? Okay. First shot, full post. Yeah. Second shot, a man clipped my phone behind. And I just felt like a you turn a piece of people like that. That was it. Surgery. Down for nine months.
Corie:Yeah, as long as that. I guess you see everything here. There's there's a lot. So then early days, four or five years old.
Raymond:Music is what you want to do at that time when I you know I would say so because our uh Dilly in the dance band room was based downstairs, up downstairs by my grandparents, and we would have to walk past our grandparents' home to go home. So sometimes me and uh that time was Richard was nah, Richard was small, was my big brother and myself coming from school and we hear any music. So, you know, instead of we go home and do homework, no, we just hide and we hide anybody don't listen our way.
Corie:So they were setting up for the science problems we had later on in life.
Raymond:And it's only my daddy catch me now. When you see, I see that eye. He's all come, come, come, while you're doing it. Yeah, and all they're supposed to be doing all your homework.
Corie:Uh-huh.
Raymond:But think something nice now. So from small, we music was always a part of us, but I knew that I I really love music. I never thought I would become a singer. I was a musician before. And a lot of people now, especially in this generation, would know. They would know me as okay, the face of the lineadine, the singer, the lead vocalist. But I was a musician. It started with instruments. Yeah, started with percussion. Then my first love was always keyboards. I love keyboards, self-taught. Um the instruments were self-taught, you just learn them as your trumpet. Actually, we went, we went. Um, our teacher was uh the late Cyril Ram. They were really, really amazing teacher. I passed away years ago. But we went to school after to learn trumpet. Um, you say trumpet and violin is the two artists to learn when you when you Google it, it's say them too. Trumpet boy is a lot of air. It's a lot of air, you know. We did the area music up to grade four, grade five. Um, but but keyboard still, I mean, yes, I love trumpet, but keyboard was like my thing. I love keyboards um up to this day, you know. Um, still a huge part of the musical arrangement arrangement for Delina Dan. And but now we we have such amazing talented musicians with the band that they they really help me and and ease me up a lot because of the workload and me being the face. Um, you know, there's so much more responsibility on my shoulders. So I'm just so thankful that we have the guys around who can really, you know, they'll always focus on it.
Corie:Yeah, they could bring the A game, you know. So tell me the list of instruments you could play now. Don't give any ones you're real good at it, or all you could play.
Raymond:Well, I could play by well, drums, right? Play, you know, play my drums, I'll do like play a little do like a little tabla. Right. Um you said give you the ones that are yeah, you could play at all. So trumpet we get so far, keyboard, drums, don't yeah, trumpet and trumpet, keyboards, yeah, first love, guitars to extend. Right. Um we'll all put you know, all percussive in percussion instruments. Yeah, you could roll it. Yeah, I could roll it there.
Corie:Yeah, yeah. That is it. I saw Shagina interview recently.
Raymond:Ah, let me drink some teeth and add here. Hold on. Hold on. Oh, you know, it's the same interview we're talking about. That's the only interview right now. That's the only interview we can talk about.
Corie:Since I see it, I want to ask you because one of the things, one of our missions here, like I had a lot of band lead singers here, right? We had Roddow, we had um Eddie Charles. You know, we trying to get as much of them as we could get. So I'll see what you hear. See, the man saying the music has modernized and it has changed over the years, and they don't need a band like that. What your thoughts?
Raymond:Nah, I well to me, to me, to a point, I disagree. Um, they are to me they're especially on on international tours, um, where you look at look you look at the economy, and it's not like 20, 15 years ago where you fly a ban, uh 10-piece, 15-piece ban, airfare was alright. Right, yeah, yes. You know, it was affordable. A little hotel accommodation was uh affordable. Now things up. You know, so we had to look at that, but for me, uh it for me, I think it depends on the venues. Right. Especially, you know, you you're gonna tell a club, you work with the Ableton guy. I don't see nothing wrong in that. Right. Um, because the club can't really accommodate a full band. But for me, as an artist, I would always, always prefer a live band behind me. What I can do when I perform solo, I can't be that flex, I can't be that flexible. You know, with I mean, compared to when I have Delina Dan behind me, because yeah, you're hearing all the dynamics, the musical arrangements, and it's just a whole totally different vibe. But for me, you know, for me, I mean, I remember when Delinadan was a what a 23-piece band. Yeah. Wow. Back in the days. We weren't a part of the band, we were just like kids. Yeah, what? But it's touring with everybody to everybody going when I checked, ting ting, bam, bam, bam. But at that time, man, spread on a little mattress in the basement. Have a couple of guys, a couple of guys up in the attic. Right. Um, now, now, you know, the artist then won the five-star and what's this. And you know, they work, they they work for that. Um but I this is just my opinion. Sure. You're going to you're going to a smaller venue, you want to use the Ableton, a guy, a place that really cannot accommodate a full band, go for it. Do your thing. But nah, don't tell me I come in as a I come in as a fan. I'm a fan of music, a fan of Corey. Corey coming on the I coming to see Corey and his band, you know. Bam, bam, bam, stadium, arenas, bam. I see Cory run or just so tableton guy. Give my little halfway thing. Nah, I want to hear. I want to see the band. I want to see the saxophonists, I want to see the guitar, the guitarists, the drummers, them. Yeah. In the zone. Um, so yeah, difference of opinion for you. You see, in that difference. Yeah, yeah. I I would rather a live band and a live band any day, anytime, anytime.
Corie:You saw it with vibes cartel too. The same debate was going on because he's doing major sources.
Raymond:Yeah, I actually saw some, I think it was his London. Right, that was recent too. His London thing, and a lot of fans were like really upset. Yeah, because it was like they paid so much money, and it's like, what is this? You know, you sing, you sing a piece of song, and then you stop. Yeah. And so it no dynamics, you know, nothing. Especially when you come from a musical family, and when you're musical, musically inclined, and you're you're looking forward to seeing a production, uh, you know, with your musicians and everything, man. Yeah, so that is my thing.
Corie:Well, let me tell you as a fan, yeah, and just coming back to our culture, I find that of late is something that we miss because one of the things that I was I was looking at before we sat here was how old Delina Dan really is. Like you're seeing plenty of different years and plenty of different things, but it's had to be the longest standing band trend to make one to see.
Raymond:I feel for me, I I feel truly blessed to be a part of part of this. Not because my dad was one of the co-founding members, but to know that Delineadan started in the late 50s, bro. We are approaching 70 years of existence without shutting down or talking about the most enduring band. Maybe in the in the region, but yeah, you're probably right, yeah, but definitely in Trinidad. Of course. And um just being a part of this this history is something that I could feel really proud of. Um, I remembered when we were small and talking to daddy that time, daddy said, you know, daddy's a ticky little thing. You know what they used to say? No, no, no, they're serious. No, they're serious. Um, bring that pop for me. Yeah, anyway. I remembered my dad used to tell us long time when they used to play for the cookings. Right. Um, you know, the cooking nights. That is the farewell night, the Saturday night in the Indian wedding. Right. They would have bands and things. And that put at that at that time when Daddy them used to perform. It was they used to call it Raman Roti. That is what they used to perform for. Nothing like no K chair. They would play because they're real of music. They play because they're the passion. And when they finish now, you know, they will they will go and they go eat by the wedding halls, they go have a drink and they go home.
Corie:Yeah, that's what musicians do. Any musician will play for free a hundred times more than you ever get paid to play. Just the life of a musician.
Raymond:Yeah, and it it it it really, I mean, I've I've seen the growth, I've seen how from from dad inception playing for Roman Routin, look where we are today. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I remember, bro, when I was lining my little girl. I wonder if I could see this. I can see this boy. I was like my little girl, boy, and she, you know, some of your friends saying so. Who's the boy? So on so on. Then she could say, Ting, ting, ting. And so, like, we did, you know, where you work in. That was the first question, boy. Even the parents they go ask, you know, where you work in? Well, he's a musician, you know, he's a singer. Yeah, and they go ask him again, so ask her again. So, like, so where you work in? So she said, Well, he's a singer, he's a musician. I know work. I don't know what so yeah, that's I know the scene. So, well, that is that's his hobby. He had to get a real job, you know what I mean? He had to get like a real job because Imagine that, you know, like how we gonna how will you gonna survive? How will you know all we're gonna all plan to get married? He's gonna play music for the rest of your life. And you know, there were there were times where where I've been honest here, like you know, being a mus musician growing up and you want to go and take a little small loan, you can't get no kind of loan and take in bang because they want a steady income.
Corie:That's weird, that's our culture. But let me tell you. You see Bungie talk about this in an interview recently, too. Coincidentally, Bungie was on an interview, Bungie and Faye and went on and interviewed a fellow named Chin from Irish and Chin or Jamaican promoter, Song Clash Promoter. You have a thing called Song Chat Radio.
Raymond:Okay.
Corie:And let me tell you something. I had a sense because the way he breaks it on, he says in Trinidad and Tobago, you had to be doctor, lawyer, engineer, da da da da da da da da da. He said, if you ain't get through with that, public service. If the man went through about 10 different kinds of careers, yeah, and then he says, if you ain't get through with nothing at all, then they might become a musician.
Raymond:Yeah, it's so so funny that you're saying, you know, it's it's so crazy because I remember I remember I tell him a girl, I say, watch me. I mean, we were we were like 17, 18. I say, just watch me. All where your friends say, all where they think, watch me.
Corie:Imagine that.
Raymond:We married, we married two two amazing kids. Um, I know in the bank, nothing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We live in comfortable. We live in comfortable touring the world. Yeah, we have two kids. Um scholarship winners, two scholarship winners, two at the university, yes, yeah, in the US. And I tour in the world doing what I love up to this day.
Corie:The nice thing is that you know, it's encouraging. I find that maybe our generation changing that we're not telling our children the same narrative because our parents tell us that out of love. Not your parents, but our parents, right? Most parents tell them that because they want it to be secure, right? And they worry about the idea of a struggling artist or a struggling musician. But going back to that thing where you're talking about the nights in our wedding and bands playing, our culture shifts so much from that because you used to have that in. I hear Colin Lucas say some ref was playing in graduation, yeah, wedding. No, you don't see that much at all. It really shifts. I won't leave Shaq. You was talking about we are not giving it. Tell me.
Raymond:All right, quick one. So we play, we play in probably two of the biggest cooking nights ever. Right. One in Felicity, one in Pool Village. Right. I'm gonna put real cloud. I could tell about the pool village. So we go on there, bro, and normally from nine o'clock in the night till two in the morning, that is the performance time. Now we lucky is 45 minutes on our stage. From nine till two in the morning, Corey, so we reach bro. Traffic. Traffic, traffic. You can I try to figure out wedding houses, bro. Traffic by the miles, bro. So, anyway, long story short, we park, we have to walk. So, we walk in, going to this cooking night. I see which which one this place is like where we reach now, bro. By the thousands of people in this man cooking night, we go on the fet by by by not even half time, but about 11 o'clock. I see this man coming towards my dad because at that point in time my dad was playing with the band. He was he was a keyboard. Okay. A nice old Indian man, eh? So I see talking to Daddy. So Daddy come, he called me. I said, Wum. He said, Well, if you know this man, no tell me. I said, Well, he said, Well, yeah, well, yeah, his two daughters had to get married. Okay. But they are huge fans of Delina dance. So the son married, and we're playing for the son. He said he wanted to book us for the two daughters now. Right. He said, He can't book us again, boy. So we daddy say, Why? He said, Well, I cater for 250 people here, boy. All the flower done, all the roti done it on the channel. Why getting food for few people? And then Delina done ram. He said, Boy, who's these people? Who's all I don't know who's this? Who's that man? You know, we we doing in the cooking night. But it was that that is how it was. When you hear Delina done coming in your co in a cooking night, the village, whether they get invited or not, but they're coming, boy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel sorry for the guy, but I couldn't help but laugh. Yeah. He said, But look, look, he demands camper and he telling you to go to get flower. Yeah, to figure it out. Get flowers have a me growth.
Corie:You know, because everything done that way. So yeah, and then there's a cooking night. If you invite 250, they don't cater for a thousand and nobody bring five thousand.
Raymond:Yes, boys about you know, but now but now I think now what they're doing over the um I think the whole landscape kind of changed. But they what they're doing now is like they kind of I think because uh budget-wise, too, sure. Everybody kind of say, you know what? Bam, we do a reception, right? So we are one full day. We get married in the temple, whoever, yeah. And then we go to the hall, you have the line the dance set up, we're ready, beginning party. Yeah, cold as a day. It's set up and Fridays at Friday, Saturday, yeah.
Corie:Of course, of course. I had an experience of time in Ghana where they had a seven curry night. And boy, listen, I just I there have a class, right? So I've gone over there and we line in it. What's the name of the place, boy? I was CPL was going on too. So I forget any name of the the spot, a little lyman spots uh dong and don't and George Tong. No, one of them uh everybody's going to have a set of palms outside. The palms and them lit up. Oh, they must be performed there a million times.
Raymond:But uh oh, I know we're talking about palm code, uh is palm code the name of it? It's probably good on the answer.
Corie:So we done class, I line some students. Most hospitable people I ever meet is Guyanese people nice. So we line and think the man say, All right, we had to go to our wedding. I said, Well, all right, well, tomorrow now he said, Boy, come bring us the go to the wedding. I said, But me, nobody invite many people wedding. If you see the wedding, if you see people, the whole village is just what you described, the whole village come out and they had a side played and things, same kind of thing. So I wonder how much people miss that in our culture now with with that. I don't know if that has happened.
Raymond:I I don't think I heard about a cookie night for the longest one. Yeah, it faded. I think everybody can, as I said, everybody kind of shift towards gonna do the reception and same thing with bands on the road.
Corie:We come up in a time where, well, first things first, before I go to the road, a fet used to be a thing with a band. Right. My mother and them is always telling me this is like, you don't call a thing with DJs a fet. Whereas now, maybe outside the Delina land, plenty youths now might have never really sebans playing a fet at all.
Raymond:Yeah, I again everything changed. You see now, you're seeing, you go to the fet stone, you've seen a whole lineup of DJs. Please ram out. Yeah, I guess. Please ram out. Um, I guess, I mean, it's all is all what you bring. Um, you and your the material that you put out there, um, you always have to keep your fans excited. Yeah, we always have to keep them excited. That is why sometimes we are sleepless nights. And you know, sometimes when I talk to my own fellow musicians in the industry is like they go ask the questions like Raymond, but how much time all these reels for the week? I want to know. Bro, we don't yeah, we don't have a limited time. We if we know we have to get this this amount of work done, guys, we're gonna do it. Yeah, we're not gonna wait until what next two weeks we have the job, no, we're gonna do it, or next month we have the job, we're gonna do it. Yeah, you know, so they would ask questions like that. Um, you know, how often you're going to the studio? When are you gonna release? For us, man, we always have to keep our fans excited.
Corie:Stay, stay on the radar, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring the excitement. Of course, of course. So your band now is probably the first band people here every kind of well.
Raymond:Yeah, well, I'm so blessed, you know. And I will tell you something. I have to thank, I have to thank the people at Fatima College.
Corie:I went to Fatima College, I can put that on record, David.
Raymond:You get some nice doubles there too, though. David, um Fatima, when they had their committee at that, that was years ago. And I remember one of the goodly ladies who was a part of the committee, and she was like, the first time we went in there to perform, she was like, I push for all you. I really pushed for you guys to be here. Because when they said Delina Dan is like, okay, well, you bring in a chuckney band in Fatima Fett. And I mean, just to just just to make it clear, you know, I always said Delina Dan is no soaker band or no chuckney band. Delina Dan is Delina Dan. You would see us tonight in a cookie night, the next day you'll see us in a jazz festival, the next day you see us in a cannibal fet. You never believe it's the same band because I think we're truly blessed to have that that that team, that versatile team that could really adjust. Um we try we try every genre and we try to perfect every genre, Corey. And she said, she said, she said, um yeah, uh, everybody's like, okay, well, let me give them a try. And from that first day, we played at Fatima College, we played every single year, and we branched off to every other school, every other premier all-inclusive, you would see dealing at that. So I must be grateful to them, uh, for those who believed from the first day, and again, believing in them, but always still believing in God, boy, because God guided us there. Um, I look forward every year to playing in the all-inclusives. All inclusives is my my go-to for carnival. Right. Going on the road, yeah. I love I love the road, it's a different vibe, but all inclusive is why I just I just love the clientele. People actually come there to fet to fet and to listen to good music. You know, you might go someplace, this boy, and you beat out, you beat two little pandemic, man, a man, man dancing in care because they have the alcohol in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the all-inclusives for me is where people, the clientele is a beautiful clientele, and they really come to enjoy good entertainment. Yeah, they appreciate the music.
Corie:Yeah, they appreciate the music. So, yeah, I glad you said that, Doctor. A couple things here. Olibooked in almost every all-inclusive. It's impossible. It it reaches a point where better you're better your book early. Because your all-inclusive is going to be the same. Yeah. If Olifellow's not on stage is a is a big accomplishment.
Raymond:We bring that that that right blend. And as I said, from every department, we we try to really perfect ourselves from the musicians to the singers to the engineering department. Right. Right. Because an engineer is just as important as what you have on stage. You can have the best musicians, the best singers, and the engineering are good outside. So every now and then we would have the meetings um to inspire the boys, you know, congratulate them, um, tell them about the upcoming you know, uh tours or whatever we have, but we keep the guys them together.
Corie:Yeah, you know, we encourage them. How with you? So a few questions I'd ask you about that as well. You you know, as a vocalist, because get out of string back, keyboard is thing, man. Technician for that. I think voice is a hell of a thing. Oh god. I used to tell him David this morning, my voice is a mess this morning. And when you're talking about performing from nine to two as a lead singer, we used to do out your voice and and then fet after fet.
Raymond:I used to get a real ball up though. Uh-huh. Yeah, I used to get a ball up. Sometimes my own brother bowling, my boy. Yeah, because two o'clock. I said, man, if I come by your way and Corey, and you hire me from nine to two, bro. If I seen the vibes there, all half past two, quarter to three, I I rocking. I know I get the energy drop. I watch, I go, you know, hey, watching, I see people dancing it. I remember one time in Holland, I will come back to that. Once I'm in Holland, they had something called Enam. So when you when when the people love you, they would you know, come on. While you're singing, boy, just sticking money all over, chucking the thing, throwing it in. So I singing boy, and then people just showering me with money now. So I know wherever I get here now, that's you know, that is that's not the pain, but you're not gonna be able to do that. Yeah, that's important. But the next day I would have treated them boys now. So I remember this thing, boy, but Renny, I love you, boy. Rest in peace, boy. I was singing away, then all of a sudden, while I singing, people singing, we supposed to finish one o'clock. People ain't leaving our boy singing. Woo! Money flowing. I find like I find the music started the song light. He was he was the bass player that boy. So I find I find I ain't getting no drive now. I ain't no bass doom doom doop doop doop doop. But the bass man go away. Why watch man? I see the baseman wrapping up. He said, Watch, I had it with you, but so all of a sudden now I said, All right, no problem. Oh, you're going to do it. Yeah, I do well, man. Then all of a sudden, tick ting, tink, tink, tick king, king, kick tink. I ain't hearing that again. Like the guitar man, he encouraged the guitar man now. You say, Watch me, I going, you going too. By the time I watch back now, it's my father alone play. Father alone play keyboard, my brother playing drums, and that was the day why. I forget the question he asked me.
Corie:Wait this the answer with it. I was asking you and your own voice. How are you about preserving that? How are you dealing with them long awards?
Raymond:Now, honey, honey, honey and punching. Honey and punching, David. That's what we need. I love black pepper. I love black pepper, but yeah.
Corie:I was trying not to eat too much black pepper, but the honey and I'll punchin. Preserve it. No, one of the things Eddie said we was here fascinate me about people who's lead singers and bands, right? Is Eddie said some of the same things, right, in terms of preserving his voice, make it so good. But I want to get into that Chutney band thing because it's something that we see a lot where uh not just with Delinadan, but several people in entertainment or in culture here. Yeah, we maybe it's a marketing thing or something, we kind of tend to want to box things in. It's sell better when it's in a box, I suppose. But you, as a lead singer, would know music from all different genres and the banner that rehearsed that as you said, the whole team had to be in on it and up to date with it, and you as well. So you see yourself as sort of boundaryless in terms of these genres and so on.
Raymond:Nah. Um, again, it I would always go back to us growing up. We grew up in a little village in Gasparlo. Christmas time, my dad, small as we were, my dad would have his little speaker box, little speaker thing on his shoulder, going from house to house for Christmas. Right. And one of one of one of well, I would say one of maybe, or maybe their favorite calypso was my lover by Elson Nelson, right? So ding ding ding ding ding ding. And then so we grew up listening to to every genre of music from the rockers to the reggaes to the the calypsos, um, kaiso, extempo, local classical chutney singing. That time that you know, the the guys sitting on the ground now with the dola, like the spread pal and the danter and the harmonia. Um dance all I ain't for it. I love I love my dance all, but not how does it dance all from the 80s? We dance all from we time. No, we had to say dub. We had to say dub. Dub, dub, dub, dub, dub, dub. Nah, I I I can't really go with I can't really go to dance. All no, I nah, maybe one or two, but yeah, yeah, yeah.
Corie:I suspect I know why no, without you saying, because I suppose like like again, listening to your music, there's uh deliberate positivity to your music.
Raymond:So some of it you feel I love, I love I love reggae, especially you know, those that speak up with a lot of positivity and you know, nation building and self-building. So when it comes to genres, there's no boundary with us, man. We do everything. I remember we did a song, a beautiful song. I did, man. And I I always tell uh Nehle Blackman. Yeah, she's such an amazing uh young woman. I spoke to her just two days ago, and we did a song called Good Vibes. Um, you should check it on in YouTube, yeah. And the song talks about it. It started with me as a they got a little boy to look like me and a little girl to look like her as kids growing up, holding hands. And I the the the the tagline is um you know I love you, my brother. You know I love you, my sister. So it's basically saying that hey, we had to live as one. We hold hands, we grow up together, become we be we become big men and women, but yet we still have that love and respect for each other. And when we can have that love and respect for each other, Corey boy, we can achieve everything by the way. We had a return to that, yeah.
Corie:You know, you know what's funny, you're talking about Gasparilla, right? I grew up in St. James, it's so different, right? St. James, you're you're living in tongue basically when you grew up in St. James, but that togetherness is something I know from small because you know, I grew up genreist. Yes, we grew up in the Husayard, you grew up in the Baptist year, the religion used to carry us everywhere, the sports used to carry everywhere.
Raymond:It's a beautiful thing now, boy. When you can experience that is one of the most amazing things for me when when it comes to touring and going to different countries and learning, learning about people and the cultures and the way of life. You know, you're bridging the gap and and and then you're making so much friends, you're connecting. When we went to South Africa, I was telling them after they had the photo shoot, Corey. Um, everybody's like, So, Raymond, where are you from? Um I said, Trinidad and Tobago, where is that? So come now, man. Well, you know, Trinidad and Tobago by Google it thing now. So, but for me, it felt so important being a teacher at that point in time and saying, telling them about Trinidad. I wanted you to know about Trinidad, and that is why we went to South Africa. And when I told them about Trinidad, their response is, I want to come to your country to experience the carnival. I want to experience this. I said, Come and eat our doubles. What is that doubles? I tell you, I explain to them what a doubles is. I said, just come to Trinidad and experience the warmth. Yeah, you know what I mean? And that's the beautiful thing, boy. When you just when you travel the world, when you can meet different people and learn about their cultures, learn about the way of life, and yeah, but it's so important what you say because what um the more you talk is the more true.
Corie:I'm a scripting, David.
Raymond:I'm sorry, but uh if I get the question, you know, you don't ask me why I go about the honey and the punching. I won't say punching is a little bit of don't feel like it's not a drinker. Yeah, don't drink all button. I don't know drinker, or I'm not a drinker. Don't start that with me.
Corie:I was doing goggle and nipping. That's what you see. Just a little tip. It's ginger and peppermint, boy. All right, well, we learn, we learn. But you know, it's funny. When you say people in abroad asked about here, the things that we talk about to describe to them what the country is, is the very careers that sometimes they say is the lowest levels of the thing. You know what I mean? Yeah, but you don't answer that, right? That's just that's just me saying that, right? I'd ask about this remembering lyrics for songboy. Oh, god, because you know about you don't sing about a million songs, yeah, but you do covers, yeah. Yeah, I'm sure you get requests for different songs if you did from 9 to 2.
Raymond:Somebody go ask for something current this year or something they love, or how you just remember some of sometimes when I can't remember it, you take a chorus and cool yourself in what's I sing it, I sing it on stage by good vibes where everybody partying, you know, jumping. Hey, hey, Raymond, bam, telling that one man comes from somewhere in the middle, boy. Remember, I want to hear this song. I said, Why you sing that song when I was 16 years? How you expect me to remember that now way? The man insists, you know. Well, the man insists. I said, Well, here what take a chorus, you know, as much as you can get our two lines that happen, but um the the strangely enough, you know, the Hindi lyrics just stick more serious with me for some reason, and I just kind of tend to forget the English. I see, but then it's a lot more on us, on me being who I am and where we are in the in the musical landscape because we on the soccer side, we on the chutney side, we're on the Bollywood side. So we just don't basically have like one set for the year, and that's taking us throughout the year. Where you have basically one set of songs, you might throw in one or two new ones. We always change in because you're going in different places, um, South Africa. I mean, what would the the music and the genre that we might like that people might love in the US when you go to Amsterdam or South Africa, it's something else they go like. Right. So it's not a yeah, yes, you're pushing, not you're pushing your music, but then you you wanna you wanna capture them at that at that at that moment. You wanna feel that energy out of the crowd. So, okay, then that then I had to do research now. I had to go and learn something from this country, kind of merge it with with with with our music, and it's been a challenge sometimes, bro. But yeah, you one time, you know, I do one time, boy. I think I fit and forget a lyric, but forget the lyrics. And while I singing, boy, I just forget the lyrics now. The sacks man was minding the business, he just breezing up because he didn't have no sacks. Solo he didn't have no sack solo until quite young in the end that way. And while I forget the on the spot, I say, yo, Stein, come, come, come, come, come, bro. But that man started, he said, What to do? I said, just blown up, just go. He started blown. That man just started blowing what yeah, yeah, yeah.
Corie:I saw Snoop at time uh talking about because Snoop I threw a catalogue too. Yeah, and he said, Um, every time he turned around. That's my favorite. He said, Yeah, you think serious? Snoop is my favorite. Snoop say, yeah, something stick up in the jacket sleeve. He said every time he turned around.
Raymond:Once I do a kind of thing like this, it's like this boy. But I write it in pen that way. And you sweat it out. I sweat out the thing, boy. So I wasn't worried. I think we were somewhere, I think Amsterdam boy doing our show, and I say, but these are important shows, and I know they want this song. So what's my castle? And I kind of write it because I didn't want to write it. I didn't want to put it on a piece of paper. So I said, whatever, just write it here. They won't see it now. So I sing a couple songs. I think that wow, by the time this by the time the lyrics come like this, so hey, everybody, but this boy looking like paint. Yeah, boy, what is this? I couldn't, you know. But things you do, you know, just on the on the spot at the spotly moment, the things you do, man, on stage. But for me, I always learn something. That's say you make a mistake on stage, do let it be a mistake. If you make a mistake, create that as part of your act.
Corie:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, from small.
Raymond:Yeah, even it it reaches age correct. Like sometimes if I'm just a human being, so sometimes I may not be feeling a hundred. Maybe I'm I might come down with the virus or have a bad headache. But as soon as I go on that stage, for some reason that is just yeah, I tend to forget about it.
Corie:Gotcha, gotcha.
Raymond:Nah, because these people they they come out to see you, they ain't come to see you, you know, to figure out hey, you have a headache, boy, or you are the flu. Nah, I give me a hundred. I ain't care. When you see her finish and I walk back down in the dressing room and I drop down, there is nothing. Yeah, I'll get up again. But yeah, my fans, man, my fans, I do everything for them, bro. It shows it shows. Everything for them.
Corie:So those childhood days, when it became watching the band and when it transitioned to part of the band, when it says you're inside now, you playful, so you sing, or what starts?
Raymond:Well, played as me as a as as a musician. Um we were like nine years, ten years old, and daddy took us. I remember our first pay that we got. But I got $30. I got 30 now. When I say I watch me, when you say I got 30 my handy as a youth man, yeah, bro. What's my sense you want to play? Well, watch my green again. I want I want to make 60 boy. So I said, Dad, let me take about three jobs in the 90, a ten dollars short of a hundred jobs. But that time, you know, we playing. I played like the I playing the scratchers, the cabas, the tambourine. My brother, no, the big one. This boy is something else, this Renny boy. I love him too bad. He he moved on to drums and things before me. Gotcha. And there was something they call a syndrome, bro. Like two circular parts, and you would hear they would make like this kind of electronic sound, like boo, doo, something like that. So from at that point in time in the band, that there's like an upgrade in a way. When you're playing that now, girls watching in our way. So David's not so barack, poor boy. We had a we had a cooking away. So that time now I was in standard five or four or something like that. So the teacher now, you know, when you're smaller way, the teacher, you know, she daughter comes to the school, so you know, eh? You know, yeah, yeah. So Miss Teacher, she said, Son, I hear you're playing in um some of my family cooking in barapoor. I said, I said, Miss Serious, that's a family, yeah, serious. So she said, Yeah, she's coming down. She brings the whole family, so she brings she daughter everybody now. So I say, watch me. I pawn my back myself well top up. I pull my little cowboy boots, a white cowboy, a cream cowboy boots are hard now. Yeah, yeah, bro. And I go on in now. So the cooking going there, and I playing because I ain't see them now. I play in the triangle, ticketing, ticketing, cabas. I have no sh. I good, I was going good. All of a sudden, from a distance, I see them coming. She and she doesn't so Renny next to me in a boy. So I do Renny, so he playing the syndrome now, the electronic thing. Oh, you want that touch? But I want a little thing line away. So if she sees me playing that now, that's like whoa, he begin to dance. So I doing Renny, so Rennie look miss coming Renny miss coming by girl. Give my little chance to play now. You do my soul. But no, boy, but you can't play your cab, I said. I said, Rent, come now, come now. Boy, watch me with Curry. God forgive me, you know. But I take my cobboy boots. Uh by watching when I stamp on the foot so I said, give me the thing now. Look, she coming, boy. What a man here that black cover boots. He was a little bit bigger than me, yeah. That man, but that man stamped. Yeah, stamp back. So I stamping, he stamped. I and I never get to play the thing, man. When when we're only keeping up the rhythm, I keep up the rhythm. Yeah, but are we fighting so band playing? And we we fighting when Miss Palut and she and she daughter and everybody passed now. I play now. And they we're gonna do no. I started drop the triangle lunar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're gonna see what I play. But I so wanted to impress that he ready. Hilarious. Renny, Renny, Renny Mess, my boy. I love him. I love him.
Corie:Rennie was a musical director in the banner department. Yeah, Rennie was one of the musical directors, of course. Of course, of course, of course.
Raymond:So we had some fun, yeah, bro. Let's listen. When you're doing something that you love, man, and you're not having fun, something wrong. Yeah, something gotta be wrong. You do something because you love doing it. Music is my passion. I love music. I can't think about nothing else, but I just thankful enough that we have a team that we could make jokes. We could sit around a table and make jokes. Make jokes. We could, but when it's time to get serious, and when it's time to work. That's just too. That shows too. So my two families, my family that I have home, my wife, my two kids, my mom, my brother. Um, but my second family is dealing with that, and I love these boys, and I want them to know how much I love them. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? I used to hug them boys every day. I say, You ain't too big, come. Give my hug, man. We're gonna hug up.
Corie:We're gonna get all of them here at some point. We're going to everybody, you know. Nah, nice, nice, nice, nice. Which is nice too. So when it moved, when they started get upgrade, was your first instrument? You wanna play keyboard? That was the first year.
Raymond:Yeah, I went to I went to get I went to play keyboards. I was, I remember that I was using a harmonium, you know. You know the harmonium. Because my grandfather used to go ram-in and stuff now. So I remember I had it on top like this, and I was just playing because just because I seen daddy, I'm looking at daddy and what he's doing, so I trying. So I was playing the keyboard like this now, boy. But this little finger was like this. Uh-huh. Oh, you're just playing on every fingers. I was just playing with these four. From behind, boy, I just feel like a man hit my book in my finger with a daddy, boy. That's how it works. You say, Well, I'm playing the little finger. I said, Dad, whom you say, boy, work the little finger, boy. So I just started work this. That's out of keyboard. So, you have five fingers, why you using four? I started learning to play keyboards and um with the guidance of my dad. And he was a self-taught musician too. Oh, he was? Yeah, self-taught. Um, but keyboard was my first love. Up to this day, Corey, I just wish that I could. You want to go and take something. No, like I know, I like I just wish we, you know, we could have a concert today, and forget Raymond. Raymond, not singing in the concert. I'm not singing that night. I just want to be playing keyboards and let David and everybody sing.
Corie:You know what I mean?
Raymond:Yeah.
Corie:I just want to talk to the audience serious before that. You know, people, yeah, people I don't know, you know, if they come on you and singing.
Raymond:Well, well, yeah, that's the next thing too. There's a next thing too. I just don't honestly, I just want to just play because that keyboards was my first love.
Corie:Yeah, fulfilling.
Raymond:I love, I love, love playing keyboards.
Corie:So many years he stayed as a keyboard, isn't he, man?
Raymond:A lot of years. Um, yeah, yeah.
Corie:And when was that transition when you decided you're gonna sing?
Raymond:Like, so when I was small growing up, I always I think I always liked singing, but I never thought that I would be a singer. I was so focused on being a musician. I remember that an incident I was home lying on the couch, and I was so mommy then was playing these old Indian songs and so I closed my eyes. I think it was about five or six years while I closing my eyes and I'm mimic, I'm making it now. I trying to sing too. I sing and I closing my eyes, and to me, I think I let the light shining on me. I swear to God, I was songing good. To me, I said, Well, I I sounding good. But then mommy, mommy called daddy, oh go hear him now, and they're laughing at me now. You know, so they was laughing at me. So I said, maybe singing is not for me. I remember I was in 1989, 1990, still a little teen boy, and there was this girl who used to sing with Delina Dan by the name of Sir Swati Maharaj, and there was a nationwide lady singing competition and duet singing competition. And maybe two months, three months ago, my manager at that point in time, Hasid Majid. I was singing a song and he said, Raymond. No, you say Raimi, not Raymond. You say Raimi, what song is that, boy? I said, Well, no, I just song I hear, man. You know, I just sing it. Going into the barn room. He said, What's not? We're gonna record that song. We went and I don't know if you remember when they used to have Indian Variety with Mr. Rafi Mahome and all of that. We did we did our Indian variety with the with the band. That was the first time I ever sang. And she approached me and she said, Let's go. I want you to come and be accompanying me for the duet second competition. So I was like, Nah, I might see 13, 14 years. I tell daddy, I said, No, that daddy's sick. Son, you want to go? I said, No, that because I seen all these big singers. Why are you going there? I mean, I know no start other things. Bro, I went, we went actually. Long story short, um, I bro, by the time I woke up, they said Raymond, that time they had Southland Mall. Yeah, boy, yeah.
Corie:Southland Mall over there, where is this the number? Cross-crossing.
Raymond:Yes, yes, that's Southland Mall in the big car park. And said, introducing Sir Sir Swati Maharaj and young soon, bam, bam, Raymond Ram the Ryan. So everybody's like, Okay, who's this? Who's this Raymond Ram the Ryan fella? Watching Adam, but I woke up that step, bro. You know, I never my legs was like this, bro. I was like, when this thing gonna stop, boy. I shaking. By the time I go on the Cory Man, thank you, Lord. By the time the first two lines were, I just felt the first two words, I was scared to hell. And by the time the first line, at that point in time, I felt that whoa boy, this is my comfort zone. The entire crowd just started in an uproar. And from there it was like no stopping, man. We won the competition. Nice. And it was no stopping. Yeah, yeah. You know, every every single day, you know, I would reflect back on that moment in time. You know, if I didn't do that, then I don't know. Yeah, I guess you never know. You never know where. You never know where the music would have taken me, but I took that bull step and I said, you know, let's go. Let's go and do it.
Corie:Oh, it's it.
Raymond:Yeah.
Corie:You might bring up Indian variety voice.
Raymond:Indian variety voice. I feel like Rafi Mohammed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Up to this day, up to this day, we have such an amazing relationship with Uncle Rafi. Oh, nice, nice. Every single year we do well, which was the Everybody Loves Raymond concert in Santa Excellence. Right. Now, now it is I am the music boss. Right. Every for the past, we've been working on these branded events since I was maybe 19 years old with Uncle Rafi. And we have that relationship with him up to this place. You know, if we're ever grateful to have him there.
Corie:Yeah, yeah, we always had to show him love. Yeah, boy. That seems to be something that's important here as well. The where we come from. Yes. Because when I watch, I mean, I'll try to try it, right? I don't listen your collaborations. It's impossible. It's almost like nobody didn't work with in all different kinds of genre. It's just the sounds of feature and Raymond Remember. Raven Remmer is a lot. Yeah. But um, it seems as though you're with the foundation of the music, you that holds a special place for you? Yeah.
Raymond:It definitely was. Um when COVID actually hit us, that is when I started to read. I mean, yes, I did collaborations before, but one of the biggest ones I did actually was with a guy called Rakesh Yankara. Yankara. Yeah, we did a song called Tuj Suraj. It was a cover. Bro, the tagline of it was I made up the English, and and it it goes like, Hold on, one another, and let we love up each other, let's dance together, and let we love one another. That was a message through COVID because I saw people were going through hell. People were going through hell, and um myself and Richard, we took it upon ourselves, and we would without any corporate help, man, we would just go dig into our pockets, do hampers, go into the groceries, do hundreds of hampers, go out, look you know, just look for those who really needed the help. And we would go out and meet them and then hear and hearing people suffer it, and being there on the ground and really having an experience of them one-on-one is a whole totally different quarry. And I realized people wanted music for me. Music is when the world, when everything else around you feels music heals. And I said, man, we I had to start making music. I have to start making more music that could heal people internally, that could bring some kind of hope. And we started with these songs, and I call Rakish, and we did that song. Every household played that song. Yeah, if you if we go on YouTube now, it's probably by the millions of millions of views. Millions of views. It really brought families even closer together when things were going haywire financially, health-wise, with families, you're losing this loved ones and this one losing jobs, and can't figure out where they're gonna, you know, look after the next bill. Man, it just actually brought people together.
Corie:Yeah.
Raymond:And we did that, then I did Shake It Baby with David and Gatu. That song went like a monster all over South Africa, Serena, Amsterdam.
Corie:Well, yeah, now we're in a world where you could see where the song was picking up steamy. You could see it online. Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah.
Raymond:So, but what I did is Rakish, I paid respect to him in a way because these guys were there before us. And Daven and Gatu, another very talented Chuckney singer. They were there when Davenant started singing. I was playing keyboards in New York for them. I was no big singer. I wasn't, yeah, so I felt good getting these guys like as stall what's in the business, bringing them back and just opening a whole new fire with them. Yeah, you know what I mean?
Corie:So and it was encouraging to see the millions and millions of views. Yeah, yeah. I didn't realize it was during COVID and the message with cross critical. Yeah, but Yankaran, you would have been seeing them while you're playing. You're seeing them. There's people you would have looked up to when you're smaller.
Raymond:Oh, yeah. Well, the Yankaron family, especially. Um, I knew his brother, Annan Yankaran, one of the great singers, also, he passed away. So, um, and then of course, I have more collaborations where I'm also featuring some of the great ones.
Corie:Yeah, the generals. It's important.
Raymond:I think the documenting is key. I think it's important, but it's important that you you can't forget where you come from. And before you could go further in life, you had to know your foundation. So these are some of the people who really made a huge impact, not just to me, but to the Chutney world.
Corie:Right, right.
Raymond:And traditional Chutney music is something that is very dear to me. Um, because I feel just like Kaiso and you know, you would have the arts, the extempos and stuff. I would love to see, bro, not just carnival alone. I've been saying this over and over again. I would love if you know, government come, government go culture, those in charge of culture, do not just have extempo and the kaiso just kind of turn away. We said, bro, when I travel, when we travel around the world, man, and you see how different countries and those who have the leadership, how they really nurture the little things, little resource that they have. I remember I did a cruise, um, a Norwegian cruise. Went to Bermuda from New York. We had performances on the cruise, on the cruise, cruise liner, and then we went into Bermuda quarry and we did a myself spice Naila, wasn't that too? One of them. We went online and we did a real nice party, yeah. Bro, but come on now to the the the the cruise line away. And as soon as you walk entering Bermuda, bro, we weren't talking about no skyscrapers or nothing like that, you know. It's just the little arts and crafts, yeah. And they had this thing where uh nice brochure where you could pick up and they're showing you okay where you could visit, and just just the little things that they have to offer, and that is what was really attracting the tourists. We take it for granted.
Corie:You say it's something the girl acts, where's your work? Not a musical. We take we take our art.
Raymond:We are too much. I would love, I honestly would love some. I remember a time we go into Miami Carnival. Was it Miami Carnival or just Miami? And we enter the airport, and as soon as I enter the airport, where I say, I'm gonna show her tonight, Hawaiian shit. And he alone with his little thing, and he playing the pan, welcoming people, boy. Am I in Trinidad or am I in Miami?
Corie:Yeah, and we make it into a carnival thing. We we we do that a lot. We tend to we tend to want to box it in.
Raymond:Yeah, box everything and just you know, present it for carnival. So then through the uh, what are we doing?
Corie:Yeah, yeah, yeah. During COVID, it's a time where entertainers are a rough time for entertainers. How are you finding it within yourself? Which it had to be a struggle for you to look at helping other people during that time.
Raymond:When when COVID came out, Corey, I for the first two months, three months, four months, we're making cook and home. Yeah, we're sitting down, it's a line. It's a line. We said, well, this is a good thing. I said, Hold on, I said, how long a fever now called for today, but you know, a little two, three months. Hey, let's chill now, man. We don't get a chance to really spend with the family. So when you know, we got chill with the farming. I used to sit down in front of my house. Bro, by the way, yeah, COVID. People talk about COVID, but COVID brought out some good people, yeah. In front of my wall was like real amount. And I was I just had time in my hands. I was on YouTube in front. I say, Well, I watch one of these places all in the US all that nice landscape and flowers and things. So I did on YouTube. Well, let me see how to do this thing. Bro, I just was on YouTube watching, watching, and I ended up doing my own landscape. I mean, I mean, come on a man. To me, I think it's looking good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. To me, to me, I think it looking good. But after about the eighth month, yeah, boy. I said that way. This thing's serious, boy. You know, this thing started getting serious now.
Corie:And the first sense of lockdowns where they sort of say, no, you can't leave home at all. You have to stay in the boundaries in your home or something, yeah.
Raymond:I remember that I went and do a birthday party in Central, and they tell the people the most the most you can have is 10 10 people. How you could have 10 people if I party. No, boy, but I still went. Yeah. Um, the people had about 20 20 something. Nice ten, nice ten. Nice ten in the watch. They had about 20 something, about 25. Watch me. They had the music, yeah. I said, Wait, boy. I said I sing it. Oh, you went to sing. Yeah, boy, I went to perform boy. I thought you just went the past. No, I went, no, I I started rock the boat, boy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Instead of rock the boat, all of a sudden, I see blue lights. What's now? The owner, they'll say, everybody just directing, run upstairs like in the attic. They sort of hide all in the attic, boy. Yeah, we see big Raymond run, boy. Say, hey, boy, is that boy? But nah, the police came. But when the police came now, um well, when I realized it was kind of cool, they say, Ah, if you come outside. When I come outside, now the police, hey Raymond, is you? I say, Yay, what happened? Everything good, all the family, everything, every everybody good? Nice, God bless, man. We safe, we safe. Good enough, good enough. Yeah, we safe, we safe. But man, it was it was a it was a struggle. Yeah, it was really difficult. It was a struggle, and it it it really crippled a lot of people, and man, it it really did, it really did, and it affected the music industry in a huge way, man.
Corie:Yeah, that's why that's why I wonder because you had to be going through a lot, huge way, but find it in itself to help others, you went and give out hampers on your we did.
Raymond:Um, the two things that we did actually that to to to make up the time was we spent a lot of studio time. We went we were in the studio hours and hours and hours. We wanted to create music to heal, but at the same time, you know, we couldn't help looking at news and seeing what's going on our way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Richard came a day and he said, Ray, you know, let me let me do something. It mightn't be nothing big, but whatever we could do to go and just ease our family up now, whether we buy some water, some groceries. When a couple of years ago, when they had the flood also, Corey, the big flood, and I remember us going all in Kelly Village, we went all out Valencia, and we helped with mattresses, food stuff. Um was a good feeling, bro. It was it was a good feeling because driving into these places and actually seeing and experiencing how people really suffering, it really, it really it hurt bad boy. I got into a house and I see this old lady boy, and maybe the villagers come and help. She said that little fridge, but if you see the fridge boy, like the fridge falling apart, but they lift it up and put it up in that some bricks. She will house flooded water, flooded with water, bro. And it's just going there, man, and just giving them a hug now, boy, and just say, Ma, well, moms, this you know, you know, we're we just normal citizens now, but we're just trying to help. And then they would just say, Thanks, son, thanks, Raymond, for everything. Uh, at the same time, no boy, we get kind of fooled too now because we see that same thing. Hey, everything is everything else. Well, I remember we we walking in right there, you know. I see a man come out with the little child. Call his wife too. Hold the child and come on. They come in with a big trunk, right? Bro, yeah, we are we are mattress, we are water, we what is we feeling sorry now, knowing? Yeah, we drop a mattress on them, we drop some water, we drop some food stuff. By the time we go on by the next house, the old lady saying, You shouldn't give him nothing, you shouldn't give him nothing. I said, What I said, what mommy? She said, Wicked, you wicked. A van now passed it, and we are getting nothing, and he takes everything. So he capitalized on that. Yeah, waiting up now, but by the time he lived before the lady, no boy. So by the time the van reached, and he he taken from every van. So if every van bring a mattress, he taken, he taken mattress now. And Tanti them in the corner there boy, yeah, boy. Station be nothing, and I feeling sorry for the van away.
Corie:So we still in Trinidad You must find one.
Raymond:God would be nice. I love it. Yeah, no, I ain't living here for nothing. I ain't live in Trinidad for nothing, Trinidad.
Corie:Yeah, it's hoes very, very Trinidadian story. But too, we're too nice, boy. We're too nice. So going back going back in the day a little bit now. You pass your Indian variety days, your lead singer, the band, and that kind of thing. The you would have grown up in a looking at Delina Dan as a traditional Chutney band, or at that point they would do doing everything.
Raymond:Um no, we won't do everything.
Corie:Um so when did that change?
Raymond:The band was the band was basically doing covers like from the old Bollywood movies, you know, when they would go to the cinemas and you would see Amita Bachan and you know, yeah, they're playing them songs, boy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That is that was basically the the whole backup of music that the band used to do. And it's only when Rennie and myself and the church entered the band, um, we started to take it just to that next level and realize the you know the versatility of the guys there, and they say, hey, we spread with wings now, man. You know what I mean? Music is universal, it's beautiful. My dad always tells us that music is universal. Do music, any type of music, do hold on yourself. Okay, do music that you could create an impact and create something positive in the world. And those are the little words that you know you tell us, and he didn't have to talk more, you know, Corey. Just the little things he told us, and we we just take that and we run with it.
Corie:Yeah, and there's no real resistance and thing they buy. Everybody was down fed, everybody was just down fed, yeah.
Raymond:Everybody was down fed. I mean, certain times now. I stand and make a whole joke out of this thing. Let me stop it, but certain times we go out cooking now, boy, and whole night, you know. I'll put on my team. Whole night, boy. I play my chutney. You playing with chutney, we singing with Bollywood. Well, I mean, we at the end of the day, I ain't playing for you alone. I playing for everybody here now, so if you come there, chutney, well, I give you a chutney, I'm giving you I'm giving you, you know, your Bollywood and thing. I just still break it a little bit, you know, hit them a little pull-up selector or something, all five. Well, I sort of do that now. Hey, the young people, well, they said a jump up boy. I man say, play chopping away. I said, but I play in chapter all night, boy. You say play chocolate, boy. I said, where you was all the time, boys.
Corie:So yeah, but you know, it's a similar experience. But we grew up in a parent family. Christmas time we play in parang and think we have a small side. The same thing has happened. We play in traditional Spanish Venezuelan Spanish parang, yeah, whole time, and then one you go on to drop a little soccer parang and sparrow boy, they all their heads, they're mad. Yeah, it's the most Christmas time. We come in people's house about Gina and Dinah. What do we do? I think people don't realize that musicians are enjoying themselves too. Yeah, and when you're playing one genre of music, we love to express ourselves.
Raymond:That is that is a musician's. That is who we are. We love expressions, we love, you know, so again, if you if if you appreciate music, then you wouldn't rara and so you gotta appreciate music, yeah. Yeah, but understand about guns. If you know, if I go out, if I start to sing something something vulgar, now man, come at me. I say, you know what, boy, I should have never done by giving you good music, yeah, yeah. Take it, nah man, digest it, enjoy your life now, man.
Corie:But people definitely digested it because I had to ask whether it's is something that because where you see I saw you do it a lot in your catalogue, like you may do covers, like Taurus Riley is one of them. I would this choose royal, I can't remember which one of it is. And what you'll do is you'll sing the first part of it, you'll give it to us part, and then you go switch it, you'll do it in India. Yes, yes. You that was deliberate tool to try to get some acceptance.
Raymond:Actually, yeah, it was it was a trend at that point in time where okay, so like this is how I I have matured in music. So there was a trend where we would do the Bollywood songs, but we would kind of insert one of the popular reggae or popular pop or something into it, and bro, it it's a really click, you know. Um DJ, can you play that song? And then I went, I'll peek. And those are the songs that when I go to perform, it is a staple, you have to sing it. And they would sing it the loudest, the fans would sing it the loudest. So that was a trend at that point in time. Now, when I do my Bollywood music, I I I tend to research the the basic meaning of the song. And I write my own English into it. So I would rather not at as I said, that was a point at uh a time in my life. Now I would rather go into something original to basically kind of compliment if I if I have to do a cover. You know, I understand. But the messages, if you look at the messages again, small beautiful messages, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that uh you know, I think I'm truly blessed, Corey, because when I look at the fan base, uh not just myself, but Delina Dan, bro, you know what it is every day to get messages, parents would send videos, little babies with a little bottle from every part of the world. So it's like Raymond. I don't know what you what you did to my six-month-old or my one-year-old, but they cannot go to sleep if I don't put on this on YouTube. If I don't put on this particular song, they would drink the tea, watch it, they might dance and sleep away. They're gonna but it's it's such a beautiful thing because now your music is being appreciated by these little babies, you know what I mean? And every single day we get these things, man. And that is why I count my blessings each day. I would sit down and thank God each day, bro. And I would urge everybody, boy, don't forget God, boy. Thank God every day for all the little blessings that you're getting.
Corie:Yeah, it's a message we could all take. Like, and even as you're talking about that music, our neighbor there for the name Jai Dong in London will do. When Jai opened up his system on a Sunday evening, uh we're hearing you know, them songs where again it starts off with the traditional version of the song, yeah, you go with it. So I hear you. I have a question about that though, because from a vocal standpoint, the treatment of all these songs different. If you're gonna do a ready or you do a bad janor, yeah, or where you learn that just watching and learning, or you do vocal training and nah, I never did vocal training.
Raymond:You never do vocal training. Nah, nah, never did vocal training.
Corie:Offering vocal training, maybe I should sign up.
Raymond:Nah, wait, wait, wait, wait, no way, just in case.
Corie:Nah, bro.
Raymond:Um, Corey Boy is is just me growing up and being exposed to all the different genres as a at a young age. Um, I would always tell guys though that you know, uh no matter how long you're in music, never stop listening to music. Listen different genres, not because you're into the soca or you're into chuckney, you just stick on soaker and chuckney, but listen, you learn so much, bro. But with respect to VOCA, I just just I go with the flow. Yeah, I like to yeah, I like to kind of create my own vibe too. Um, so yeah, all right, just a spot in the moment.
Corie:Just yeah, yeah, it does song so well. Serious, and because it you know, it because you sing songs like those, yes, you hear the change almost like some of them it might somebody might think it's a different single, yeah. They do it so well. So thank you, my brother. Yeah, we just sign up whenever you're doing the questions. Humble, man, humble, humble. We get that, yes, but yes, thank you. It has something they go kill me if we didn't talk about it. Yes, collaborations again, um that maraj. You have a couple collaborations with them though that I think take the place by storm.
Raymond:Yeah, Ramsing. Ramsing is Ramsing Sharma, Ramsing Sharma. Oh, it came about boy. When Omar Omar came now to the band room, and I can't recall who's the guy who actually kind of started to jot down the lyrics. Um, we just had a little thing in a piece of paper, nothing much. And actually, the song started off as Ram sing Rama, not Sharon. And when he said Ram Sing Rama, ooh, I said, ooh, now I see Omar. I do think we will go down that that route because you you one is a chutney, right? You're gonna have obviously it's it's gonna be played in places where they would have the alcohol, people be what does he mean? What is the Ramsing Rama? What does it mean? So Rama is basically one of the one of our gods.
Corie:I see, I see, I see, I understand in Hinduism.
Raymond:I understood, but then I would have felt very uncomfortable singing that, right? So I said, Pali, we look for something else, another name. And bam, bam, and we came up with came up with um Ramsing Sharma.
Corie:Right.
Raymond:I said, I'm the man. Sharmazy man. I said I'm the man we're looking for. And um, I started, you know, I started to, you know, we started just you know, sit sit in the bar room, we started to kind of pen and start writing out some lyrics and stuff. Up came Ramsing Sharma, and he entered, shot me, so come on a daddy. Um he won?
Corie:Yeah, the structure.
Raymond:He did, he he won it.
Corie:I think it was Ramsing Sharma. He won yeah, Rams. If I'm wrong about that, David goes to the wrong.
Raymond:Oh, yes, he did, he did, he did, he did win with uh Ramsing Sharma. Then we did Balki Soon. Balky Soon, pull that shoon in our wedding. Um Big Tune boy. You know the certain songs, Corey, that you can play now, and next 20 years you play it again in your the the song shaking up a crowd.
Corie:When you're talking about my lover, them songs is that up to this day you play my lover, and your songs, these songs you're talking about here could be long after we go on, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Raymond:Special. Yeah, that is I can't remember how bad it soon came out of it. That just yeah, just that just picture I'm saying, was he? Yeah, I'm saying what's he thing, yeah. Yeah, that take over. But I mean you hear it all. Everybody's singing national, everybody's singing Ramsing Sharm.
Corie:It's like what now, boy. Yeah, you see the thing about it. It's like uh just going back to that boundaryless thing. Richard was talking about it before we start. We go get Richard on camera at some point. When you come back, David, we gotta do something together, right? Good luck with that, bro. It didn't go you telling me must be able to trick him into something.
Raymond:Richard, you know what we had to do? Yeah, that kind of let's leave the camera to remember. Do tell him not now.
Corie:Yeah, you're pulling me on you just yeah, we'll tell him the lights and then take it back off fast, Lil.
Raymond:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know that camera.
Corie:But he was talking about some of the same things with the kind of boundaryless nature of music and us just just loving songs. You have some of the hostels things you were doing when you're young. And it's good to see everybody embracing songs like those because when you go back to Sonny Man and them kind of things, like when you hear the thing like Lotella. So Denise Belfon and I think it was General Grant with a Doa remix that's become but the original song. I hear my son randomly singing. What's the song I hear him singing the other day? Old Chutney song. It's like, who will you know that from?
Raymond:But you know, Corey, strangely enough, when you go to a fet and you all of a sudden D DJ rocking so can, but in the middle, and this is not just in Shonad until we go alone, but I mean, we experience it in fets outside too. Bam in the middle, they hit your Sonny man or Uncle Sam Budram or Uncle Um Budram whole ass. But they're giving it raw, the traditional bro, that's shaking up our energy is changing. Energy different, you know what I mean? And the music is so simple. When you think about what it is, I do like a dance harmony.
Corie:Yeah, I imagine that read the machine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said, Yeah, yeah, and it's it's it's it's our culture is ours, you know. I mean, it's something that I think we well, you're allowing us to embrace it in a lot of ways. You all it feels like deliberate, like like the work you're doing because let me talk about Fatima Fett a little bit. You you're great at mixing the music. As I say, maybe it's so in mocha, but the first thing you say when Carvalho is that is the Linada. You know, it's the first band you would see. And it is known that you're coming to give variety. You're giving this year hits, last year hits, all your hits, you know, sing a lot of music. It's something you feel we're missing in the culture now because again, when I talk to Eddie or Colin or David Ruddell, they would talk about the times where they used to sing the popular songs or they sing what the people want. It wasn't just about their own songs. You're still doing a lot of that.
Raymond:I believe for me, for me, I believe is there's a difference between Raymond, Ram, the Ryan, and Dylan, and in concert, and Raymond, Ram the Ryan, and Dylan, and coming to play in a fit. And when I say a fed, you you you're you're limited to about say 40 minutes on a stage. This is a fit. This is not a concert. This is how I look at it. Okay. Um, in my humble opinion. Yeah, I would love to do all my original songs in the 40 minutes. Okay. But at the end of the day, more impactful for me is I want to have that great impact on the crowd. So I want to choose songs very carefully. That when I hit bam, bam, bam, I must see this crowd on a steady hype. I don't want to be singing or have my boys pumping on stage, and then all of a sudden the crowd just sit and watching you or stand up watching you. So for me, for me, there's a difference between uh Rayman and Delinda and then concert. You come to a concert, I will offer it. I will present all if not 90% of my original songs. Yeah, I will present it to you. That's a different ambience, a whole different ball game coming to a concert. But I I I truly believe when somebody comes to All Inclusive, we come to fed. We come to eat, we come to have little drinks, but we come to party. So I want to give you the best options when it comes to comes to like choosing selections, choosing songs that will make an impact.
Corie:You feel it's one of the reasons the band has last so long and it is a staple in the events throughout the year.
Raymond:Yeah, I think it's a combination, though, Corey. The thing is, yeah, that is one. Uh, secondly, I think is it's it's truly our nature and how we really interact with with the crowd. Not just me, but bro, for instance, we went to South Africa this year, and forget me, man. Just for just forget me for one point in time. And I told my boys, I said, go out there, go out there, meet the fans. You have a photo shoot at Raymond? Yes, it it is it was crazy. But at the end of the day, I had my boys there, I had the entire team being a part of it, taking pictures with the fans, you know, being there with them, talking to them, you know, making the fans and everybody feel important because they are yeah, they are very important, they play such a big part in our lives. So, um, so it's a combination of yeah, you choosing your songs wisely on stage. Um, also, I mean, the energy on stage has to be see it. You can't be playing songs and you stand up and you're singing song, you expect a crowd, they are the feet of you, yeah. You would. Uh so yeah, how with you? How with you now?
Corie:Yeah, we see it, we see it, we see it. A few things I'd ask you. You bring up Chutney Soka Monarch, right? And let me just say, I will marry again if I have the chance to marry my wife again.
Raymond:When I born in my next life, I don't want to have a wife is one. I think I'm gonna sing that song, which I just do when I'm born in my next life. I don't want to have a wife is one thing for my old girls and watch a man. I swear that I am married no more. I'll kiss the ring now because I mean if I can kiss that ring and I'll go woman.
Corie:I never plan on saying so much in my life. I said, I want to have this man brother's married and again, but just in case I'm gonna leave it for the last couple minutes. So my wife ain't gonna be watching all this part. I mean, maybe she ain't gonna make it this far. I don't know. But you enter your wedding to us, yeah. Yeah, how it felt?
Raymond:You know, man, it felt really good. Um, but to be honest, I I wasn't the guy into any competition. It does seem so you don't like it. You only went in twice. I I didn't, yeah. I for me it was more about collaboration than competition for me. And collaboration is really I've seen it, I've seen competitions where you're in it, and instead of us all 14 or 15, 15 of us wish each other well, genuine, genuinely or sincerely, man. You just feel this coolness, you feel everybody's enemies. No, we don't have to be like that. Yes, we're gonna compete at the end of the day, but let me still show the love now, man. Go out there, do your best. I'm gonna go there and do my best. Um I wasn't gonna enter. Nah, DJ Sean DJ Sean came together with Richard, and there was a time where I felt personally that I just felt that the chuckling music was going astray with respect to. I'm gonna say astray, this was just my humble observe observation. I felt like it was going astray. Where Corey, when you hear a reggaeton, or you hear uh a Latino song, or you hear soccer, or you hear um reggae, or any different genre music, you identify it with the with the rhythm. You know, you hear you hear the rhythm. So when you hear rhythm, you say we now that is a Latin song, you hear the percussions and whatnot, and there was a time where I felt like they were they were releasing Chutney songs, they were releasing Chuckney songs, and they're saying, Okay, this is the brand new Chutney released by so and so. But then the only thing for me uh saying that okay is a Chuckney song is because okay, yeah, maybe I'm East Indian singing it. Sure. Because the music that they were producing, I wasn't hearing nothing chuckney about it. I wasn't hearing the tasa, I know hearing the doolak, I know hearing the dantal, I know hearing a haremonium. Not I'm not talking about the traditional chuckney. You know what you mean? Yeah, the signature of it. Oh, right. They had like this chuckney so canoe that they were releasing, and I wasn't hearing these things. I was like, we're losing it. We're losing it year after year, what we doing?
Corie:Yeah, yeah.
Raymond:And I said to myself, man, I wish I could do something about it, but I don't know what I could do. Go to the radio stations, talk to them. Yeah, who's gonna listen? Some may listen, some may just feel like, okay, you shouldn't say that. But if if if if me as a leader in this business, being around for so many years, is this business is more important to me than myself. Is is is bigger than me. Because I want to see after my time is up, I want to see that yes, we nature it and you know the thing goes on and go on. So I said to myself, how how am I gonna make an impact? I don't know how come like God just probably send these fellas to me. They said, Rima, we need you to enter Chutney Soka Mona. I said, What? Are you not gonna enter that boy? Are you not into competition? Leave my alone now. Let's see, when the corner just breathing, I just enjoying life. Yeah, yeah. So, boy, Corey boy. They went at me, they went at me, they say we do it, do it for the love. We seen it fallen. We want to see Chuckney come back to where we're supposed to be. We produce the song, I ain't married no more. You could hear your tassa in the little harmony and behind, so you know for sure when you hear the song, hey, categorize that dad as Chuckney, so we went into Chuckney Soka Monarch, and man, it was it was a spectacle. Was it 2013? It was a spectacle, bro. This skinner park was just I remember um my good friend, was it uh JW. All right, and he was well, before before the man announced that I was coming on, he was just calling like the you know, the list of uh um artists coming to to perform. And bam, by the time he they called my name from where I was in my dressing room, bro. I just this whole place just started to erupt. It started getting me nervous too. It's like what do you have? Come on, stay quiet. I get a little bit nervous now, boy. I mean, I appreciate it, I love it, I love them too bad, but I started getting nervous. I said, Oh god, my hands had to shake. And bro, we went up on stage with Tanta and Saga Boy, everybody, man, and displayed it. Um fly the flag so high. We won, we won it that year. They said, What are you gonna do next year? I ain't I'm I'm good. I'm good. I came here to make a statement, I made it. Now I'm gonna leave it for others. I'm gonna continue my journey to collaborate, and instead of basically setting people apart through competition, I want to collaborate and make us come together.
Corie:Yeah, I hear more and more to say nothing about competition here, you know, where it makes it nasty. It should be like a football game, not the one where you're enjoying the a good football game where you could um he jump safe and so on, right? But we could compete without being enemies.
Raymond:We could do that, man. But and and and and I feel like the whole competition thing now, you had to kind of reshuffle and make it a little uh you know, make it even more worthwhile. When I say, yeah, everybody wanna make the money and everybody want to do the this, do the that, but at the end of the day, man, you want to see everything treated fairly. So I think you know, if you have seven contestants, um focus on really seven contestants. Start by really having acclaimed judges, start by really having people who really know about the music, know about the genre, know if you're singing Hindi, the judges we must be, you know, you must know, you must know a little Hindi. Um so for me, I I think it should be not just a competition where somebody win and come out with a million dollars and they just run away. For me, it's like you win a competition and whether the second and the third and the fourth and fifth and sixth place, you know what? Let me have this thing where you where you win the competition, or you have the first five or six contestants, and you come together after now, and you find out really where the floors were, and you sit down with your judges and work towards being better the next time, not just making it a one-night thing and you go you go you win and wait.
Corie:I wait till I find all competitions should adjust the way you're talking about there. One of the things I always worry about because when I see your presentation, for instance, it wasn't cheap. So I wonder sometimes if I'm an artist who's now coming in here, it was not cheap. It wasn't easy. Or they put budgets behind it. Yeah, but I find that if there's a competition, and I talk in generally, not just chutney, right? They and you have finalists. You know how a Grammy nomination is a big thing? I think we should adjust it so that the finalists, you know, make the final, that's a huge thing. Yes, you don't win. And maybe for promoters, whether private or public sector, put the budgets in place, help the artists so that you know people now coming out must be able to compete with people who establish, you know. You know, only put the budget for the performance. It's funny you raised that topic too.
Raymond:And that that that makes so much sense because you have five artists, um, but out of that five, it are two of them who have the money, who have those who can show the back ins behind them for the next three.
Corie:Yeah, so then it's not a competition.
Raymond:The next three though have, they're not lucky enough to have that. The thing is, the next three, vocally, you can't beat them. The next two that have all the back ins for the for the um, what do you call it? Yeah, the presentation. Presentation. Now, I think for me personally, presentation shouldn't really play a big part when it comes to raw talent. And again, this is just my opinion, I think raw talent, vocalists, raw talent should be treated higher. When you look at the competitions outside, like the American Idols and this one, and but they look at that raw talent first and foremost. Yes, you have your little thing for your presentation, but then again, is it fair to the others who can't afford budget-wise to have a grand presentation compared to the others who may have all the finances right there?
Corie:Yeah, the finances, the relationships, all the time.
Raymond:The relationships. So sometimes the presentation overpowers the the the the the actual singing. Of course, of course. You know, so how how how are they gonna fix that? Yeah, yeah. How are you gonna fix that? And then sometimes these, you know, with the those who don't have that backing, they get discouraged. Of course, they will get discouraged because and I feel it for them. I've seen it, you know, I've seen it in competitions where really, really good singers, they got booted out very early. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They have good songs, good me, uh, good, good um meanings, good.
Corie:Yeah, so boy, it is what it is sometimes, you know. David, I know they go put me out just a few more.
Raymond:Get her, you're gonna get it.
Corie:I think yeah, look at David now boy. Why is saying this so important to me personally? Because and it's something that I see with you as well. I talk about your uh what seem to be deliberate efforts to collaborate with the stalwarts. But it seems as though you're welcoming to the youth something. I see some of you and Saki the last year, you know, me too.
Raymond:Of course, of course, of course, man. Um as I say, music, we have no limits, man. We have no limits. But what I do, I believe in quality more than quantity. So you wouldn't see me just running, you know, Tom, Dick, Harry, everybody want a collaboration. And I'm gonna do that, man. It has to make sense. Right. Um, we have to be on the same page. Um, if people look at me and look at my career, everything about me has been very positive. So you don't really see me going and singing the hardcore rum songs and things. Yeah, you know, I would sing songs, but very brilliantly, I would look to pen my lyrics. So I wouldn't just say drink 10 bottles of rum.
Corie:I mean thoughtful about it.
Raymond:You would yes, you have ways you could say it. Because at the end of the day, you know, I would have situations where I have to go visit schools, sing for kids, and I'm gonna sing that song, you know. So um I'm I'm very careful when it comes to writing. Um, 90, 95% of my chop me songs is is what I write. You know, so yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Corie:All right, so um, yeah. You know what it's it again, just going back through your catalogue, it felt that way. It all it felt as though just listening through to some of them, someone knows some of 10 for the first time, and it felt as if, you know, we talk about Delinada and how long it lasted. And it feels as if you're making a deliberate effort to create something that could last another 70 years.
Raymond:That's my father's. That was my father's dream, bro. To the something do um when I'm when we were younger, though, my dad always said that he wanted his dream. He used to pray to God to have three kids, to have three boys. And well, I don't know, boy. Believe in prayers, boy, because there's three boys to get. You know, um, because he would he you know he would tell us all the stories long time, you know, like the Raman Roti era where the band set up and keyboarders wouldn't show up. Sometimes they show up and they walk out half of the session. So he always had, whilst they were like really good members, there were those who used to give them the headache now and nobody gives my father a headache. You know what I mean? Yeah, you'll be gone. Nah, nah. My dad, my dad prayed, and he he prayed sincerely, man. And when he when when we took over the band, myself, Richard, and Rennie, my dad actu I felt I actually saw this. Okay. I could relax now. All his hard work to T 40 years into the Delina done. And now I could sit back and relax. And we used to beg him, I said, Dad, come now and play keyboard. I good. He would come to the concert, he would sit down, he would watch, he will chill so on. I mean, when when we in the bar room, he would come in, he would buck up on this one, buck up on hey, hey, hey, no, no, no, no, no. Check back that piece of line again on the that keyboard line. Yeah, Raymond, check back that, do this. He wouldn't come and just basically, you know, take over anything, but he would be there to be that person to give us that constructive criticism and the guidance and whatnot. So boy.
Corie:Yeah, I just can't talk about that too long, you know. You'd imagine. I would imagine. Well, listen, not to end on a summer note because I mean what what he would have contributed and also what you continuing to contribute is something I want to thank you for. I appreciate it greatly because I I think I believe that expression is expression. People should sing wherever, whatever comes to your heart, you sing you know, like censorship and music. Yeah, but I do appreciate people who are very deliberate about the influence that they have and the choices that they make and what they say, especially the young people.
Raymond:Boy, yeah, if if you look around, if you you know, we look out, we look, forget everywhere else, but Trinidad. I mean, you know, we see we see things from this from the school violence, we see things happening on the streets, things that we don't want to see. You know what I mean? So that is what really inspires me more and pushes me more to say, you know what, man, you know, keep singing and and and keep just keep bringing music that can really touch people's lives now, boy, and make a change. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just just make a little slight change.
Corie:I think so.
Raymond:We can't change the world, but we can try. We can change the world, man.
Corie:Because we're the grown-ups now, I tell everybody that, you know, somehow we were the children. No, no, no. We're on the band room, now we're the adults. We see adults. I don't know when exactly.
Raymond:We can all come together, you know. I always believe my favorite um basketball team now is is Golden State Warriors, right? And one of their things is together we are stronger, and that's what I believe in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If we come together, man, and and really work together, we can we can achieve so much, man, in life, you know. So music, let the music play on, let the music play.
Corie:Yeah, when they say come together, they make no joking because they're comedy full team, they come bearing gifts. We not they come bearing gifts, give me a good size, you give me a good size, you know. Nothing for David. I'm a I'm I'm a boys that my camera boys make sure everybody good, make sure everybody gets something that man, make sure my boys them get something of course, of course, of course. But I appreciate it, I appreciate you coming through. I know it's we're tired of talking today. I hope the ginger tea works. I hope you actually work the Papa Men boy. All right, good. Nice push there. All right, David, they're we got Jesus. You do well, we appreciate that. So thanks a million, brother. Thanks for having me. Yeah, we gotta do this again. We're gonna keep doing it.
Raymond:I would love to bring the boys, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's do that. Let's do that. Let me do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a blessing. Them backstory is critical to me. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. I thank you so much. Huge fan. We always Richard, especially Richard. Yeah, Richard, tell me for this Cory. Corey's amazing, man. Tell Richard, don't tell me that before we start again. Tell me after. All right, all right. I appreciate you guys, and and and as I said, man, let the music play on, you know. Love for me and the old Jelena Dan family. Thank you. I appreciate it, man. Thank you, sir. Yes, man.
Corie:Oh no, no, no, I didn't want to go to the body.