Soca Chronicles
Monthly Soca Podcast - Hosts Arkayo and Sharnz explore the people, history, and unforgettable moments behind Soca music and the Carnival experience – from legendary artists and DJ's to personal stories from the road.
Soca Chronicles
Island-Hopping Through Carnival Season and Interview with Nadia Batson
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Sharnz and Arkayo take listeners on a whirlwind tour of the summer carnival circuit, sharing experiences from St. Lucia to Notting Hill and featuring an exclusive interview with soca star Nadia Batson.
• St. Lucia Carnival highlights and Road March winners with "The Car" by Dezral and Jardel taking first place
• Barbados Crop Over experiences including a review by our good friend Bramble
• Grenada's stellar year for soca music with Lil Kerry's "Bury All" winning Road March
• Exclusive interview with Nadia Batson at Belgium's Antilliaanse Feesten about her musical journey and advice for upcoming artists
• Reflections on Notting Hill Carnival and tips for navigating Europe's largest Caribbean festival
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow Soca Chronicles on Instagram @soca_chronicles and share with friends who love Caribbean culture and music.
Antiliaanse Feesten Instagram here.
Welcome to Soca Chronicles Episode 48
Speaker 1Welcome to the Soca Chronicles . Soca Chronicles with Sharns and RKO .
Speaker 2Welcome to the 48th episode of Soca Chronicles , the podcast that brings you everything Soca . I'm RKO and I'm digitally sitting next to the one and only Sharns .
Speaker 3Y-y-y-y-y-yo .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's my yo-yo-yo . I was just waiting for it and I'm just I . Yeah , I keep thinking that people listening to this podcast for the first time , they they from the first minute . They have no clue what's going on . But don't worry , we're going to talk about soca . So everything is well in life and in the world and there is much to discuss this month Because it was high season for Carnival .
Speaker 4Oh yeah , oh yeah .
Speaker 2So one of us went to St Lucia and Barbados . We'll talk about that , or at least that person will talk about it a lot . We're going to talk about Grenada . Then two of the people making this podcast actually went to Ante Anse Feeste , which we'll discuss , where we had a little interview .
Speaker 4Listen , rko , can you stop smouldering up the ting ? Just don't do that . You've not smouldered up the ting in time and this is like a big , big , big ting and you want to smoulders one up .
Speaker 2Nah , it's huge . It's by far the biggest artist , artist , sorry , the biggest artist We've interviewed In Soho Chronicles .
Speaker 4Oh , yes , ever , 100% , 100% . So this is the last episode Of the fourth year we're doing it and we're going to close it out .
Speaker 2With a big name .
Speaker 4There we go so .
Speaker 2That's sick . A big interview coming up and then , last but not least , we're going to talk about a carnival where both of us have been , have gone to , which is nothing hill carnival . There's plenty to discuss . I say let's get into it I agree , let's go soca chronicles starting off with the bomb bomb wall and sharon's experience of the Bomb Bomb Wall
St. Lucia Carnival and Road March Results
Speaker 2.
Speaker 4Oh yeah , oh yeah , and the big fail that happened .
Speaker 2Anyway , I'm not going to spoil too much of the fun .
Speaker 4Let's not , let's not . But before I talk about my experience in St Lucia , can we just discuss the Road March , or not even discuss , but just mention the Road March results ?
Speaker 2Oh yeah , absolutely , Absolutely , even discuss , but just mention the road march results .
Speaker 4Oh , yeah , absolutely , absolutely , because I feel like I'm gonna chat so much we're gonna forget the road march , and I don't want to do that . That won't be good , right ? So road march results in first place and this first place , this first place song Does not surprise me , because the way this song got rinsed . Yeah , it's huge , yeah , it got rinsed and I knew it was going to win . I absolutely knew it . So in first place was Desiree and Jardel With the Car .
Speaker 2And when you get the car you gotta oi the car . Yeah , it's the embodiment of Lucien Soka .
Speaker 4Honestly , it's amazing yeah yeah , yeah , big song , big song . And then in second place was Ricky T and Hollywood HP with Freak Out .
Speaker 2Big tune .
Speaker 4Which that rhythm ? It's been packaged as a brand new rhythm , but it's literally the same as mad people segment . Mad people segment yeah , did you .
Speaker 2Yeah , now that you know that you see actually , yeah , that's insane .
Speaker 4It's basically the same rhythm , basically . I think this one's called breakout rhythm , this new one , I think something yes , they broke it out of the closet again . Yeah , literally . And then in third place was Carlto with I Cry .
Speaker 2Now , this song was so I love that song . Yeah , wah , wah , wah I .
Speaker 5Cry , love that song .
Speaker 4Wah , wah , wah yeah . Big song , big song , so yeah . So those were the Roadmarch results . None of those results shocked me or surprised me . I knew all three of those results shocked me or surprised me . I knew all three of those would place . Um , yeah , so this was my first st lucia carnival well , my first time participating in it , because the last time I went to st lucia was 2016 and I was there from I think it was like a thursday till till the Monday , and I didn't even realize it was carnival when I went , which is crazy . So I think I remember like some sort of circle monarch thing that I went to by accident , but of course , I missed carnival Monday . I missed carnival Tuesday when I went , so that doesn't count .
Speaker 4So this was like the first time where I'm like , yep , I'm going to do all the events . You know I didn't do costume or anything because I just wanted to be like a roadside warrior . That was my thing , because I wanted to cut down on the costs , obviously me doing St Lucia and Barbados back to back . You know my pockets are not long like a giraffe's neck , so you know I got to pick and choose . No , no , no .
Speaker 2I mean . No no , you're an international DJ , you know . You know what ? Let's just cut .
Speaker 4This podcast is over . I'm done . I'm walking away .
Speaker 2No , we still have this big interview to have , so no , not now .
Speaker 4Not gonna happen , yeah . So I enjoyed it , like St Lucia is such a beautiful island , like the sceneries the sceneries . The scenery is crazy . Oh yeah , yeah , yeah , it's lovely . I really enjoyed the grosile fish fry on the friday night . So it was giving oysters vibes , but better , because I'm over oysters now I'm over oysters , and I don't care who fell off my chair almost yeah , I don't care who wants to come for me , who wants to cuss me , like I am so over oysters now , like I don't even .
Speaker 2I can't even remember the last time I went to oysters , bro , I don't even go who hurt you it's for it's for tourists , bro , I'm not a tourist I mean , you brought me like every single time I went there , yeah , and when was the last time ? Because I'm a tourist there we go .
Speaker 4You went . What your last time ?
Speaker 2Last time you were there .
Speaker 4Did we even go to Oystins when you last went ? No , I don't think so . Yeah .
Speaker 2I don't think we did .
Speaker 4because my sister was there , we didn't go to Oystins .
Speaker 2No , you're right .
Speaker 4Exactly .
Speaker 2I like .
Speaker 4Oystins , bro , I'm not , not a tourist .
Speaker 2Sorry , you're a local .
Speaker 4I yeah , so honestly it , the the grosile fish fry was amazing . I really enjoyed it and our good friend super nitro was djing there , mashed up the whole place yeah , I was obviously the videographer because you know me , I'd be the fangirl , I'd be the groupie you know how it goes um , yeah , I would say what would ?
Speaker 4what was my favorite fet for saint lucia ? I haven't even thought about this properly , but I went to remedy , I went to um sun up and at sun up I got bun up . So I left with like my first ever major sunburn , which is crazy , absolutely crazy . But that's another story .
Speaker 2I would have been a tomato then , yeah yeah , you , my friend .
Speaker 4you would have lost all of your skin . It wouldn't have been regenerated bro .
Speaker 2I'd have to get a new one somewhere .
Speaker 4Literally we'd have to get skin graft or something .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , yeah , I hope they have my size somewhere , literally .
Speaker 4It was crazy hot , like St Lucia for me was like way hotter than Barbados , like way hotter it was insane , but sun up was like a breakfast fit it was .
Speaker 4It was really good I had . I had a great time . The food was good , the music was good , the men look good , jesus , peace , yeah , I mean , yeah , it was great . Um , I didn't even get to do any boat rides while I was there , which was I was a bit bummed out about because the boat ride I wanted to go to was the day that I left oh yeah , which was yeah , it was , and I heard that it was like really good as well , the shit probably .
Speaker 4Yeah , exactly , of course , yeah that it was like really good as well , the shit , probably yeah , exactly , of course . Yeah , that one was called Bend . What was my favorite event ?
Speaker 2Maybe it was the road .
Speaker 4No , the road was good , but I wouldn't say it was my favorite , but it was good . It may have been Sunup , you know , I'm not too sure the one that you got burned on . Even though I got bun up at sun up , I still enjoyed it . There was one event , oh my days . There was one event brazen I think it was where , imagine I was listening to songs like
Barbados Crop Over Experience
Speaker 4I don't care , I love it and those sort of cheesy pop songs . Why am I hearing that ? In a circle party , please ? Why am I hearing ?
Speaker 4that , yeah , what's that Like cool Played on .
Speaker 2That was very brazen .
Speaker 4Literally , and I will big you up on that joke . That's one I can accept .
Speaker 5Because normally your jokes are terrible .
Speaker 2But I'll let you have that one . That's actually the first big up . I got them for you , I think , literally Since five years or something . Yeah , something like that .
Speaker 4But yeah , so I was at that point . So that was kind of towards the end of the party and I was hearing all them pop songs and I'm like this is dead and I was ready to leave . But I was not the designated driver . I had a designated driver who wasn't ready to leave yet and one person in our crew had gone missing . So it was like damn , I can't even leave I can't wait till we find the other guy and then we left . So , yeah , that was really disappointing um but yeah , that's wild though .
Speaker 2Yeah , I did a lot I did a lot incia .
Speaker 4So there was one day when so it was the day I did sun up actually . So sun up we did in the morning , and then came home , had like a one hour nap or two hour nap or something , and then we had brazen , came back , had like another like one or two hour nap , and then we had juve morning juve morning we jump in literally , bro , when I told you I was so tired I couldn't enjoy it , like , oh yeah , I was just like that's the age man I want to go home and the thing is it was it was far like .
Speaker 4It took us , I think , about 30 to 45 minutes to drive there , whereas all the other fetts we had gone to was like 10 15 minute drive yeah and I was so tired I could not drink any alcohol . I said if I drink , alcohol I am going to drop down on this floor and somebody has to carry me .
Speaker 4I couldn't , I couldn't do it so I paid 70 us dollars yeah , oh shit for this viking helmet because the band was vikings . For my vikings helmet , a t-shirt no , I didn't even get a t-shirt so literally for a helmet people yeah , they gave me a helmet . They gave me , like um one of them glow stick things .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 4And that was it . I paid 70 US dollars for those two items . Basically , I didn't even get my money's worth . You know me , I'll normally get my money's worth when it comes to drinks and stuff . I couldn't , yeah , couldn't do it . I was miserable the whole time . So what I've learned is , if I do St Lucia again , I'm not doing Juve morning , I'm not doing Juve morning , I'm just going to rest , because then after Juve morning it's the road . Oh , so we literally had to leave Juve morning , drive back , sleep , and because we had got back , I think we got back at like eight or nine in the morning- and the road starts from literally about 10 am or maybe even before that .
Speaker 2Yeah , that makes no sense .
Speaker 4That's what I'm saying . And we basically , by the time we got back to the road , we had more or less missed all the bands , shit , so it's like we were chasing after them . So we had to walk , for I think it was like a 40 minute walk .
Speaker 2Wild .
Speaker 4For us to catch up to the band . So by that time I had missed the bum bum wall .
Speaker 5So I walked past the bum bum wall , but there was no bum bums on top of it , so I completely missed the bum bum wall .
Speaker 2Oh that bums on top of it , so I completely missed the bum bum war . Oh that sucks , man , which was crazy .
Speaker 4That's the one thing that you can enjoy . That's what I'm saying . All because we decided to be stupid , stupid and go to juve morning . So we learned don't do that again . So then we finally caught up with the bands . We still had a good time , etc , etc . But I was kind of a bit bummed out that I missed the bum bum wall . But I was like do you know what ? There's two days of carnivals . So I was like , let's try again Tuesday . But then Tuesday I had to go to the airport to drop somebody . So again I missed the bum bum wall .
Speaker 2Missing the bum bum wall again .
Speaker 4I missed it , so I wall again . I missed it , so I didn't get to see the bum bum wall , yeah , which was a bit disappointing , but and I wanted to shake my bum bum on the bum bum wall and I didn't get to do that .
Speaker 2You could have done it , but it would be a bit weird in these just me on my own just yeah can you imagine ? I can . I am actually right now and it looks quite funny .
Speaker 4That's crazy so yeah , I missed the bum . Bum war people but , it was definitely a good experience . I saw quite a few people I knew , um , yeah , and just brought my drink with me and you know , vibing with my two breads in them and um yeah , so sed lucia was nice . So I did one week and it was straight to barbados afterwards . But you know , barbados for me is like my second home , so you know me .
Speaker 4I'm gonna have a time regardless . Um , but yeah , so that was St Lucia . Oh so , remember , every time I go away , I feel like I've always got some sort of like story that involves a bit of drama .
Speaker 2Oh , of course I was waiting for it yeah , I almost forgot .
Speaker 4So I flew to st lucia like the wednesday after carnival to go back to barbados . So initially my flight was like 4 30 pm yeah , yeah when I first booked it .
Speaker 4And then I'm checking flights , what ? Maybe three , four months down the line because somebody else needed to book a flight and they wanted to be on my flight . So then I'm checking and I'm not seeing a 4.30 flight online . Oh what ? Yeah , I'm seeing . I think it was like 3.50 or 3.20 or something like that . It was like three something PM . So I'm like what's going on here ? So obviously , naturally , I've emailed the company and they've said to me oh no , you know , you're on the free something flight , so they've changed the time of the flight and they've not emailed me , they've not updated me at all .
Speaker 4They've just changed it so now imagine if I got to the airport late and I've missed my flight . They're gonna be like oh well , that's your fault , do you know ? I mean , and I've lost all that money . So , anyway , I then I think it was like the day before I was flying or on the morning , something said to me check the time of your flight again . They had changed the flight back to 4.30 . Wow Make it make sense .
Speaker 2Well , if you didn't know , nothing would have changed . Yeah , I just would have been early so that's not even the worst of it .
Speaker 4So I get to the airport now and they're telling me oh yeah , the flight's delayed . Um , we're not sure how long it's delayed for , but it's looking like until maybe about 6 pm I'm thinking 6 pm and I was at the airport on my own as well , I wasn't sitting with anyone so it's like you know , if you're with somebody else , you know you can just chill with them , banter whatever , and across the road from the airport they have like a bar yeah so I was like all right , cool , I'm just gonna chill by the bar .
Speaker 4Just got my laptop out , started watching stuff like series on there well , whatever , whatever . So they said to me , come back at a certain time and then we can , you know , give you an update . So I went back and they're like yep , the flight's delayed even further you know , come back in an hour and check again I'm like when it happens yo , I went back now and this was , I think , like seven something pm . Now like OK , yep , your flight has just left St Lucia . It's on its way to Barbados .
Speaker 2Oh , my God .
Speaker 4It needs to pick up , it needs to drop people off in Barbados , it needs to pick more people up , bring them to St Lucia and once that happens , then you guys can all board and then go to Barbados .
Speaker 2So they were basically behind the flight .
Speaker 4Yeah , I'm like yo . So then I went back across the road to the bar , sat there , got food from the bar Absolutely awful Waste of money and I didn't even really want to drink too much , because I had been drinking for like a week straight and I was just like sick of alcohol .
Speaker 4So anyway , a guy came over I would say it was maybe like eight something , jesus Maybe , and then he was just like yeah , you know , the flight's almost here . You know , um , you can come through and start going through immigration , etc . Etc . So yeah , we got to barbados , like so late .
Speaker 4I had car hire . So the car hire guy was like ready to you know , drop the car to me At the airport , etc . Etc . But obviously I had to Keep him updated . But because it started To get so late , the guy was just like to me Yo , is it alright if I just leave the car at the airport for you ? And he literally just left the keys inside the car . Love it , love it , I was literally just like yep , sure , no problem , do that yeah .
Speaker 4So I think I got to Barbados like after nine o'clock bro wow , that's insane .
Speaker 2And then they're like four yeah , they're like to me .
Speaker 4So I said , oh , because obviously you know within europe if your flight is delayed by three hours or more you get compensation . So they were like um , oh , it has to be delayed by , I think , five hours or something for you to get compensation . I'm like what ? Are you being serious ? It's different in the caribbean . They don't have the same rules whatever and then , when I looked on their website , the compensation they give you is literally just credit or points the otherwise .
Speaker 2You know this . You can imagine this is true bankrupt . This is true because they're always late .
Speaker 4So I'm not even gonna bother trying to claim anything . I can't be bothered .
Speaker 4It is what it is , but yeah that was my drama and I was just like because on a wednesday , during copper river period you know it's soca state of mind I was like determined . I was tired as hell , but I was determined to go out . So I literally got in , showered , ate and was back on the road again back to soca state of mind and people were like , wow , we did not expect you to make it tonight . I was like yo , I'm outside epic I'm outside .
Speaker 4So yeah , so that was my bit of drama , um for the trip , yeah , which was really annoying and obviously it's hot as shit . Excuse my language I just swore you know . So you're sweating and then you're getting irritated because you're hot and yeah , it was long . It was long and then it started peeing down with rain and I was just like lord give me strength and then 100 they were talking about the flight might get cancelled .
Speaker 4I was thinking , yo can we not do this because I don't want to spend another night in sed lucia like , even though Sallusha is beautiful . I had my itinerary planned for Barbados and you know , I think me and you are kind of similar at that , like when we have like something planned out it needs to go to plan Like if it doesn't go to plan . It's like we're like all over the place .
Speaker 4Yeah , yeah , yeah , very at best . No , exactly literally , but I made it in the end I was happy , I was thankful , and then also because the weight restrictions are more strict .
Speaker 4They're a lot stricter on these smaller airlines I had to like pay for my hand luggage to be checked in because it was too heavy to take . So they were like , oh yeah , your bag might not make it on the same flight as you . So I'm like , yeah , no , okay . So then I'm like , oh well , um , how will I know if my bag's not gonna make it on the flight ? They said , oh , when you , when you land in barbados , you know , huh yeah , of course what do you mean ?
Speaker 4when I land in barbados I'll know . So what ? Like nobody can tell me beforehand , because obviously you guys gotta load up the plane , so you know if it's going to make it or not ? So you can like get a message to me , like tell one of the air hostesses all right , can you call this person ? And tell them their bag's not going to make it Blah , blah , blah , blah .
Speaker 2Yeah , but luckily both of my won the lottery because , that's right .
Speaker 4They put them on first because they don't want to have to deal with you probably literally , and I'm glad for that because I literally , if I didn't get my bags , I would have had no clothes for the trip because I couldn't put anything in my backpack , because my backpacks got like a laptop in it and plus they've got weight restrictions . Do you know I mean ? It couldn't be more than four kilos yeah my laptop alone weighs about four kilos .
Speaker 4So it was just like , yeah , that was crazy , but yeah , st Lucia was vibes . And then Barbados , barbados . I had a great time . For me , this trip to Barbados Was probably the most successful One that I've had so far , and I'll tell you why . Obviously , I DJ'd with Colors again On the road , which was great , but I also got to play at one of my favourite FETs and it's a local FET as well Soca State of Mind . I got to play the day before I left the island , which was absolutely amazing , and I got great feedback From my set as well . Obviously , I warmed up and it actually People came in from early , so I played ?
Speaker 4I think it was 10 till 12 and from Like half past 10 there were quite a few people in there . I was like damn Literally , because you know me I always play to walls and bar stuff Apart from . At Antilleanza Festa , but we'll talk about that later on .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 4But I was shocked and I spoke on the microphone with my English accent . You know , love it here and there . Maybe put on a little Bajan accent . Then I apologise for it afterwards because I know it's terrible , but yeah , it was great . Barbados I want to give an honorary mention to two FETs actually no three , no two . Booze and Bacchanal is like my new favourite boat ride for Crop Over my new favourite one . So big up Scooby and the team Booze and Bacchanal's vibes . I went for the first time last year and it was epic and I said I'm never missing Boozing . Back an hour again .
Speaker 2Nice so .
Speaker 4Yeah , that was great . And Bliss . I've never been to Bliss In my life . It's an all inclusive party , so include your food , include your drinks , whatever . And Bramble , our good friend Bramble , has told me about Bliss Because he used to go All the time and he told me how good of a fet it was . But I had never gone because , you know , it's probably like 160 US or something . So I had to limit the amount of all-inclusive parties I go to because , as I said before , my pockets are not long .
Speaker 4But I managed to get in for free because Super Nitro was DJing at Bliss and I got in as his plus one . Bliss is an epic party , bro , Like I would suggest for anyone If you're under 25 don't go , don't go .
Speaker 2Oh , wow , okay .
Speaker 4We don't need children in the parties . But it's like yeah , it's a more mature , so I'd say it's like 25 plus .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 4Event and it was epic . The food was nice . Premium drinks yeah , it was epic , so definitely Nice . Bruising back an hour Bliss , never , ever , ever miss those parties never lost in paradise was good as well . Um , I enjoyed djing on the truck with colors . I hosted for myself again this year . Um , yeah , that , that and I didn't so four day morning . Obviously , I've only ever been with colors . I've never been with any other band for four days this year I decided to change and do a private jump . So I did a private jump with native .
Speaker 4It was a very different experience because obviously I'm used to being on the road , going through town etc . Etc . Um , I had fun , don't get me wrong , but I definitely missed being on the road . I can't lie to you because obviously with a private jump . It's just you and the people in your band , that's it . You don't get exactly the spectators on the side . You don't get to see your other friends in different bands yeah , so that was a bit different for me , but it was still good .
Speaker 4But I think next year I might want to be back on the road , but I'm not sure I'll make that decision next year . But yeah , I had a great time At Imbim Great , great time . Roadmarch results Didn't shock me either . I knew all three of these would place . But first place was Lead Pipe with Tech Charge Absolute banger , banger , absolutely . Probably my favourite song for the season Can't lie .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , and sticks , it sticks .
Speaker 4Yeah , definitely , and that has actually left Barbados as well , so that gets played a lot in the UK . Since I've come back , I've heard DJs that would never normally play , like the new beige and stuff .
Speaker 4They're playing Tech Charge , so I'm just like yes , yeah , yeah , good lord second place was Jordan English with Darkers , so I got my Darkers on yeah so when I was out there it was between , like nobody knew who was going to win , but they knew first and second Was going to be Darkers and Tech Charge , but they didn't know which order it was Because every single party you went to . Those two songs were just played over and over , and over and over again for sure , and then in third place , we had Lil Rick With Call 911 . Which is yeah , love that . So , yeah , very happy with the road march . Results didn't get any shockers at all .
Speaker 2Yeah , so that was Barbados so we did ask our good friend Bramble as well to do a quick review on his experience . He also went to Barbados and he always writes a huge review , uh , of all his like events that he to , all the songs that he listened to , all the DJs that were performing , all the producers that produced . So let's listen to Bramble for a couple of minutes and listen to his experience .
Bramble's Crop Over Mini Review
Speaker 6Before I start my mini review , I need to thank Circle Chronicles for having me have a little segment on their show once again . So once again I went to Kropova Festival from about mid-July to a couple of days after Kuduman . So first of all , my first fit I went to was Weeting . They were celebrating 10 years which is like a powder , like a paint fit , like basically a duvet jump . It was probably like the best event I went to , even above four day and probably better than Kaduma Day this year . That was probably the best event I went to .
Speaker 6Then I went to Tipsy , which is like a concert fete . All white performances from Edwin , rick , feyan , bungee Double M , jordan , english Mole . The FET was really good . I think the best performance was probably by Feyan , and Bungee Double M was good as well . Then I went to Circus State of Mind , which is like a local FET in Kensington car park . I re-enjoyed that FET . That's probably like the best local FET I went to . Then I went to Only Soka , which was good Another little nice local event . Then I went to Soka on the Hill , which is another like concert FET in St Peter Farley Hill . It was good . It wasn't as best as some years but I still had a good time with my cousins . Then I went to Sugar Sundays Crossfire Obviously Crossfire , that's my favorite circle group , so I had a great time seeing them perform . Then I went to Crush Cruise First time this Fete happened and probably one of the best cruises I've been on for a long while and I'm glad my friends convinced me to go to that one .
Speaker 6Then last lap I went to Blended Utopia . First time I went there , I was highly impressed . Then I went to Mud Mosa . I usually enjoy this FET but this year please sort out , please have artificial grass if there's . If you're gonna have have the FET in St John Jamming absolutely amazing , first time I went to that cruise . Then I went to Lost in Paradise all-inclusive drinks , fet , great FET , great Fet , fet , big Up , just J and all the promoters . This year I jumped with Four Day . I went with Native , which was in Bushy Park . I'm glad I did that . Amazing , amazing time with Four Day Kuduman . Once again I went with Aura . This year they had two days , so they did Sun Mass , which was on Sunday , 10 out of 10 . Kuduman I think a lot of people were tired but I still had a great time . And , yeah , I'll give my crop of experience , I'll give it a 9 out of 10 .
Speaker 2Wow , I was not expecting that from mimosa , with all the the mud and all the nonsense . Man jesus , that's also expensive , I think right yeah , mimosa is 160 us yeah , I was not happy .
Speaker 4I was not happy with mimosa at all .
Speaker 2I can't imagine .
Speaker 4But I was smart and I brought my shoe covers . You knew I had my . Yeah , I had my shoe covers on . And so many people came up to me oh my god , where did you get those from ? Where did you get those from ? I wish I had those .
Speaker 2Oh can you ?
Speaker 4lend me your shoe covers bro do you know what I'm hustling next year ?
Speaker 2I'm hustling I was gonna say , bring , bring a couple . That's what I'm gonna do and I'm gonna sell them yep , make money . Yep , that's , that's 100 , yeah that's your trip to grenada definitely 100 .
Speaker 4I'm gonna sell them for like 20 20 beijing , that's what . 10 us , yeah , I think that's all right . Yeah , that's it , I'll make my money back quick time but yeah man . I was disappointed with Mimosa because last year I went for the first time . I had a blast and like people , so many people were complaining . It ended up on Falasoka . There were people like sliding . We were like pigs in the mud bro literally I felt like .
Speaker 4Peppa Pig honestly , literally trust me crazy yeah , that's wild so big up Bramble for the review once again yeah loved it exactly , yeah , 100% .
Speaker 2And then it's time to move to Grenada yeah , boy , I mean .
Speaker 4Grenada
Grenada Carnival and Song of the Month
Speaker 4had a year so I think you should take this one RKO okay , well , I didn't also .
Speaker 2I neither wait . How do you say that ? I didn't go to Grenada either ? But my , my God , did they have a good year for music ? Because , there was a fight on the road for the best song and all of them should have won Because , my God , you have , capital you have . Well , I'll just go with the top three On the third place for the road march . It was Grease it by Dread Lion , and the number one and number two Was a very tight race .
Speaker 2But , number two , my personal favorite . Well , I say that , but Everything is my favorite at this point . Payroll by Muddy , first Burial Leo Carey , what a tune .
Speaker 2And then , actually for the power , for the power of Socomonic Muddy one , the Payroll . I was completely expecting Burial to win that . Yeah , they were carry , but here you go . And Groovy was won by Mr Golden Downing Greens . Yeah , all good music . And that's just a couple of names of of good tunes . If you want to listen , make sure you go on soundcloud or whatever like mix platform . You like find those grenada mixes and , yeah , my god , enjoy those , because I do still up to today and I probably will do for the next couple of months definitely and as little carrie won .
Speaker 2Uh , the road march with burial . I think we should know go to music for a second before we continue with Antoine Cerveiste and Nothing Hill and just dedicate our song of the month to the song .
Speaker 4Yeah , boy .
Speaker 2All right . Well , let's listen to Lil' Cary with Bury All .
Speaker 1This is the song of the month . Feel the vibe , feel the vibe , feel the vibe , feel the vibe . Till I'm done , bury all , bury all , bury all now .
Speaker 5Everything's pain in the air like a ransom Head . Hot up me , no , match up me , no . Come down man . A real bad job . Never bought down Everything . Up over your head now . Over your head now . Over your head now . Cover your head . Over your head now . Over your head now . Over your head now Cover your head . Head now over your head now cover your head . We just mash it up till it's over till it's over till it's over .
Speaker 1Oh bless , turn it over , turn it over , turn it over , mash it up till it's over , till it's over , till it's over , oh bless , turn it over . Fill my cup when it's over . So grimy , I'm so grimy , I'm so grimy . Got my master me , got the job on me , and anytime that I give , I give the best of me . And when I'm done with them , believers , go , go , sign me Greenhead . I pull up in a drop the bomb and I'm gone Greenhead . If it's drop that one , then give them job in the front Greenhead . If it's mass that one , then give them mass in the front Greenhead . No city bond , it's me who does what it done to spot it down . Bury all , bury all , bury all . Now Everything's been in the air like a ransom Head . Hot up me , no , match up me no , come down , man .
Speaker 2A real bad job . Never bought everything . Up over your head now , over your head now . Up over your head now , over your head now . Up over your head now . Over your head now . Up over your head now , over your head now . That was our song of the month Burial , burial burial .
Speaker 5Big tune I wish .
Speaker 2I was at an event with that song because of where he was performing . Must have been madness .
Speaker 4Trust me , madness , I tell ya .
Speaker 2Exactly , and I like myself some madness . Anyway , we're now entering the European side of Carnival , oh yes , starting off with the Belgium Antilliaanse Feeste ,
Antilleaanse Feeste and Nadia Batson Interview
Speaker 2where a certain podcast host and slash international DJ was actually performing .
Speaker 4Damn , damn , yep , yep .
Speaker 5Yep .
Speaker 4So , of , of course , you guys . If you've been listening for the past year , you remember that the last Antilleanso Festa , last , year . Rko made a schoolboy error and booked his accommodation . Basically , he booked his accommodation on the moon and had to take a rocket to get to the festival .
Speaker 2Literally .
Speaker 2So of course you know he learned his lesson and he just drove from the Netherlands this time , yeah , which was , by the way , it was like 40 minutes or something like that . So just to to add to that , just to compare it , I booked my accommodation in Antwerp , which is the same to saying like , oh , I'm having an event in the UK , let's see what's in the middle . Oh , it's Leeds , let me book my convocation leads . Not doing any further research where it was ends up being in london and anyway . So no , this was in , uh , this was near breda , which is actually dutch . Yeah , um , and I moved to a city in belgium .
Speaker 2Anyway , this year I didn't do that , and we actually had a blast yeah and I will say well , besides you DJing , which was absolutely amazing , because of my mistake last year and because the organizers are listening to this funny and bentiful podcast , we got in backstage .
Speaker 4Oh yeah .
Speaker 2And because of that we were able to do a big interview with one of the big names performing . Do you want ? Well , actually , we already posted it online already , Exactly .
Speaker 4Exactly Nade .
Speaker 2Nade , exactly . So , let me put it this way Sjarns had balls enough to knock on the door and ask for an interview . I was about seven steps behind with a camera and acting like the camera boy , obviously fangirling the shit out of myself , because that's what I do whenever I see somebody soca famous . So , yeah , luckily Sharns was able to do all the talking and I didn't have to talk , because all you would hear is so you know , we did a little interview . So I think we should just uh cut to that interview for a second .
Speaker 2It's not long , it's uh , it's six minutes yeah but I did enjoy the shit out of that for sure and actually for the people on youtube . We also have uh visuals for this , so make sure you check your screen as well , where you can see sharon's in action with nadia betson damn , this is soca chronicles welcome .
Speaker 4so how are you finding it here in belgium's so nice ? It really really is .
Speaker 3Is this your first time ?
Speaker 4It really is . Yes , lovely , lovely , well , welcome , thank you . This is my first time in Belgium as well . Oh really , yep , welcome , thank you , and I'm really excited to DJ before you .
Speaker 5Yes , but I'll make sure I don't play any of your songs .
Speaker 4Yes , I won't make that amateur rookie mistake , yeah . So let's just start with a simple question . So how did you get ?
Speaker 3into Soka . You know what , for as long as I can remember , soka has just always been a part of my life , because my family loves Soka . So it used to be , you know , playing in the household , you know . So , growing up as a kid , soka . And of course , you know the greats from back in the day , the baron and Uncle Crazy , you know . So I grew up knowing and loving Soka , of course . So it was destined to be part of my trajectory ?
Speaker 4Definitely lovely , lovely . And who would you say was your inspiration growing up in Soka ?
Speaker 3You know what I have , okay , would you say , was your inspiration growing up in soka . You know what I have , okay , so in trinidad we are just influenced by so many different cultures , um , and I think it wasn't just one thing , because I always liked singing and writing , because my mom is a writer , so she would write like short stories and poems , so I know that that's where I got that from . Okay , the songwriting cup that I wear , um , and , and I started off actually singing like casitas , and then I went on to um , to R&B and okay , um , and then I started doing background vocals for a lot of soccer artists , yeah , um , and of course , all of them used to just encourage me of course to sing , because they'll be like Nadia , you have a really , really good voice .
Speaker 3You should , yeah . So I was really inspired by all of these little snippets of my life . It wasn't just like one person or , like you know , one particular experience . Um , I think it was just many things along the way , nice , including Not only Soka .
Speaker 4Okay yeah , do you know what I've learned ? Because we've interviewed Quite a few Soka artists ? And a lot of them Didn't start in Soka . No , they maybe started Like dance or Dance or yeah , like something else so it's actually Really interesting .
Speaker 4Yes To see that , the same view , influenced by r&b and stuff . And I'm just going to ask you one more question , and this is the question that we ask to everybody we interview if you could be stuck in a studio with any soca artist , dead or alive , who would it be and why ? Oh my , and when I say you're stuck . It's like there's like a natural disaster outside . You can't go outside , the doors are barricaded and you're just in there for just a short period , maybe like 45 minutes an hour .
Speaker 3So it's a tough question , I know yeah because and I'll tell you why because I'm such a fan of so many other artists as well that I like different artists for different things . Okay , um , there are some artists I admire their songwriting capabilities . There are some artists I admire their stage performance , even someone like Marsha , who I admire his method of doing things . So that's a real tough one . That really is a tough one Normally .
Speaker 4I don't allow people to choose more than one .
Speaker 1I tell them off , but because it's you .
Speaker 4You are the queen . I't allow people to choose more than one but because it's you . You are the queen .
Speaker 3I will allow you to choose as many as you want . Okay , let's limit it to like I think three , three , okay , all right , okay , I can go over three . Yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , I would have to say king david rudder , okay , yeah , I would absolutely . Oh , my goodness , because just him as a songwriter , if I could . His brain is just wired differently and . I would love to kind of get into his brain . Okay , um , I of course Marshall as well yeah yeah , of course .
Speaker 3Who else ? Oh , my gosh , oh gosh , I would . Who would I want to ? We can stick to two if you want . Yeah , we can stick to two for now we can stick to two for now . If , before we end off , I think of someone else , and , like I said , it's just because of the fact that I admire so many different artists for so many different things Definitely , yeah , that's the reason why , and I've just put you on the spot as it's just because of the fact that I admire so many different artists for so many different things ?
Speaker 3Definitely yeah . That's the reason why no , and I've just put you on the spot as well . So I know when I'm put on the spot , my mind just goes blank and I literally cannot think yes yes , yes . But yeah , that's it .
Speaker 4And last question what advice would you give to anybody who is sort of upcoming in the circus scene ? And they they , you know want to flourish and be successful . Take it seriously , yeah take it seriously .
Speaker 3I think there's there's always been , this huge misconception that soca is easy . So people are like , yeah , just gonna jump on wherever . No , no , no , no , no . That's , if you approach soca like that , you're not gonna be successful . Of course , yeah , um , and because the genre is growing so much , um , I feel as though people need to kind of tap into that and understand that you need to and , as cliche as it may sound , keep practicing your craft . Definitely you know what I mean . The artist that I am today is definitely not the artist that I was 10 years . Of course , I still , you know . Every day , every time I'm on stage , I learn different things . Every new , every new market that I touch , I see different things , so I'm able to apply it to to my craft . Um , it's just about taking it seriously , you know . Um , yes , we have a lot of fun because our music is party music and our music makes people feel good um , but we we do have to understand um the business of it as well and take it seriously definitely perfect .
Speaker 4Well , thank you so much . I appreciate you taking the time , no problem , and I look forward to your performance yes I'm excited I'm excited this is soca chronicles what an amazing interview like . Oh my god , I was so nervous . So although rko said that I had the balls to go and talk . When I told you I was so scared and nervous but I said you know what ? We have to do it because we've never like interviewed someone in person like we've never done that , yeah , and we were prepared .
Speaker 4You brought the microphones , everything so I was like we can't , we can't flop , and obviously it was getting closer and closer to showtime for her , so it was like if it's now or never yep , yep , so I had to pull out my big girl drawers or my big girl pants , whatever you want to say I left mine home
Speaker 4yeah and I just went and yeah , nadia was so lovely , she was just like . Yeah , no problem , you know , lovely , absolutely I love her Love her , love her , love her , 100% , 100% . And Antelianza Festa , I had a time .
Speaker 2Big up .
Speaker 1Big up . Trust me , pella . We love you we love you .
Speaker 4Next year . Make sure you are . You are at anthony answer face if you don't , if you do not go , never listen to our podcast again , because we don't like you we don't like you .
Speaker 2We do not like you . And to convince you even more , I'm just gonna say the food was great , the drinks were amazing and actually you don't have to wait that long for drinks . There's so many different Types of music , all like Oriental to the Caribbean . It's amazing . Actually , just to say , I forgot his fucking name , michael Teja .
Speaker 4Yeah , michael Teja .
Speaker 2The night before Nadia was performing , they had Michael Teja on stage . So you know , and actually they had New Vibes also on there as well . So there's a lot of like international Soca artists and Bands there . They had actually Dominican Artists there as well . Exactly . So yeah man , big , big festival , make sure you attend it next time , definitely but can I give you a fun fact about carlin xp ?
Speaker 4yes , please so her husband is cornell philip , who's an original member and band leader of WCK . Imagine that , oh .
Speaker 2I did not know that .
Speaker 4Yep , nor did I . I had never heard of Carlin before Anthony Answer faced , but now that I know , I'm going to check out her songs because she was an amazing performer , nadia .
Speaker 2Massey's performance .
Speaker 4By the way , can we just say how amazing it was .
Speaker 2Oh , yeah , 100% , Absolutely amazing . I don't know where she gets the energy . But I also had the energy somehow there we go . My God , it was very energetic . Yep Loved it .
Speaker 4Crazy , loved it . I'm going to say it one more time Antilleanza Feister , you have to go , you have to Yep , you have to .
Speaker 2Can we give them the dates for next year ?
Speaker 4We definitely can , right . So you're going to have to cut this in , because I couldn't type in fast enough to get it . 6 , 7 and 8th of August , so 6 , 7 and 8th 2027 of .
Speaker 2August 2026 , even Jesus .
Speaker 4So next year I'll go again next year it will be on the 6th , the 7th and the 8th of august 2026 , so check out their page . I think we should link either link their website or link their ig in the description and the ig maybe , so people can click the ig just to , just to keep in the loop , etc yeah , yeah , yeah , and do note that if you want to stay all three days , there's also a camping .
Speaker 2I've seen pictures and videos . It's vibes , there's vibes I'm not a camping man myself , especially not if it's 40 minutes away from my dear old friend , my bed . But uh , my god , it looks like vibes absolutely amazing .
Speaker 4So please , guys , check it out . We will . I've put , we've posted some footage already from the festival on the soca chronicles page go check that out . Soca underscore chronicles on ig check that out yes , 100 .
Speaker 2Last but
Notting Hill Carnival Reflections
Speaker 2not least , we are gonna just quickly discuss our final carnival this month , where also we both attended . While I attended and a certain international DJ was DJing , but we're talking about Nothing Hill Carnival .
Speaker 2So , yeah , man , been to London , not been there since 2019 . So good to be back . Oh , yeah , yeah , man , it's been a time . It's been a time , and I will say this , by the way what ruined my moment last time was the rain and how cold it was . None of that this year , none of that . The sun was blazing yeah , I loved it .
Speaker 4Yeah , 100 , yep music was play .
Speaker 2It's such a vibe . Honestly , if you ever like , think about going somewhere close in europe . Make sure you visit nothing of carnival , because it's a vibe , even if you don't want to jump in a band . There's so many block parties or like places you can get some food or , you know , get in touch with the culture .
Speaker 4It's , it's amazing , absolutely yeah , but I'm gonna come here and be negative nancy , because I would say if you're coming to notting hill carnival and you love soca music , join a band .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , oh yeah .
Speaker 4You have to join a band , and the reason I say join a band is because there are over two and a half million people who attend Notting Hill Carnival , from all over Europe , all over the world , plus people like local people , plus people from all over the UK as well . So think about it . You're in the streets of West London . There's so many people .
Speaker 2Yep .
Speaker 4There's a lot of like . The crowds are insane .
Speaker 2Okay , this is true , this is true .
Speaker 4And it takes a long time to get from , like one place to another , because you know you've got to , like , push through crowds , etc , etc . Which is why I say be with a band , so you're behind the ropes or you're , you're inside the ropes , I should say .
Speaker 4and it's you and your band , you can get unlimited walk-ups you know , if you get the option , it can include your drinks or you could just bring your own drinks . But the vibe is better when you're with a band . I tell you that from now , because I've had people complain oh , it's too crowded , there's too many people , I don't like it . Join a band .
Speaker 2That's all I'm gonna say , and the only thing I will say to that is it will be very different than carnival from like in the caribbean islands exactly that's just something I do need to mention . Uh , there is , yeah , it's very different , it's very different yeah , there is much more yeah no , no , there will be a lot of stormers .
Speaker 2There will be a lot of things going on that you were not used to in the Caribbean , and that's all good . You know you can have it all . I guess there's definitely been some controversial things happening . Myself I witnessed a little fight right under judges' stands , that's crazy . That was quite wild indeed . Again , you will not see that in the Caribbean Islands . You can see a fight in the Caribbean Islands , but not right where the judging point is . I guess that's crazy .
Speaker 4I'm betting that that band they're good because they were banned from . I'm not even going to mention the name of the band , but they were banned last year . They were not allowed to go on the road last year for various reasons the fact that they had a fight at judging point for all the judges to see , bro , that band they're gonna be on the road next year I'm telling you that nope , nope nope , they're gonna be on it , and if they are on the road , I will be shocked yeah , exactly 100 percent but yeah man it's a
Speaker 2good time , it is bare vibes and uh , yeah , it's , it's . Uh , it's an experience you need to have at some point . But I will say you have to be prepared for something a bit busy .
Speaker 4Yeah , very busy , but the events during the run-up to Notting Hill are fab , so I'm going to mention a few that you shouldn't miss . Rebel is like the weekend before , so if you can spend a week in london , you definitely have to hit up rebel dreamland . I didn't make this year .
Speaker 2That's another juve , but it's a popular one oh , there's some stories about it as well , by the way , but we'll see if we want to discuss it later another episode crazy .
Speaker 4They got quite a few boat rides . Remedy have like two boat rides amnesia , which is normally vibes yeah chocolate nation , team up with party and eclipse and do a boat ride . And there's so many boat rides that are happening yeah um , so many other events .
Speaker 4Olympia , I'm going to give a massive shout out to olympia . So olympia did their all-inclusive party , carnival Friday . That party , that's the first all-inclusive Olympia party that I've been to , because the other ones I've been to they've not been all-inclusive . Nice the food choices were epic , the decorations inside the venue epic . The music epic . The way people were dressed epic . The drink selection epic . Like the food didn't run out , the drinks didn't run out . Listen levels , dj levels , big up your I don't even want to swear , but big up yourself on that and the whole olympia team .
Speaker 4Olympia was absolutely amazing big up yourselves nice yeah honestly so if you're at notting hill , you can't miss olympia carnival friday . Just saying yep , yep , yep , yep , noted yeah , and obviously I was on the road with mangrove um the sund Sunday and the Monday . Yeah , big up Mangrove , I had a time once again . This is my second year on the road for Notting Hill Carnival .
Speaker 3Hey , had a time .
Speaker 4It was great yeah man Bish bash bosh , and that's all I have to say about Notting Hill Carnival .
Speaker 2Then I think we've been talking enough anyway . So we're going gonna slowly wind down and let you go . I think what is more important now is to listen to our dear friend super nitro .
Speaker 5Make sure you check out soca chronicles . Tag a friend , tell a friend , share the podcast . Let people know that this exists because it's good for the culture , it's good for the vibe , it's good for the energy , it's educational , it's fun , it's funny , it's bantiful and it's good for you to just know a little bit about the people that's making your music and the people that you're involved with listening to .
Speaker 2And with that I have nothing more to say .
Speaker 4I have a lot more to say , but I'm not going to say it Because we don't have time . But yeah , guys . For another episode We'll be back next month it will be our four year anniversary . Yeah , hopefully we have something special If we don't have something special . Then we had the big , massive , huge interview Of Nadia Batson , which we'll just pretend that that was for our four year special . So yeah , now but , yeah , guys , be safe , look after each other , and we will be back Next month .
Speaker 2Bye , bye , see you later .
Speaker 1You've been listening to the Soka Chronicles .
