There were some rumors since a few days about the Trinidadian artist Blazer, that he was involved in a murder case. Now it is official: Troydon “Blazer” Cruickshank appeared in court yesterday charged with murdering his brother last Saturday.
[Trinidad Express]
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Archive for July, 2005
The NY based soca singer Jandy just finished the Roadmix by Outbreak Productions of her blazin’ track “Ah Little Bit”, which was originally produced by Drew Sutherland of St Vincent.
[listen]
This year’s Barbados Party Monarch is a woman: Natahlee Burke. She dethroned last year’s champion Edwin Yearwood.
The event had a low turnout this year. Many favorite artists and tunes couldn’t take part in the competition and many revellers went to the Vex Fete on the same night.
Read Richard Weekes’ article on the backgrounds at Socacds.com.
1. Natahlee Burke - Colours
2. Edwin Yearwood - Yardie Graduate
3. Mr. Dale - One Hand
What stupidness is that, was my first thought. Steelbands are an integral element of post-war Carnival with a long tradition of the precursor tamboo bamboo bands. But as a matter of fact, this discussion is going on in Trinidad right now, demanded by Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA). It seems that they would like to have a second season. But give up the cultural traditions for a better sale?
Technorati Tags: Trinidad Pan Carnival“Amazingly enough, the biggest supporters of this tune have been Jamaicans.”, said Bunji Garlin about his the I-Wayne diss tune in an interview with Jamaican Star.
Just checked my website logs and realized that many of our visitors are using the old redirect socanews.de.tt. Unfortunatly this adress is really annoying since a while. For a fast and pop-up free version of de cooler please change your bookmarks to decooler.com. The old de cooler socanews from 2003/2004 is still online - click on “old archives” in the navigation. Thank you.
This years’ Lucian roadmarch goes to “Queen of this jungle (Bounce)” by Nicole David .
This week the new Monstapiece CD will be released called ‘The Next Chapter’. It’s the 7th year that Peter Coppin brings out his famous Compilation. Beside some big Bajan names like Lil Rick & Keann it also features Dawg-E-Slaughter, Bunji Garlin and Vybz Cartel. Last week Krosfyah already brought out their new Album ‘Timeless’ which features 14 Tracks.
Continue reading ‘Bajan CDs 2k5 - Pt. 1′
For two weeks starting this weekend, the Tobago Heritage Festival will be held to celebrate the cultural roots of Tobago. Events such as the Ole Time Tobago Wedding, the Goat and Crab Races at Buccoo along with the Belmanna Riots and Salaka Feast all feature significantly on the festival calendar. The festival was first held in 1987 and is one of the major cultural events in Tobago. This year The Les Coteaux Folk Tales and Superstitions, the Moriah Old Time Wedding, the Folk Fiesta, the Plymouth Old Time Carnival and Pembroke’s Salaka Feast are among the events which are expected to generate much interest.
[Tobago News | VisitTnT]
Technorati Tags: Tobago 
The earlier mentioned Lava Slide riddim is here and will be in stores very soon. Producer Kubiyashi and Non-Fiction Recordings created an energetic mid-tempo soca riddim with the premier artists of four nations:
Just in time for the hottest summer festivals, Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada and St. Vincent have come together to ignite a riddim that is guaranteed to heat up fetes around the globe. Names like Bunji Garlin, Maximus Dan, Mr. Slaughter, Icon, Peter Ram, Skinny Fabulous, Jamesy P and Talpree guarantee that the Lava Slide is a hot pick for every selector.
Continue reading ‘Lava Slide Riddim’
Here are the results for the Lucian Party Monarch competition, which turned out similar to last year with Alpha, Mantius & Nicole on the Top 3:
1. Alpha - In De Ark
2. Mantius - Give Us A Reason (To Wave)
3. Nicole David- Bounce (Queen of the Jungle)
Also check out the photo gallery of this event on Partyaccess.
Tags: St.Lucia, Party_Monarch
Will 2005 be the year when bajan soca music implodes? Is the turn-out so dissapointing? Dennis Johnson compares 2005 with 1995 which was a great year for soca music from Barbados.
Few songs can be called “original”. Some melodies are “borrowed” – deliberately or otherwise! And the desire to break into the “international market” has led to the greatest number of R& B and pop melodies I have ever heard masquerading as kaiso. [..] And those who are not satisfied with some of the new “party songs”, keep calling these poorly constructed rhythm patterns, accompanied by even poorer vocals, soca.
Many on this discussion at imix agree.
Technorati Tags: Barbados CropoverEverybody is talking about international careers now. At the same time the local markets are blocking themselves against the outside world. People from Europe, Canada, America or any other place in the world have a hard time in keeping updated with the music. Who has time and money to visit every carnival on every island?
It looks like many artists dream of an international career while sitting at home and waiting desperately for a call by an international dance label who is looking for the next quick summer sunshine music trend. Lambada, Soca Dance, Reggaeton, Popso… you name it.
Even though some artists may be happy with making watered down and faceless island pop (yes, bills have to be paid, I know) while handed round in cheesy tv shows for adolescents, I believe that most of the soca artists are really serious about their music. And how they are promoted and presented.
But how to get international attention for the non - soca monarch / roadmarch/ calypso king artist?
Artists have to expand their horizons and make themselves familiar with the internet. Use the power of the medium to promote your music. Use existing platforms and cooperate.
Many artists have websites, yes, but very often they haven’t been updated since they were set up. Blinky flashs and bothering sound loops are not exactly what users expect. How about an updated tour schedule? How about an information concerning the upcoming album? How about a free download of music which couldn’t be released? Band members changed? Okay why can’t we read about it on the band’s website? Better believe rumors in forums, right?
It is that easy: make sure, that an updated contact info is available in the internet. Use one of easy-to-use content publishing systems to keep your site frequently updated. How about a blog? An article about the last show or a new tune you just recorded?
Communicate with your fans. Answer emails. Call back.
There are a few who understand the internet and use it. I’m sure these are the same people who will make the future business.
Btw. this article was inspired by Ricky Jourdan’s Local talent told to think global in Nation News.
The HipHop/Dance - Label Sequence just released the KMC single “Soul on Fire”. It is a remastered version of the Trini-Carnival 2005 song with a feature by Beenie Man. The CD also contains 2 dance mixes.
Listeners of St. Vincent’s Hot97 already know it: “You dont’ know” by Karen Veira, which had massive airplay over the last weeks. The slow jam tune is the debut release of the 18-year-old songstress outa St. Vincent.
Produced by the man Kubiyashi and Non-Fiction Recordings, who gave us the strongest riddim for this summer so far, the Lava Slide Riddim.
[listen]
