This Week's Playlist

I'm glad that I'm not the only person disappointed in Mas camp's soca playlist...you see Bacchanal, people have access to that little invention called "the Internet" which can lead them to sites such as youtube, toronto lime and various trini radio stations that feature 2011 soca... so they are expecting the soca ignorant DJs at mas camp to follow suit. Bacchanal FB's group echoes the disappointment of many soca enthusiasts but ofcourse there's no proactive response from Bacchanal because they know that people will patronize them any way...




With about a week left to the greatest show on earth my (2011) playlist includes:

1. Consider it Done- Faye Ann Lyons


2. Advantageous- Machel Montano


3. Illegal- Machel Montano


4. Wotless- Kees


5. Come Gyal-Kees


6. Bend Over- Machel


7. Give Him Bam Bam- Patrice Roberts


8. Feteing for Days- Michelle Xavier and Imij
9. Carnival Jumbie- Blaxx


10. Ah feel tuh- Terri Lyons

Mess-tra at the Soca Monarch Semis

Who knew the Soca Monarch semis would have attracted so many fans especially since CNC decided to broadcast the Grammy awards instead of the bigggest show to hit Arima. I didn't watch the entire show because the power 106 stream was not the best and the show was extremely long but I was grateful for the little I could catch...I was also able to catch some of the rebroadcast on CNC the following day. My Mom is right when she says that competition always brings out the worst in people and boy did it bring out the worst in Destra. But her behaviour should not surprise us since we've always heard about incidents where her true colours came out...(the 2004 incident with Denise belfon and the cursing incident at the trini posse fete). What I don't understand is that Ms. garcia swore that she would never enter the competition since the judges "cheated" her the last time she entered, but that $2 million dollars could make a dent in her daughter's college fund. It is clear that Destra has too much ego for a competition since she is completely unaware that there are artistes who are better performers or who have better songs than her. Her performance was lukewarm; again she depended too much much on the hype and glamour and too little on singing the damn song. Destra needed to stop talking all that crap about Machel and Faye Ann and perform. It seemed that she was frustrated that she could not get the same reaction that Faye Ann and Bunji got and resorted to low blows. And what was the deal with her trying to ad lib on stage??? fail!

Now on to a real performer, Ms. Lyons; dressed in a black tank top and pants, the only prop she had was her sneakers! No frills, no fuss, she just sang "Consider it done" and let the crowd do the rest for her. Bunji was also able to mash up the velodrome with a simple performance focusing on lyrics and vocal skill. Now the man to watch out for is the Boss; I am not a fan of Iwer George but Iwer has Soca Monarch experience and has his followers, and I have to admit that "Come to meh" is one of his best songs to date. In my opinion, Destra cannot be considered a serious entrant compared to these 3.


Mr Machel did give an okay performance but like Destra, he had to try too hard to get the crowd hyped. At first I didn't think Soca Monarch would be a problem for the HD but the Soca Monarch crowd is not a One fete crowd or a Tribe Ignite crowd; I don't think that it's going to be easy for him no matter how many props he brings on on the night. Faye Ann, Bunji and Iwer all have Soca Monarch experience which Machel lacks as a competitor. The three have their die hard supporters and they know what the crowd and judges want. Backing tracks, lip syncing, and sexy dancers would only get you so far.


My picks for the finals are Faye Ann, Bunji and Iwer for Power Monarch, and Kes, Kerwin Du Bois and Shurwayne or Destra for Groovy.


And I just heard it's about TT$680 or something like that for the platinum section! I don't know about that! But since Machel in the Soca Monarch, there are a lot of people who would never even consider this event on their Carnival Friday line up and would go platinum....I admit, I have not been to SM since 1997...mostly because I could not handle the roughness but I always enjoyed watching the broadcast.... but this year the competition is fierce and I want to be there...

The soca monarch image and list of finalists can be found on the official soca monarch website.

Machel for Soca Monarch!

So it's official! Machel submitted his entry for the Soca Monarch! Who knew that the 2 million dollar prize could attract even the great Machel? I remember in the early days of the competition when the "big" artistes would claim that they don't need competition to prove their abilities...and then there were the sour grape artistes who would claim that they were "robbed" and vowed never to enter the competition again but gradually we see them coming back...boy that William Monroe must be reall grinning this year and happy that he doesn't need a CLICO payout...

The strong contenders for Soca Monarch are: Machel Montano, Faye Ann Lyons, Bunji Garlin and Kes (Groovy). Faye Ann has to bring it 100% and bring the whole of Point Fortin to mash up the venue because it's not difficult for Machel to put on a flawless performance but his following may not be as big or wild as the Faye Ann or even Iwer. So Destra wha yuh saying????

2011: The year of Soca

2011 has presented the best soca I've heard in a while. Some of the artistes have returned to the roots of soca and stopped trying so hard to copy dancehall or hip hop; most of these songs are truly soca songs. Listening to Red 96 online everyday is really amping up my excitement for Carnival....Big kudos to big producers/writers like Kernal Roberts and Kerwin Du Bois for bringing back the soca! But my fave this year is definitely Machel....it is safe to say that Machel is back with a bang! Illegal, Advantage, Hard Wuk and Coming Again prove that Machel still has what it takes to be a soca mega star. Following behind Machel is Kes, oh gosh...all yuh know how I feel about this man! But seriously, 2010 really gave Kes an opportunity to perfect his skills and solidify himself as a true soca artiste but I still find he could do without those back up dancers...My ringtone choice is Benjai's Trini; I LOVED this song when I first I heard it. It's a nice groovy song that makes us all proud to be Trinee and it is a sure road march contender; people do forget that a slower song could be good for the road. My guilty pleasure song is Iwer's Come to meh; just because I never liked any of his songs but this Grenadian- produced song is maadd! All I could say is Soca Monarch better watch out. The out-of-Trinidad fave is Lil Rick's Go Down (love my Bajan peeps!) but especially the mix with Machel. I've been loving the original tune since Miami Carnival and went crazy when I heard the Machel remix...woooiiii

But my geatest concern is what's up with the women? For so long the women were holding their own and giving the men some real competition but I feel like the female artistes are somewhat on the periphery this year. Destra has released so many songs but nothing really grabs my attention except Proppa which has a definite Bajan sound to it and is my kind of wining tune. As always Patrice Roberts has a strong groovy contender, Mas and Wining which is one of my top 5 picks for this year; this song is lyrically sound and captivates the feelings that are synonymous with Trini carnival. The comeback female is without a doubt is Ms Saucy Wow herself with Dance and Dingolay who could still perform a song like this and make some big men blush!

There's still some time for some songs to grow on us and for artistes to release new songs. And we know Machel has about 3 more tunes to drop but these are my picks so far:

1. Illegal- Machel Montano

2. Trini- Benjai

3. Advantage- Machel Montano

4. Wotless- Kes the Band

5. Mas and Wining- Patrice Roberts

6. Proppa- Destra

7. Dance and Dingolay- Denise Belfon

8. Come to meh- Iwer George

9. Go Dung- Lil Rick feat. Machel

10. Hard Wuk- Machel Montano