“[…] Another response I took issue with was ‘let the market decide’ whether ISM survived or not. Some of those sentiments came from folks with a UWI education paid for by the state. “T&T as a society decided that access to higher education wasn’t going to be according to means. …
Read More »Daly Bread: Steelpan still strong, but soca and mas fall short of “mother of all Carnivals” boast
The phrase “mother of all Carnivals” is overworked. Its use will eventually become as stale as “the greatest show on earth”. Moreover, whatever its short-term marketing benefits, it also has cynical political value when it is used to pump up the illusion of joy in these unrelentingly murderous and (with …
Read More »Orin: Machel Montano’s misstep; and why Soca Monarch deserves better
“[…] The main argument in defence of what’s in effect a Machel Monday redux on Carnival Friday was that ISM was dying anyway, so what’s the problem letting Monk have his way and have the day? “It’s a strikingly bad argument. If your beloved relative is dying, you don’t finish …
Read More »St Bernard: Stop messing with our groovy; why NCC is doing soca more harm than good
The National Carnival Commission (NCC) may have done more harm than good to the soca music industry by putting money into Soca Monarch. Soca Monarch organisers decided to give the so-called Power Soca more relevance and importance than the so-called Groovy. They decided to pay the Power Soca winner twice …
Read More »Dear Editor: Will separating Groovy and Power revive International Soca Monarch?
Ian ‘Socapro’ Henry: “As soon as the current ISM organisers made the mistake of removing the separate Groovy Soca and Power Soca categories in 2016, the show has rapidly and steadily gone downhill in terms of excitement and audience attendance. This is no coincidence…” Martin Raymond: “Sorry, I totally disagree with …
Read More »Voice completes Soca Monarch hattrick; can emulate Rudder in Sunday’s calypso final
Aaron “Voice” St Louis can become the first Trinidad and Tobago artiste in 32 years to hold calypso and soca titles in the same season, after he beat the International Soca Monarch field for his third consecutive title last night. Voice’s song “Year for Love” held off Dexter “Blaxx” Stewart’s …
Read More »Letter to the Editor: Saving calypso from itself; a kaiso lover takes dead aim at TUCO
“If calypso is to be saved and the best interests of calypsonians protected, TUCO needs to get out of the tent business and return to its original mandate of looking after the interests of all calypso and soca performers, including the establishment of the much needed pension plan. “To save …
Read More »Carnival in transition: Raffique explains why the festival is not dying
I don’t think Trinidad’s Carnival is dying, as many people say it is. For the traditionalists, it’s a case of wishful thinking. They want to see the jarring noise that passes for music—songs that have no melody, only hook lines and tempo—consigned to the dustbin of Carnival history. And they …
Read More »International Soca Mystery: Live Wire investigates a carnival conundrum
Question: If 20 people sang, wined and jumped up on a stage and nobody got a trophy, did it really happen? Answer: … Hello? Hello, Mr Munro…? It is the day after yesterday. But it still isn’t tomorrow. And surely it can’t be today either. The calendar says it is …
Read More »PHRASER’S STYLE: How the International Soca Monarch underdeveloped soca music
It has been the impetus for a few soca men and women to develop the capacity for serious money-making but, overall, the International Soca Monarch (ISM) has, for years, done a great deal to put the genre several steps back. It has encouraged unhealthy sectionalism and underdeveloped the soca music …
Read More »Machel exhausted from jump and wave; save him Bunji
Trinidad and Tobago soca icon and now six-time Road March winner, Machel Montano, revealed yesterday that it was getting increasingly harder to write a “power soca” hit song. “Power soca is not that easy to construct,” Montano told the Trinidad Express, “there are only so many ways to say ‘jump …
Read More »Soca stars uncover indentured labour racket
Trinidad and Tobago soca stars Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez and Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez might have executed a daring daylight escape from indentured servitude yesterday, right in the land of their birth. Locals might have heard of the alleged labour racket by another name. Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF) chairman William Munro …
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