http://carnivalplanet.com Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:56:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 In 4D http://carnivalplanet.com/in-4d/ http://carnivalplanet.com/in-4d/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:55:43 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3536 Living in a forgotten and depressed community did not stop Marvin Davis, aka Swappi 4D, from dreaming and looking out as far as his eyes could have seen. While some of his friends found themselves in mischief even leading to their own demise, the Malick Senior Comprehensive alumnus, who came from a gospel background, was constantly creating music in his head, hoping to one day share his talent and his voice with the world. That hope almost proved fruitful in 2005 when Davis became one of the first contestants in the then new local talent search reality show, Synergy Soca Star. Not making it to the finals pierced a hole in Davis’ heart, but determined to make the judges see that he was “good for it” he returned to the show’s third season, only to have salt rubbed in his wounds—again he did not make the cut.
Fast forward to today, the father of one may not have become a Synergy Soca Star, but a soca star nonetheless. Since his first release Nah Go Play, in 2010, Davis has been the people’s choice for entertainment, each year giving a better offering than the last. His music has taken him overseas, wowing soca lovers in Miami, Boston, Toronto, Brooklyn, Washington DC, Barbados, Antigua and Grenada to name a few. This year, the 20-something-year-old is smiling all the way to the bank with his hit Bucket, which was actually the brain child of his brother Aldwin Jackson aka Duce Man.  “There are bucket crews just waiting for when I come on stage. Some people even buying large bins and posing them off as buckets, throwing themselves in it…the love has just been phenomenal,” Davis said.
Having performed at a number of fetes and been billed for more performances, not to mention being a first-time finalist in the Digicel International Power Soca Monarch Competition, Davis, who is also a certified chef and an former member of the T&T Defence Force (reserved), admits he is just loving the vibes and thanking God for all the blessings thus far—for not only has he made himself “somebody,” but he has also made his community proud.
“I feel like my accomplishment was not just for me but for the people of Sea Lots, my community. I appreciate all the love and support I am getting from everyone and that really compels me to just continue giving my best,” he articulated. So what can T&T expect from this extraordinary entertainer come February 17 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium? A “Swappilicious” performance, he promises.
GUARDIAN
]]> http://carnivalplanet.com/in-4d/feed/ 0 KI Will Be Single Forever http://carnivalplanet.com/ki-will-be-single-forever/ http://carnivalplanet.com/ki-will-be-single-forever/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:56:52 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3533

The lyrics to his song have hit a nerve. “Single Forever”, he sings, and the appeal appears to be wide, for women and men, young and old, in a changing society where marriage is no longer a requirement but an option.

The entertainer behind the “sleeper” hit is Kris ‘KI’ Persad, who has found fame at the Carnival fetes with patrons lapping up his music.

He was also a crowd favorite at the Southex-promoted semi-finals of the Chutney Soca Monarch competition at Rienzi Complex, Couva last weekend, and a shoo-in to the finals of the competition on Saturday at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain.

But to hear KI tell it, the lyrics to his song (which may infuriate the married) were meant as no disrespect to those who have decided to tie the knot.

The intention, he said, was not to promote infidelity, but for persons to simply to be entertained by his music.

The 25-year-old, who has kept a hectic schedule for Carnival, said the song was co-written with his father Veerendra Persad, leader of the famous band JMC 3Veni.

KI said he didn’t believe the tune would receive so much attention, but he is happy with the decision of Southex Promotions’ George Singh to include a clause in the Chutney Soca Monarch competiton that limits “rum song” lyrics.

The JMC 3Veni front line vocalist said since the promoters indicated that the promotion of alcohol in chutney soca lyrics would be banned from the competition, he felt it was raising the bar for the art form to another level.

Persad said, “That was a good idea. I feel it shouldn’t look like we are glorifying rum and the rule is not to sing and endorse it (alcohol) in a positive sense.”

Persad, who is single, said he had been singing professionally for the past 30 months and had his heart set on capturing two titles this season: the Groovy Soca and the Chutney Soca Monarch.

He said he had no intention of taking part in the 2012 National Carnival Chutney Soca Monarch organized by former San Fernando mayor Ian Atherly and former president of National Chutney Foundation of TT Vijay Ramlal on February 4.

Persad said he has lived in Toronto, Canada for the past 17 years and working with JMC 3Veni is a full-time job. He said the 14-member band is a business.

One of his biggests fans is his mother.

Contacted at her Toronto home last week, Maya Sahadeo-Persad, said she was sure that KI’s song would win him renowned recognition.

She said, “If I get a back stage ticket to come and see him sing, I will buy my own plane ticket down. It don’t have nobody in the competition that can compare to him (KI).”

Sahadeo-Persad said she conceived and gave birth to KI when she worked at the Trinidad Express several years ago, which she explains, makes K.I “a Express baby”.

She said KI doesn’t own a vehicle but went out and purchased one for his younger brother, Rich who turned 17 last December 29.

Sahadeo-Persad said she represented this country at the International Miss World Pageant in 1992. She said K.I’s “Single Forever” was the dawning of a new chutney soca. She said it was telling a story of the way in which people live their lives without being vulgar or, with an emphasis on alcohol. She said being “proud” of K.I’s accomplishment after two and a half years bursting on the scene was an understatement.

Rather, said Sahadeo-Persad, she was “ecstatic”.

Lyrics to Single Forever by Kris “KI” Persad   I don’t have to stay at home, I don’t have to answer phone. I could have any gyal in meh car. Ooh I go be single forever (repeat 2x) When meh partners have it hard, I don’t have to clock no card. I could have any gyal come over. Ooh I go be single forever (repeat 2x) Talk: This is KI and 3Veni When ah liming I is de boss, I doh have nothing to loss, no gyal could tell me what to do. I could lime on ah Monday, no woman to bother meh. I could do what I want to do. I don’t want to hear the same thing over and over. Yes I always want to remain single forever. I don’t have to stay at home, I don’t have to answer phone. I could have any gyal in meh car. Ooh I go be single forever (repeat 2x) River lime we playin card, no woman to get on mad, no gyal to tell me what to do. Everyday is ah holiday, so I doh have to run away. I could do what I want to do. I doh want to hear the same thing over and over. Yes I always want to remain single forever. I don’t have to stay at home, I don’t have to answer phone. I could have any gyal in meh car. Ooh I go be single forever (repeat 2x). My girlfriend use to vex, so she leave me for a next. No gyal could tell me what to do. Go on Facebook, check meh wall, is not one gyal, I have all. I could do what I want to do. I don’t want to hear the same thing over and over. Yes I always want to remain single forever. I don’t have to stay at home, I don’t have to answer phone. I could have any gyal in meh car. Ooh I go be single forever (repeat 2x). When meh partners have it hard. I don’t have to clock no card, I could have any gyal come over. Ooh I go be single forever…

Trinidad Express

]]> http://carnivalplanet.com/ki-will-be-single-forever/feed/ 0 P.Y.F Video http://carnivalplanet.com/p-y-f-video/ http://carnivalplanet.com/p-y-f-video/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:28:08 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3531 http://carnivalplanet.com/p-y-f-video/feed/ 0 Fay Ann: We Have Become Posers http://carnivalplanet.com/fay-ann-we-have-become-posers/ http://carnivalplanet.com/fay-ann-we-have-become-posers/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:54:06 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3529 There’s no denying the fact that Carnival of yesteryear is truly a thing of the past. In recent years, the elements of Trini Carnival that made it outstanding and authentic to this country have somewhat disappeared, and in some instances, have been traded in for a more sophisticated Carnival atmosphere.
In a recent chat with former Road March and Power Soca Monarch champion, Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez, she disclosed a level of concern regarding this reality, as she pointed out why the true sweetness of Carnival was fading away.
St Vincent people know how to party!
“We’ve become a bunch of Facebook posers. The rest of the islands still keep that authentic feting vibe,” said Lyons-Alvarez. Blatantly and without apology for her stinging words, the woman who has defeated other big names in the business, taking Road March titles in 2003, 2008 and 2009 and in 2009 winning both the Groovy and Power Soca Monarch titles, said she was bothered by what Carnival had become.
Lyons-Alvarez said her 2012 Road March contender, Miss Behave was geared toward people who loved to truly party. She explained that after analysing the market for sometime, she had realised that everyone’s hands had been in the air, thanks to the commands of her fellow entertainers. “I decided that since everybody up, I should just go down,” she said with a laugh. She said she then sat down and thought about the craziest thing she could do in light of this realisation, and recalled performing in St Vincent, where she had told the crowd to drop on the ground and roll. “The entire crowd dropped on the ground, because they
are people who know how to party,” she asserted.
The days of shorts and sneakers
Lyons-Alvarez said the reality is that people don’t have to drop on the ground and roll as the song says, but it is a call for true fete lovers to just be themselves, free-up and express themselves by being as crazy as their hearts desire. “It means enjoy yourself, relax. You don’t have to come to party in your best outfit. You don’t have to come in your best shoes, and please, leave your clutch and your handbags at home,” she urged. Lyons-Alvarez reminded women especially that fetes were not ceremonial functions, and short dresses, heels and clutches were not right items for feting. “The best dressed people in the venue supposed to be the artistes. They are creating a situation that will soon get them in trouble,” she retorted, adding, “I’m not saying don’t dress, but I’m saying if you look at the days of Superblue, Ronnie McIntosh and these artistes, when feters used to hit those fetes is short pants with T-shirts and vests. Now, I am seeing ladies in cocktail dresses with high heeled shoes and hand bags and when they get ‘bounce’, they vex,” said Lyons-Alvarez.
Why should foreigners come? 
The soca queen pointed out that Trinbagonians were traditionally a jumping, waving, wining people that would feel the energy and jump with soca artistes, with big flags in hand. She lamented that slowly this tradition was fading away. Expressing sadness about this reality, Lyons-Alvarez called for Trinbagonians to wake up before it was too late. “I think there will even come a time when the tourists will say, ‘why are they giving us something that we are accustomed to.’ That’s like tourists coming to Trinidad to eat steak and potatoes,” she opined. “They come to Trinidad and Tobago to eat roti and doubles and pelau. We need to stop running from we, stop ‘foreignising’ ourselves,” she demanded.
Lyons-Alvarez said Trinbagonians were now trying to ‘foreignise’ themselves even in the way they partied and the way they ate and drank. The leading soca lady called for everyone to simply stop it. She said it made no sense for foreigners to spending so much money to come to T&T to get just what they were used to having in their countries. Sternly, the woman who is in the top three for the Road March title, said Trinbagonians must return to that authentic way of feting, where Carnival meant true revelry, freedom to express with no holds barred. She said if we remain on our current path, Carnival as we know it would soon be a distant memory.
Guardian
]]> http://carnivalplanet.com/fay-ann-we-have-become-posers/feed/ 0 Machel Launches Is Own Rum http://carnivalplanet.com/machel-launches-is-own-rum/ http://carnivalplanet.com/machel-launches-is-own-rum/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:33:02 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3523

Two of the country’s leading entertainment promoters have come together with T&T’s premiere artiste and its most noted alcohol blenders to work in synergy to produce and market 3 Zero Platinum Rum. The rum was launched on Friday night at Pier 1, Williams Bay, Chaguaramas. Hadco, the food distribution company, is working in synergy with fete promoter and radio station owner Tony Chow Lin On, promoter Johnny Soong, reigning Soca Monarch, Machel Montano, and former Angostura executive, Patrick Patel. The four are stakeholders in 3 Zero Ltd, the company that is currently bottling the platinum rum at the Westerhall Estate in Grenada. The rum is a combination of Caribbean spirits, which have been blended together by Patel who has tasted a number of rums from throughout the region to come up with a formula that he believes would satisfy the palate of local rum drinkers.

 

The name of the rum is based on Machel Montano’s celebration of his 30th year in the calypso business, said Stuart Rochard, sales manager, wines and spirits at Hadco. “We think that the rum is going to be a big success because of its association with Machel, an iconic world-class entertainer who is born and bred in T&T and because its taste profile is different to anything on the local market now with its smoothness and its hint of sweetness,” said John Hadad, executive chairman of Hadco. The alcohol content of 3 Zero is 52 per cent by volume, which is higher than regular golden rums which have 43 per cent alcohol content by volume. Rochard said 3 Zero is being bottled and blended by a company called Patel.

GUARDIAN

]]> http://carnivalplanet.com/machel-launches-is-own-rum/feed/ 0 Patrice Roberts Is Soca! http://carnivalplanet.com/patrice-roberts-is-soca/ http://carnivalplanet.com/patrice-roberts-is-soca/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:05:20 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3520 Expect some freaky behaviour from Patrice Roberts during Carnival 2K12. The svelte, simply stunning soca siren has released a song titled, “Freak,” composed and produced by prolific soca hit maker, Kerwin Du Bois.

The groovy soca is a really lighthearted explanation of just what Roberts gets freaky over as she sings that whenever she hears soca music she behaves like a freak on the stage and the dance floor. “Freaky dickie, when ah wining ah not picky, anybody could come and take a taste . Freaky dickie, when ah wining ah real sneaky, yuh have to tell from the motion in meh waist,” sings Roberts in the chorus.

“People would probably say that I am singing about sex and being a freak in the bed, but for me, I am a freak for soca music, which is what I am saying in the song. When I hear soca, I just get carried away and behave like a freak. I am also a freak for the gym and can’t stay away from it for even a day. And of course, I am a wining freak. Carnival is all about being free on the road and just letting go of all the stress, wining like a freak,” Roberts said.

This is Roberts’ second collaboration with Du Bois for the season thus far as they previously released, “I Am Soca” in which they perform a duet. This song gives soca music a voice in which it laments that although soca music drives Carnival and brings joy to so many, people show little love for the art form and once Carnival is over they shove it aside for all other music forms such as dancehall and hip-hop.

“That song very special to me because soca is really our music and people sometimes don’t appreciate it and the joy it brings. I have always wanted to work with Kerwin (Du Bois), but the time did not come till now. He believes in his music and he has a unique style of writing and composing. We really kicked it off this year. I did not really have a topic and he created the concept of “Freak,” Roberts said.

On the morning the Express spoke with Roberts she had not too long come out of Rama Studios where she recorded another new song titled, “Horn Pass,” produced by Kernel Roberts. In this song Roberts sings that rather than stress over whether her man is unfaithful or not, the woman should give him a horn pass allowing him to go and have a time with another woman. There is, however, a catch.

“The song is about giving your significant other a pass to go and do whatever he pleases with whomsoever. Sometimes in a relationship you get that gut feeling that something is wrong, that your lover is cheating or whatever and then the lies start to come and you begin to feel insecure and as if you are not good enough.”

“Don’t force anyone to love you because if its not meant to be, what can you do? So give them the freedom to please themselves, but while they having a time, you go enjoy yourself too. The flip on that is, maybe when they ready to come back, you would have already found something better. Because while they doing what they want to, I doing what I feel like doing with whoever also,” Roberts said.

September this year marked the tenth anniversary of the passing of calypsonian, Lady B who was Roberts’ mentor. Lady B composed calypsoes for Roberts to sing at the calypso competitions and encouraged her to develop her natural talents. We asked Roberts what is her reflection on Lady B a decade after she died.

“I have maybe eight women that are like mothers to me and Lady B was one of them. She is the person responsible for Patrice Roberts the artiste. She took the time to show me the ropes and teach me to write and compose. You’ve brought back a sad memory here. I looked up to and loved her deeply. After she died, her sister, Verlene Bobb took up writing songs for me,” Roberts said

Roberts continues to be a part of the Machel Montano HD family and knows she is in for a very hectic Carnival season, again. She continues to work out in the gym at least three times a week to maintain her physique and stamina for the stage. And even if she is in studio, Roberts makes the time to workout.

“I go to gym three times a week at 9 a.m, but if I am in studio, I try to get there at three in the evening. Going to gym for me is like putting on clothes. I have to do it. Since I began working out, I’ve seen my body transform into something I love and I am comfortable with. I really worked on it and I am loving the results. The results so far motivate me to work even harder,” Roberts said.

For Christmas Roberts intendeds to spend as much time with her family and close friends as possible because once the Carnival season begins she will hardly see them. And when Carnival is over there is the touring with HD, which means more time away from them.

“My personal Christmas wish is to spend time with my family. I don’t really get time with them or my close friends. I don’t even get to talk to them after Christmas because it’s pace from then into Carnival and after. For the New Year, I want to take my music and career on the whole to another level. I want to win, not just in the competitions, but in my career as far as building a name for myself out there. It’s not every year will be your year, so you have to always work hard. Always work hard,” Roberts said.

Trinidad Express

]]> http://carnivalplanet.com/patrice-roberts-is-soca/feed/ 0 Boom Champions http://carnivalplanet.com/boom-champions/ http://carnivalplanet.com/boom-champions/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:35:03 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3518 http://carnivalplanet.com/boom-champions/feed/ 0 FARMER NAPPY INTERVIEW http://carnivalplanet.com/farmer-nappy-interview/ http://carnivalplanet.com/farmer-nappy-interview/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:44:31 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3515 http://carnivalplanet.com/farmer-nappy-interview/feed/ 0 Soca Monarch Finalists!!! http://carnivalplanet.com/soca-monarch-finalists/ http://carnivalplanet.com/soca-monarch-finalists/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:08:52 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3512 417432 293116850747138 134337446625080 835892 841124894 n 279x300 Soca Monarch Finalists!!!

]]> http://carnivalplanet.com/soca-monarch-finalists/feed/ 0 Erphaan Alves In Your Eyes Video http://carnivalplanet.com/erphann-alves-in-your-eyes-video/ http://carnivalplanet.com/erphann-alves-in-your-eyes-video/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:38:20 +0000 Ronny Saldenah http://carnivalplanet.com/?p=3508 http://carnivalplanet.com/erphann-alves-in-your-eyes-video/feed/ 0