Shine 9 New York 2013: Lavaman Bring Grenadian Soca to Brooklyn
Memorial Weekend has long been one of New York’s busiest periods for Caribbean nightlife, and in 2013, Shine 9 was already firmly established as part of that tradition.
Held at The Village in Brooklyn, the ninth edition of Shine brought together Soca, Caribbean DJs, live performances and the kind of outdoor party atmosphere that helped make Memorial Weekend an unofficial kickoff to summer for New York’s Caribbean community. The following year, contemporary coverage looked back on Shine 9 as one of the standout parties of Memorial Weekend 2013, while the 2014 edition celebrated the event’s tenth year.
Julianspromos was there with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson leading the on-camera coverage. Among the moments captured were a performance by Grenadian Soca artist Lavaman and Tallpree joining Vivaa on the mic, giving the footage a strong Grenadian presence at a time when both artists represented different generations of the island’s Soca scene.
Watch Shine 9 New York 2013
The highlights capture the crowd, music and atmosphere inside Shine 9, with Lavaman performing and Tallpree appearing on the mic alongside Vivaa.
The Julianspromos coverage was hosted by Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, with the footage shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett.
Shine 9 at The Village
By 2013, Shine was no longer a new Memorial Weekend experiment.
This was Shine 9, the ninth installment of an event that had already built a recurring audience within New York’s Caribbean party scene. The live Julianspromos archive identifies the venue as The Village in Brooklyn and places the event during Memorial Weekend 2013.
That longevity matters when looking back at the footage.
Caribbean nightlife in New York has always included major concerts and Carnival events, but recurring fetes such as Shine created their own traditions. People knew the weekend, knew the party and returned year after year.
By the time Vivaa stepped into Shine 9 with a microphone, the event already had history behind it.
Lavaman Arrives as Grenada’s Reigning Soca Monarch
One of the most interesting performances captured in the 2013 highlights comes from Marcus “Lavaman” James.
Lavaman entered 2013 carrying major momentum from Grenada.
The previous year, he had won the 2012 Grenada Power Soca Monarch title, making him the reigning champion when Shine 9 took place. Contemporary Grenadian coverage later confirmed that Lavaman chose not to defend the crown during Spicemas 2013, meaning his reign was still current during the first half of the year.
That places the Brooklyn performance in a much stronger historical context.
This was not simply a Grenadian artist appearing at a New York fete.
Shine 9 caught Lavaman while he was still carrying the status of Grenada’s reigning Power Soca Monarch, performing for a diaspora audience only months before the island’s next Carnival season.
Lavaman had also already established himself on Grenada’s road, with “So We Dey” taking Road March honors in 2011.
For Grenadian Soca fans in Brooklyn, his appearance brought a piece of Spicemas directly into Memorial Weekend.
Tallpree: A Grenadian Soca Veteran on the Mic
If Lavaman represented one of Grenada’s reigning competitive stars, Tallpree brought something different.
By 2013, Wilt “Tallpree” Cambridge had already spent years helping carry Grenadian Soca beyond the island.
His catalogue included Carnival records such as “Grave, Jail, Hospital,” which became Grenada’s Road March in 2000, and “Rags Invasion,” another Road March winner the following year. He had also earned a Grenada Power Soca Monarch title in 2003.
His cultural importance had been formally recognized as well. In 2011, Tallpree was named a Cultural Ambassador for Grenada, with the country’s Ministry of Culture citing his contribution to the development and international promotion of Grenadian Soca.
So when Tallpree appears beside Vivaa on the mic at Shine 9, he is already a veteran figure within Grenadian Carnival culture.
That small moment in the footage says a lot.
A New York Caribbean party, a Grenadian cultural ambassador, another reigning Grenadian Soca champion and a Brooklyn-based Caribbean media host were all crossing paths in the same space.
Grenadian Soca in New York
The Lavaman and Tallpree appearances also highlight something broader about New York’s Caribbean scene.
Brooklyn’s Carnival culture has never belonged to just one island.
Trinidad and Tobago has naturally played an enormous role in Soca’s international movement, but New York parties have also provided important stages for artists from Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Antigua, St. Lucia, Dominica and across the wider Caribbean.
Shine 9 is a good example of how that worked in practice.
Lavaman was coming into the event as Grenada’s reigning Power Soca Monarch. Tallpree had already become one of the country’s most internationally recognizable Soca voices.
Together, their presence gave Grenadian music a visible place within one of Brooklyn’s established Memorial Weekend parties.
And their 2013 stories were still moving.
Later that summer, Tallpree would release new music for Spicemas, including collaborations with Patrice Roberts and Mighty Sparrow, while Lavaman’s decision not to defend his Soca Monarch title became one of the notable stories surrounding Grenada’s 2013 competition.
The Shine footage therefore sits just before another Grenada Carnival season began unfolding.
Photos from Shine 9 New York 2013
The photo gallery captures more of the atmosphere surrounding Shine 9 at The Village in Brooklyn, from the crowd and Caribbean party energy to the personalities who helped make Memorial Weekend 2013 memorable.
Together with the video footage, the images provide another look at the event during a period when Shine had already grown into one of New York’s recurring Memorial Weekend Caribbean traditions.
Why Shine Worked
The appeal of Shine was bigger than any one performer.
It was the combination of a familiar Memorial Weekend tradition, Caribbean DJs, live artists and a crowd ready to spend the day immersed in the music.
A retrospective of the following year’s Shine described the event as one of the Memorial Weekend parties people continued making a point of attending, while specifically recalling Shine 9 as the highlight of the previous year’s weekend.
That kind of reputation is difficult to manufacture.
It comes from consistency.
Shine had become a place where international Caribbean artists, DJs and the New York diaspora could meet in the same party environment year after year.
The fact that the 2014 edition marked ten years only reinforces how established the event had already become when Julianspromos documented Shine 9.
From the Julianspromos Archives
For Julianspromos, Shine 9 also represents another chapter in Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson’s growing role as an on-camera host during the early 2010s.
Vivaa led the Julianspromos coverage at The Village, moving through the event and appearing on camera with personalities including Tallpree, while Julian C. Hackett handled the shooting and editing.
The footage also reflects the widening scope of Julianspromos coverage at the time.
Rather than focusing only on Trinidad-based Soca stars or the biggest headline concerts, the platform was documenting the wider Caribbean ecosystem around the music — Grenadian performers, recurring New York fetes, DJs, Carnival communities and the events where those worlds intersected.
More than a decade later, Shine 9 can be revisited from a different perspective.
Lavaman appears while still carrying his 2012 Grenada Power Soca Monarch title.
Tallpree appears as an already established Grenadian Soca veteran and cultural ambassador.
Vivaa is on the mic documenting the moment.
And Shine itself is one year away from celebrating a decade.
It is a snapshot of Brooklyn, Memorial Weekend and Grenadian Soca in 2013 — exactly as it was happening.
