Kumbiya My Pump Brooklyn 2014: Memorial Weekend Soca at Pulse48 Yard
Memorial Weekend got an early start in Brooklyn on Saturday, May 24, 2014, when Kumbiya Ya My Pump! brought Soca, Caribbean DJs and daytime party energy to Pulse48.
Billed as “PumpTime” from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, the Memorial Saturday event gave revelers a chance to start the weekend long before the nighttime fetes began. Presented with Graduates Entertainment branding alongside Tony Cross and DJ Dayne, Kumbiya Ya My Pump was built around music, dancing and the easygoing outdoor atmosphere of a Caribbean daytime party.
Julianspromos was there, with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosting the coverage while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage.
The official Kumbiya Ya My Pump promotional artwork for Memorial Saturday, May 24, 2014 at Pulse48.
The Julianspromos highlights were uploaded on May 30, 2014, six days after the event.
PumpTime Starts at 10 AM
Kumbiya Ya My Pump was not waiting for the sun to go down.
The event’s 10:00 AM start was part of its personality. While much of New York’s Caribbean nightlife traditionally came alive after dark, this one invited people to start their Memorial Saturday with Soca from the morning.
The official promotional campaign leaned into that playful mood with phrases including “No Minors,” “No Drama,” “No Stush Vibes” and “No Shots Refusal.”
It was a simple message: come ready to enjoy yourself.
Memorial Weekend Soca in Brooklyn
Memorial Weekend had become an important part of New York’s Caribbean entertainment calendar by the early 2010s.
Trinidad Carnival was already a few months behind, and New York Carnival was still months away, but Soca culture did not go quiet in between.
Outdoor parties, fetes, DJ events and concerts kept the music circulating throughout Brooklyn and the wider city.
Kumbiya Ya My Pump fit naturally into that space — a daytime gathering where the DJs, music and crowd were the main attraction.
The DJs Behind the Party
The event brought together several names from New York’s Caribbean DJ and sound-system circuit.
Music included Tony Cross & Kevin Evil, Back 2 Basics, DJ Dayne, DJ Paddy, Smooth Groove, Platinum Sounds, Jonboi and Keinton Diehard.
That lineup gave the party a broad Caribbean soundtrack and reflected the important role DJs played in keeping Soca active between Carnival seasons.
Selectors were often where audiences first heard new releases, rediscovered older favorites and stayed connected to the music long after the Trinidad Carnival season had ended.
Vivaa Inside Kumbiya Ya My Pump
For Julianspromos, Vivaa brought viewers directly into the middle of the event.
By 2014, her on-camera presence had become a familiar part of Julianspromos coverage across fetes, Carnival events, concerts and Caribbean nightlife.
At Kumbiya Ya My Pump, she moved through the party capturing the people and atmosphere around her. The surviving photography also includes Vivaa interviewing Tony Cross, one of the names connected to the event.
Behind the camera, Julian C. Hackett filmed and later edited the finished video coverage.
Pulse48 and the Daytime Party Experience
Kumbiya Ya My Pump took place at Pulse48 in Brooklyn, a familiar home for Soca, Reggae, Dancehall and other Caribbean events during this period.
The daytime setting gave this event a different feel from many of the indoor concerts and late-night parties in the Julianspromos archive.
Sunlight, Soca, drinks, DJs and a Memorial Weekend crowd created an atmosphere closer to an outdoor lime than a traditional nightclub event.
And with PumpTime scheduled from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM, there was still an entire Saturday night ahead once the party finished.
Kumbiya Ya My Pump 2014 Photo Gallery
The surviving Julianspromos gallery offers another look at the May 24 event, capturing the dancing, crowd, personalities and moments surrounding the party.
Photos from Kumbiya Ya My Pump at Pulse48 in Brooklyn on Memorial Saturday, May 24, 2014.
Soca Beyond Carnival
Events like Kumbiya Ya My Pump help show how Caribbean music lived in New York throughout the year.
Carnival weekend may have been the biggest annual gathering, but the culture depended on a much wider network of DJs, promoters, venues and audiences who kept Soca active from winter through summer.
A daytime Memorial Weekend event might not have carried the scale of a major concert or Carnival parade, but it was part of the rhythm of Caribbean life in New York.
Those smaller and mid-sized events helped keep the music moving.
From the Julianspromos Archives
Kumbiya Ya My Pump captures another side of Julianspromos’ expanding coverage in 2014.
By this period, the archive was growing beyond major artist appearances and Carnival road footage. Julianspromos was also documenting DJ-driven parties, outdoor events, mas launches, album releases and the broader Caribbean nightlife scene that surrounded the music.
With Vivaa hosting and Julian C. Hackett shooting and editing, the Kumbiya Ya My Pump coverage preserved both the personality of the event and the people who made it happen.
That broader approach became increasingly important to the Julianspromos archive. Caribbean entertainment history is not only told through headline concerts and famous performers — it also lives in the DJs, promoters, venues, parties and crowds that kept the culture active week after week.
More than a decade later, the surviving video and photo gallery preserve a piece of what Memorial Saturday in Brooklyn felt like in 2014.
Event Details
Event: Kumbiya Ya My Pump!
Date: Saturday, May 24, 2014
Occasion: Memorial Saturday
Time: 10:00 AM–3:00 PM
Venue: Pulse48 / Pulse48 Yard
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Presented by: Graduates Entertainment, Tony Cross & DJ Dayne
Music: Tony Cross & Kevin Evil, Back 2 Basics, DJ Dayne, DJ Paddy, Smooth Groove, Platinum Sounds, Jonboi, Keinton Diehard
Julianspromos Host: Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson
Video: Shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett
Video Upload Date: May 30, 2014
