GBM Showcase Brooklyn 2013: Destra, Ravi B, GBM Nutron & Cassi
Brooklyn’s Soca scene was still carrying the energy of Trinidad Carnival when the GBM Showcase brought Destra Garcia, Ravi B, GBM Nutron, Cassi and other Caribbean talent together in New York in March 2013.
The timing made the showcase especially interesting. Trinidad Carnival had ended only weeks earlier, meaning New York audiences were hearing artists and songs that had just been part of one of the biggest periods on the Soca calendar.
This was not simply a lineup of familiar names performing old favorites. Several of the artists arrived with 2013 music that was actively shaping that year’s season, while GBM Productions itself was directly connected to some of those records.
Watch the GBM Showcase 2013 Highlights
The full Julianspromos highlights video brings the night together first, giving viewers a broader look at the artists, performances and atmosphere surrounding the showcase before diving into the individual features.
That wider view sets up what made the event interesting: established Soca stars, rising artists and the producers helping create some of the season’s music all crossing paths in New York.
Destra Garcia Arrives With “Call My Name”
By 2013, Destra Garcia was already one of Soca’s most recognizable international performers.
She had spent years building a catalog filled with major Carnival records and had become known for a live show that could move easily between melodic Groovy Soca and the harder energy of the road.
But the GBM Showcase caught Destra in the middle of an active 2013 season rather than simply revisiting her earlier hits.
Her song “Call My Name” had been released for Carnival 2013 through GBM Productions, with the record produced, mixed and mastered by GBM. That connection made Destra a particularly fitting artist for a showcase centered around the GBM movement.
The song also carried her into the 2013 International Groovy Soca Monarch final, placing her among the artists competing for one of Carnival’s biggest titles that season.
During the New York showcase, Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs caught up with Destra for Julianspromos.
The videos place viewers right inside Destra’s 2013 run — when “Call My Name” was still current, Carnival was only weeks behind her, and GBM Productions was part of the sound surrounding that season.
Ravi B Comes to New York After “Prescription”
For Ravi B, the timing was just as significant.
Carnival 2013 had become an especially strong season for Ravi B and Karma, with “Prescription” emerging as one of the records that helped carry him through Trinidad’s Carnival circuit.
Ravi reached the International Groovy Soca Monarch final, where he placed fourth, and contemporary coverage described the season as a landmark period for Karma. It also specifically identified the GBM Showcase in New York among Ravi B’s upcoming international appearances after Carnival.
There was also a direct creative link to the showcase itself.
“Prescription” was produced by Jason Carter, better known as GBM Nutron, for GBM Productions.
That meant Ravi B was not simply another Soca artist booked for the night. One of his defining songs of the 2013 season had come directly from the production team behind the GBM name.
Chandy also spoke with Ravi B during the event.
The footage catches him at exactly the right moment: fresh from Carnival, carrying one of the season’s recognizable records, and taking that momentum directly into New York’s Caribbean market.
GBM Nutron Before the Front-Line Artist Years
Looking back at GBM Nutron in 2013 is especially interesting because the version of Nutron many Soca fans know today was still developing.
At that point, Jason Carter was already deeply established behind the music as a producer, songwriter and programmer connected to GBM Productions.
His fingerprints could be found across the 2013 season.
He produced Ravi B’s “Prescription.”
GBM Productions was behind Destra Garcia’s “Call My Name.”
And the team was also connected to Kes the Band’s “Thief a Wine.”
Nutron was already beginning to move further toward being a recording artist himself, but his later identity as a recognizable front-line Soca performer was still ahead.
That gives this interview a different feel when viewed today.
Intrigue Lane spoke with Nutron during the showcase, catching him during a period when much of his influence was still being felt through the records he was helping build for other artists.
The video captures a producer who was already shaping contemporary Soca while still moving toward the artist career that would become more visible in later years.
Cassi Was Having a Breakthrough 2013
Cassi, born Cassiano Sylvester, came into the New York showcase with his own momentum building.
His 2013 Carnival season had brought renewed attention through “Whistle and Horn.”
Cassi later explained that the song had initially struggled for rotation before gaining traction as the season progressed. Blaxx had encouraged him about the record early, while Machel Montano publicly identified it as one of his favorite songs of the 2013 Carnival season.
For an artist who had already spent years working toward a larger breakthrough, that response mattered.
He was also performing alongside major artists during the Carnival period, including an appearance at Machel Monday, where “Whistle and Horn” was part of the night’s lineup.
The New York footage catches Cassi just as that 2013 momentum was beginning to translate into wider recognition.
Instead of looking backward at a fully established career, viewers are seeing an artist in the middle of a season when things were actively beginning to move.
Why This Lineup Made Sense for GBM
The more the 2013 Carnival season is placed around the showcase, the more connected the lineup becomes.
Destra arrived with “Call My Name,” released through GBM Productions.
Ravi B came with “Prescription,” produced by GBM Nutron.
Nutron himself was helping create music for several artists while gradually stepping further into his own recording career.
And Cassi entered the year with new momentum around “Whistle and Horn.”
That made the GBM Showcase more than a concert with several recognizable Soca names on the flyer.
It brought together artists whose music was part of the same immediate Carnival conversation and placed them in front of New York’s Caribbean audience while those songs were still current.
Photos From the GBM Showcase 2013
The photos from the night add another view of the showcase beyond the stage footage.
The gallery includes Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs with Destra Garcia, Chandy with Ravi B, and Intrigue Lane with GBM Nutron, along with additional moments from the event. The current Julianspromos page includes seven photographs from the showcase.
The strongest featured image remains Chandy with Destra Garcia. Destra gives the page immediate recognition for Soca fans, while the photo naturally communicates the artist access surrounding the event.
A Snapshot of Soca Just After Carnival 2013
The GBM Showcase is most interesting when viewed as a snapshot of Soca immediately after Trinidad Carnival 2013.
Destra and Ravi B had just competed during the Carnival season.
Ravi was carrying “Prescription” into international appearances.
Destra’s “Call My Name” connected directly back to GBM Productions.
Cassi was enjoying the strongest reaction he had received in years.
And GBM Nutron was helping produce records for artists whose music was moving quickly between Trinidad, New York and the wider Caribbean diaspora.
For New York audiences, those records had not yet become “old-school Soca.”
They were the music of right then.
That is what gives the videos their historical value today. They do not simply show recognizable performers from years ago; they show where those artists stood at the beginning of 2013 and what music was carrying them through that moment.
From the Julianspromos Archives
The GBM Showcase also marked an interesting stage in the development of the Julianspromos media operation.
For this assignment, Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs and Intrigue Lane represented Julianspromos on site, handling different parts of the artist coverage while Julian Hackett was not physically present at the event. The Julianspromos archive identifies Chandy with the Destra Garcia and Ravi B coverage, while Intrigue handled the GBM Nutron interview.
That represented an important shift from the earliest years of Julianspromos media coverage, when much of the operation depended on Julian personally being at an event with the camera.
By 2013, other members of the team were increasingly able to represent Julianspromos independently, conduct interviews, capture performances and return with enough material to build a substantial event package.
Destra Garcia, Ravi B, GBM Nutron and Cassi were all occupying different positions in Soca in early 2013 — from established international star, to Carnival contender, to influential producer moving toward the spotlight, to an artist enjoying renewed momentum.
Those stories crossed paths in New York on one night.
Years later, the videos and photographs still put viewers back into that moment, when Carnival 2013 was fresh, the songs were current, and the next chapters of several careers were still being written.
