Problem Child Talks Soca With Chandy in New York: A Julianspromos 2014 Interview
By 2014, Problem Child was already firmly established as one of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ most recognizable Soca artists, with a career that connected Vincy Mas, New York’s Caribbean community and the wider international Carnival circuit.
Born Shertz James, Problem Child had spent part of his life in Brooklyn, developing a musical identity that blended his Vincentian roots with the Dancehall and Hip-Hop influences surrounding him in New York. Long before his later songwriting success for other major Soca artists, he had already built his reputation through high-energy records designed for the road and the fete.
In 2014, Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs sat down with Problem Child in New York for Julianspromos, adding another artist conversation to the platform’s growing archive of original Caribbean music interviews. The surviving video stands as part of a particularly active year for both Problem Child and the Julianspromos media team.
Problem Child Was Already a Vincy Road March Champion
By the time of the 2014 interview, Problem Child was far from a newcomer.
His breakthrough record “Party Animal” won the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Road March title in 2007. Two years later, he captured the title again with “Mad House” in 2009. Official Vincy Mas records preserve both victories.
The 2009 season also demonstrated another side of his talent.
In addition to winning Road March with “Mad House,” Problem Child was already earning recognition as a songwriter. Contemporary coverage from St. Vincent noted that he had written and appeared on another song that finished among the top three Road March records that year.
That combination of artist, performer and writer would become increasingly important as his career developed.
A Busy 2014 Music Year
Problem Child entered 2014 with new material moving through the Trinidad Carnival and wider Soca markets.
One of those releases was “Do Work,” his contribution to Precision Productions’ Looseness Riddim. The project was released on January 14, 2014 and also featured Blaxx, Lil’ Bitts, Teddy Rhymez and Six Four Five.
Later in the year came “Obsession” on the Flair Skirt Riddim alongside Patrice Roberts’ “Ah Feeling Mehself,” Pupa Leendi and Ricardo Drue’s “Vagabond.” The riddim was circulating by the summer of 2014.
That placed Problem Child in the middle of a particularly interesting Soca period. Music was moving quickly between Trinidad Carnival, the summer Carnivals and then New York and Miami as the international circuit continued through the year.
Problem Child in New York Carnival 2014
Problem Child’s New York presence that year extended beyond the Julianspromos interview.
During New York Carnival Weekend 2014, he was among the Caribbean performers booked for WIADCA’s Caribbean Woodstock: A Celebration of Light at the Brooklyn Museum.
The program placed him alongside artists representing several Caribbean territories, including Ricardo Drue, Skinny Banton, Adrian Dutchin and others. Contemporary event information specifically promoted Problem Child performing his Vincy Soca record “Obsession.”
That appearance reinforces why New York was such a natural setting for this Julianspromos interview.
Problem Child was Vincentian, but he also had longstanding connections to Brooklyn. His career existed comfortably between St. Vincent and New York, making him part of both the island’s Carnival culture and the Caribbean diaspora music scene.
Chandy Continues Her Julianspromos Interview Work
The video is also another important piece of Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs’ early Julianspromos history.
By 2014, Chandy was working across several areas of Caribbean media. Within Julianspromos, her work included writing, photography, behind-the-camera production and on-camera interviews.
At the same time, she was involved with BoomStation as an on-air personality, co-host and news anchor under the name Chandy Sweet. Julianspromos’ surviving historical biography lists the Problem Child NY Interview specifically among her 2014 media assignments.
That year alone also included Julianspromos assignments surrounding Awake Boat Ride, First Degree, Sunny Side Up, Toronto Carnival, Miami Carnival and Rise Miami Meets Shine NY, showing how rapidly her Caribbean media experience was expanding.
For this interview, Chandy moved the focus away from the event atmosphere and directly onto the artist.
An Earlier Julianspromos Connection
The 2014 interview was also not the first time Problem Child appeared in the Julianspromos interview archive.
The surviving Julianspromos media history records an earlier Problem Child interview from 2012, meaning the platform had already documented him before returning for another conversation two years later.
That repeat coverage matters.
As the Julianspromos archive develops, it increasingly shows relationships with Caribbean artists across multiple years rather than isolated encounters. Problem Child is one of those artists whose career repeatedly intersects with the platform.
Looking Back
The 2014 Problem Child interview captures an artist who had already accomplished plenty but still had a major part of his career ahead of him.
By then, he was already a two-time Vincy Road March winner, an established New York-based Vincentian performer and a developing songwriter whose work was circulating throughout the Soca industry.
His 2014 catalogue included records such as “Do Work” and “Obsession,” while his New York Carnival presence kept him directly connected to the city’s Vincentian and wider Caribbean audience.
For Julianspromos, the interview also preserves another chapter of Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs’ development as an on-camera Caribbean media personality.
More than a decade later, the video serves as another example of what the Julianspromos archive was beginning to build during this period: not simply footage of Caribbean events, but direct conversations with the artists shaping Soca from year to year.
