Project X Fete St. Maarten 2015 - Asa Bantan, Future, King Vers & More

On Monday, April 27, 2015, Julianspromos was in St. Maarten for Project X Fete, one of the major concert events held during the island’s 46th annual Carnival celebration.

Presented by SIK Entertainment and LBB, Project X took place during a packed stretch of St. Maarten Carnival that began with J’Ouvert earlier that morning and continued into the evening with live performances from Caribbean and international artists. The official 2015 Carnival schedule specifically listed SIK and LBB presents Project X Fete Concert for April 27.

The surviving Julianspromos highlights preserve appearances from Asa Bantan, Future, King Vers and more, capturing a night that blended Soca, Bouyon, Dancehall, local St. Maarten talent and American Hip-Hop on one Carnival stage.

Project X Fete at St. Maarten Carnival

Project X was staged in the middle of one of the busiest periods of St. Maarten Carnival 2015, which officially ran from April 16 through early May in Philipsburg.

April 27 alone began with the island’s traditional J’Ouvert Morning Jump-Up before attention shifted back to the Carnival concert schedule that evening for Project X.

That placement made Project X part of much more than a standalone party. It was embedded directly into the island’s Carnival experience, surrounded by parades, pageants, concerts, local competitions and other major events taking place throughout Carnival Village.

Future Brings Hip-Hop to St. Maarten Carnival

One of the biggest international names associated with Project X was Future.

By 2015, the Atlanta rapper had already become a major force in American Hip-Hop, making his appearance in St. Maarten an example of the increasingly broad entertainment lineups being presented during Caribbean Carnival celebrations.

Contemporary records from St. Maarten artist Tha HotShot, who also performed that night, identify Future and Dancehall artist Mr. Vegas as Project X’s headlining artists.

The combination of Hip-Hop and Caribbean music gave Project X a crossover identity that stood apart within an already diverse Carnival concert calendar.

Asa Bantan Brings Dominica’s Bouyon Energy

Asa Bantan brought Dominica’s Bouyon sound into the Project X lineup.

By this period, Asa had established a reputation for energetic live performances throughout the Caribbean, particularly around Carnival and wet-fete environments.

His appearance also connected naturally with another artist captured in the Julianspromos footage, King Vers.

Earlier in 2015, Asa Bantan and King Vers had collaborated on “Money,” a high-energy track released through their North Island Records connection. The collaboration paired Dominica’s Asa Bantan with St. Maarten’s King Vers months before the two appeared within the Project X coverage.

King Vers Represents St. Maarten

Project X also placed homegrown talent alongside the visiting international performers.

King Vers, a St. Maarten Soca artist, represented the island within the Julianspromos highlights.

His presence is particularly valuable to the archive because it captures St. Maarten Carnival not simply as a destination for imported acts, but as a platform where local performers shared major stages with artists from around the Caribbean and the United States.

King Vers would continue building his profile as a St. Maarten Soca performer, later earning recognition within the island’s Soca competition scene and representing St. Maarten at regional competitions.

Caribbean Music Meets Hip-Hop

One of the most interesting aspects of Project X was the variety represented on the same stage.

The event brought together the American Hip-Hop presence of Future, Dancehall through Mr. Vegas, Bouyon through Asa Bantan, and St. Maarten Soca through artists such as King Vers.

St. Maarten artist Tha HotShot was another performer on the bill and later recalled opening for Future and Mr. Vegas at the April 27 event.

That mixture reflected the wider identity of St. Maarten Carnival, where music from different islands and genres regularly crossed paths within the same celebration.

St. Maarten Carnival 2015

The 2015 celebration marked the 46th annual St. Maarten Carnival.

The official season opened April 16 and included an extensive International Concert Series, J’Ouvert, Carnival Village events, pageants, parades and performances running through early May.

Project X fell almost directly in the middle of that calendar, following events such as Night of the Hit Makers, The Main Event, Daybreak Breakfast Fete and J’Ouvert, with additional international concerts continuing immediately afterward.

That schedule helps place the surviving Julianspromos footage within the larger history of the island’s Carnival rather than viewing it simply as footage from another concert.

Julianspromos in St. Maarten

The Project X footage also represents another international destination within the growing Julianspromos archive.

By 2015, Julianspromos was documenting Caribbean entertainment well beyond its earliest New York-area coverage, following artists and events into different Caribbean islands and international markets.

St. Maarten provided a particularly rich environment for that type of coverage because Carnival brought local performers together with major regional and international artists.

The Project X highlights preserved some of those intersections, including artists whose careers and musical styles came from very different corners of the entertainment industry.

A Snapshot of Caribbean Carnival in 2015

More than a decade later, Project X provides an interesting snapshot of where Caribbean Carnival entertainment stood in 2015.

International Hip-Hop artists were increasingly appearing within Caribbean festival lineups, while Dancehall, Soca, Bouyon and locally produced music remained central to the Carnival experience.

The surviving video captures that mixture in one event.

It also preserves artists at very different stages of their careers, from globally established names such as Future and Mr. Vegas to Caribbean performers including Asa Bantan and St. Maarten’s own King Vers.

From the Julianspromos Archives

Project X Fete St. Maarten 2015 - Asa Bantan, Future, King Vers & More is preserved as part of the Julianspromos Archives, documenting Caribbean music, Carnival, artists and entertainment culture across more than a decade of original coverage.

The April 27, 2015 event formed part of the official St. Maarten Carnival calendar and was presented by SIK Entertainment and LBB, with a lineup spanning Caribbean music and international Hip-Hop.

The surviving Julianspromos footage featuring Asa Bantan, Future, King Vers and more now serves as another historical record of St. Maarten Carnival and the artists moving through the Caribbean entertainment circuit during the mid-2010s.