Rise Miami Meets Shine NY 2014: Soca’s Summer Hits Meet Miami Carnival
By 6:00 AM on Friday, October 10, 2014, Miami Carnival Weekend was already wide awake.
At Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, Rise Miami Meets Shine New York turned Friday morning into an all-white beach fete filled with Soca, DJs, artist performances and a crowd ready to start Carnival weekend long before lunchtime.
Presented by Giselle “The Wassi One” and Back To Basics Entertainment, the event ran from 6 AM to 2 PM, bringing the Rise Miami and Shine New York brands together against the waterfront setting of Virginia Key.
For Julianspromos, the day became much more than one general event recap. Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson and Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs hosted the coverage, while Julian C. Hackett filmed and edited the videos, creating individual artist features that captured some of the Soca music moving through the Caribbean in 2014.
All White on Virginia Key
The flyer called for ALL WHITE, and the beach setting gave the event a completely different feel from the clubs, concerts and late-night fetes surrounding Miami Carnival Weekend.
Rise Miami Meets Shine NY was billed as Event #3, with general admission at $30 and VIP at $80.
The DJ and sound lineup stretched across New York, Miami, Trinidad, Toronto and beyond, while Lead Pipe & Saddis were advertised to perform live with their 2014 hit “Ah Feeling.”
Event hosts listed on the flyer were Whitney Husbands, Hollywood Butta and Vibesman Redman.
And all of this was happening before many people had even finished breakfast.
Fadda Fox Brings “Ducking” to Miami
One of the standout artist moments came from Fadda Fox, who talked about “Ducking” before performing during the event.
The song had been part of Barbados’ 2014 Crop Over season and was already making its way beyond the island by the time Miami Carnival arrived. Contemporary coverage of the period also places “Ducking” among the Bajan records that helped define that year’s Crop Over music.
By October, Miami was another stop in the song’s growing Carnival journey.
Fadda Fox Talks “Ducking” + Performance
Fadda Fox talks about the record and then brings “Ducking” into the Rise Miami Meets Shine NY party, giving viewers a look at the song while it was still moving from Barbados’ summer season into the wider Soca circuit.
King Bubba Brings More Barbados Energy
Barbados had a strong presence throughout the day, and King Bubba added another piece of that story.
Rather than only catching a performance, Julianspromos also got an artist conversation, giving viewers some personality between the music and beach-party energy.
King Bubba Performance & Interview With Vivaa
The King Bubba segment combines performance footage with an interview conducted by Vivaa, bringing viewers closer to one of the artists representing Barbados in Miami that morning.
Lead Pipe & Saddis Arrive With “Ah Feeling”
If there was one performance on the flyer that perfectly connected Miami Carnival to the Caribbean summer that had just passed, it was Lead Pipe & Saddis.
Their “Ah Feeling” had become one of the biggest songs of Barbados Crop Over 2014, winning Tune of the Crop and following the duo into international Carnival markets later that year. Contemporary coverage described the song as one of the records that dominated Barbados during the season.
A few months after Grand Kadooment, the song had reached Virginia Key.
Lead Pipe & Saddis Interview With Vivaa
Vivaa caught up with Lead Pipe & Saddis in Miami while “Ah Feeling” was still enjoying its 2014 momentum.
The interview adds the artists’ voices to a day when the song advertised on the flyer was also part of the live Rise Miami Meets Shine NY experience.
Skinny Banton Carries Grenada Into Miami
Then the day moved from Barbados to Grenada.
Skinny Banton joined the coverage with new music and a performance, adding another Caribbean Carnival market to an event already packed with artists from around the region.
By October, Miami had become the perfect meeting point for music that had spent the summer moving through different islands.
Skinny Banton Talks New Music + Performance
Skinny Banton talks about what he had been working on before getting into the performance, bringing some Grenadian energy to Virginia Key during Miami Carnival Friday.
Ricardo Drue Talks “Vagabond”
Ricardo Drue arrived in Miami after a particularly important Antigua Carnival.
Earlier that summer, he had won Antigua and Barbuda’s 2014 Jumpy Party Monarch title with “Hide and Seek,” while “Vagabond” finished third in the Groovy competition.
By Miami Carnival, “Vagabond” was beginning to travel well beyond Antigua.
Ricardo Drue Talks “Vagabond”
The Ricardo Drue segment catches him talking about “Vagabond” during the period when the record was beginning to become associated with a much wider Caribbean audience.
Chandy Catches Up With Lyrikal & Problem Child
The cameras were moving around Virginia Key throughout the day.
Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs also got on camera with Lyrikal and Problem Child, adding another artist moment to a morning already filled with interviews and performances. The current Julianspromos page documents that interaction alongside the five individual video features.
It also shows why having both Vivaa and Chandy on the assignment mattered: there was simply a lot happening at once.
Rise Miami Meets Shine NY 2014 Photo Gallery
The videos tell one side of the morning. The photos bring back everything around them — the white outfits, artist interactions, crowd moments and bright Virginia Key setting.
Miami Becomes the Meeting Point
What makes Rise Miami Meets Shine NY 2014 fun to revisit is how many different Carnival stories were meeting in one place.
Fadda Fox arrived with “Ducking” from Barbados.
Lead Pipe & Saddis came with “Ah Feeling” after a huge Crop Over.
Skinny Banton brought Grenada into the mix.
Ricardo Drue arrived following his Antigua Carnival success.
King Bubba added another Bajan voice.
Lyrikal and Problem Child were there too.
By Friday morning, music that had spent the summer traveling through different Caribbean islands had all found its way to Virginia Key Beach in Miami.
From the Julianspromos Archives
Rise Miami Meets Shine NY was already familiar territory for Julianspromos by 2014.
The team had covered the event in 2012 and 2013, making the October 10, 2014 assignment the third consecutive year Julianspromos documented Rise Meets Shine during Miami Carnival Weekend.
But the style of coverage had evolved.
Instead of returning with only one long event recap, the 2014 assignment produced individual artist videos built around interviews, performances and specific songs.
Vivaa handled several of the artist conversations, while Chandy added her own on-camera coverage around the event. Julian worked behind the camera and handled the editing.
That combination made the page feel less like one party video and more like a collection of moments from the Caribbean music scene at that exact point in 2014.
And Miami Carnival Weekend was only getting started.
Event Details
Event: Rise Miami Meets Shine New York — All White
Date: Friday, October 10, 2014
Time: 6:00 AM–2:00 PM
Venue: Historic Virginia Key Beach Park
Address: 4020 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, Florida 33149
Theme: All White
Presented By: Giselle “The Wassi One” & Back To Basics Entertainment
Advertised Live Performance: Lead Pipe & Saddis
General Admission: $30
VIP: $80
Event Hosts: Whitney Husbands, Hollywood Butta & Vibesman Redman
Julianspromos Hosts: Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson & Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs
Camera: Julian C. Hackett
Editor: Julian C. Hackett
