Vincy Carnival All Stars 2015: Skinny Fabulous & St. Vincent’s Soca Stars in Brooklyn
St. Vincent and the Grenadines brought a heavy dose of VincyMas energy to Brooklyn on Saturday, September 5, 2015, when Vincy Carnival All Stars took over Cascades Ballroom during New York’s Labor Day Weekend.
Presented by Yung Hova and Nekes Events, the concert was promoted around three major names in Vincentian Soca: Skinny Fabulous, Hypa 4000 and Problem Child.
The timing could hardly have been better. Only weeks earlier, the artists had come out of a competitive VincyMas season filled with major titles, new music and road anthems.
Vincy Carnival All Stars 2015 flyer featuring Skinny Fabulous, Hypa 4000 and Problem Child at Cascades Ballroom in Brooklyn.
VincyMas Champions Come to New York
The Vincy Carnival All Stars flyer doubled as a snapshot of some of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ biggest Soca achievements at the time.
Skinny Fabulous arrived in New York as the newly crowned 2015 Ragga Soca Monarch and Power Soca Monarch, becoming only the second artist to capture both titles on the same night. His winning Ragga Soca performance featured “This Island Is Mine.”
Hypa 4000 was advertised as the 2015 Road March King. He had taken the VincyMas Road March title with “Dutty,” finishing well ahead of the competition with 69 points.
Problem Child was already a two-time Vincy Road March champion, having won with “Party Animal” in 2007 and “Mad House” in 2009.
Together, the billing gave New York audiences a concentrated taste of the artists and music driving St. Vincent’s Carnival scene in 2015.
Skinny Fabulous Takes the Stage
Among the performances documented that night was Skinny Fabulous.
Coming directly out of his double-monarch season, Skinny was one of the centerpiece performers for an event built around Vincentian Soca.
His appearance brought the sound and intensity of VincyMas into Brooklyn during a weekend already packed with Caribbean events from across the region.
One of the photographs from the night also captures Skinny Fabulous with Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs and Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, connecting the performance with the Julianspromos team documenting the event.
Vincy Energy at Cascades Ballroom
The event was held at Cascades Ballroom, 1055 East 45th Street in Brooklyn, with doors advertised for 10 PM.
Music for the night was billed from D1 Ent and EZ Sounds, while the advance ticket price was advertised at $40.
Rather than trying to represent every Caribbean island on one bill, Vincy Carnival All Stars put the spotlight firmly on St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
That gave the night its own identity during Labor Day Weekend: a Brooklyn stage devoted to the artists, sounds and competitive Carnival culture coming out of VincyMas.
A VincyMas Season That Traveled to Brooklyn
By September, the songs and titles earned during VincyMas were already traveling well beyond St. Vincent.
Skinny Fabulous’ double Soca Monarch victory and Hypa 4000’s Road March win had both been decided in July, making the New York appearance part of the international run that followed the summer Carnival season.
For Vincentians living in New York, an event like Vincy Carnival All Stars offered a direct connection back to the season they had just watched unfold at home.
For the wider Soca audience, it was another chance to experience some of the artists shaping St. Vincent’s sound during one of New York’s busiest Caribbean weekends.
From the Julianspromos Archives
Julianspromos covered Vincy Carnival All Stars at Cascades Ballroom on September 5, 2015 as part of its New York Labor Day Weekend coverage.
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosted the coverage, while Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs photographed the event.
The assignment was documented through photography, including images from inside the event and a photograph bringing Skinny Fabulous, Chandy and Vivaa together during the night.
The gallery captures a particularly strong moment for Vincentian Soca in 2015, with VincyMas champions bringing their Carnival-season momentum directly to Brooklyn.
