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The Great Debate Alison vs Patrice

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The Great Debate Alison vs Patrice

-Written by Chandelle ‘Chandy’ De Riggs

This Wednesday Digicel presents to the world a showcase called Showdown featuring two dynamic women in Soca, Alison Hinds and Patrice Roberts. As the flyer was released chatrooms went ablaze and the debates began should Alison even compete against Patrice? Is Patrice on Alison’s level? Does Patrice have as many hits to go toe to toe with Alison? Who made Patrice a Queen of Soca?

One could debate they are both Queens in their own right reigning in their own relic. Alison paved the way in the late 90s. A true queen, the face of women in Soca when Soca wasn’t widely marketed as it is now. There weren’t thousands of fetes, or flyers, or social media. With hit songs spanning 2 decades and over 10 full length albums as the lead singer of the band Square One, and even transitioning into one of the original Riddim riders right in the early stages of the Riddim formula. Alison Hinds has an old school catalogue of music like no other female artist for her time, with mega hits like ‘Ragga Muffin’, ‘Aye Aye Aye’, ‘Sugar’, ‘DJ Ride’, ‘Faluma’, ‘Togetherness’ and dozens. Alison reigned supreme from 1996-2011 Making great hits.

Patrice Roberts stepped on the scene in 2003 when she released her debut calypso album ‘Blossoming’ featuring the single ‘De Dey I Saw Red’. Two years later she was featured on Bunji Garlin’s hit track ‘The Islands’. But it was 2006 she caught the ears and eyes of the entire Soca world with numerous hits ‘Always Be’ featuring Zan and ‘Band of D Year’ featuring Machel Montano. This moment opened doors for her. Shortly after she became the frontline vocalists for the HD Band. Patrice continued to bring out massive hits consistently within a short time period. For the next 3 years she dominated the Soca scene with ‘Sugar Boy’, ‘Till Tomorrow’ featuring Zan, ‘Assume The Position’, ‘Light It Up’ and ‘Rolling’ Featuring Machel Montano, ‘Mo Wuk’, ‘Thunda Waist’, ‘Looking Hot’, ‘Tempa Wine’ and the list goes on. she was marketed groomed and blossomed into the Queen she is now. She has earned her right to that title. 18 years later she still continues to grow her sound and mature musically with recent hits ‘Carry On’ and ‘Splash’ featuring Nessa Preppy.

Both of these women are Queens in their own right. They have a catalogue of music, in fact it’s quite possible Patrice might have more in her bag. Let’s congratulate these ladies and tune in on Wednesday.

 

Who are you rooting for, Alison or Patrice?

 

 

Written by Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs

Follow me on Instagram @Chandymedia

Facebook @Chandy Sweet

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“Hello” remains at #1 for the 4th consecutive week. Top 30 Viewed videos Week 4 2018

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For the 4th consecutive week “Hello” by Kes on the Folklore Riddim is the #1 tune on our Julian’s Promos Youtube page (with 790,787 views).

Holding steady with position #2 is Shal Marshals “Splinters” (536, 152 views). “Splinters” is a crowd favorite Kes and Patrice’s “Like it Like That” moved up this week making it to our top 10 at position #10 (with 210,349 views).

Moving up to position #3 is Machel Montano and Super Blue’s “Soca Kingdom” (398,176 views) which was releases only two weeks ago. “Soca Kingdom” is a major song taking over the airwaves and You Tube Soca streams. Let’s see if it can conquer position #1 or #2 next week.

Patrice Roberts “Sweet Fuh Days” is holding steady at position #4 with (363,065 views). “Criminal Wine” featuring Lyrikal and Millibeatz dropped down to position #11 this week.

Erphaan Alves “Overdue” (258,396) is currently holding steady at position #5 this week.

Voice’s “Year for Love” on the Upendo Riddim dropped down to position #6 (254,193 views). Also on the Upendo Riddim, that’s still rocking on our top 30 chart is Machel Montano’s, “Take it Slow” position #12 and Turner’s “Champion” (position 30).  “Full of Vibe”, on the My Decisions Riddim, dropped down to position #7 (251,268 views).

Coming in at position #8 is “O’ Lawd Oye” (277,837). “O’ Lord Oye” is a colorful catchy video that showsNailah’s hot dance moves while shopping for fruits in the market square.  In position #9 is her warmhearted tribute song to her grandfather (Ras-Short I) titled “Soka” (219,314 views). Also, her song “Badish” featuring dancehall artist Shenseea dropped down one slot (position #21).

Notable songs moving up in our Top 30 is Blaxx’s motivational song “Hulk” at position #14. Jamming his way up the top 30 is Dev’s “Jam” at position #15. “Jam” is a popular song charming the waistlines of many.

Keep it locked to see this week to see what changes we have. Please note songs on our Weekly Top 30 are songs based on weekly views. Check @julianspromos on IG for more details on our criteria

 

Written by Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs follow me @chandymedia

 

 

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Voice, Definitely Far From Finished

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A sensational burst of inspiration emerged onto the soca scene for 2016. This inspiration is the very talented singer/songwriter Aaron “Voice” St. Louis of San Juan Trinidad and Tobago (not to be confused with Young Voice based in Brooklyn). For 2016, Voice gave us “Cheers to life”, where he won the 2016 Soca Monarch competition, making him the youngest monarch winner in Trinidad and Tobago. For 2017, he brings us another inspirational tune, “Far from Finished.”

“Cheers to life” (commonly known as winner) was the party anthem for 2016, a perfect segue for his latest tune.  “Far From Finished”, written by Voice, produced by Fisherman Project and mixed by Precision Productions, has a nice blend of chutney and groovy soca. The lyrics rope you in with the beat. In this song, Voice gives you a glimpse of his life after his 2016 Soca Monarch win. Voice is currently attending the University of West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, where he’s studying Theatre. Some may remember his tracks, “The Master” (2014), “Skillful Bumper” (2014), Vision (Belefonte Riddim, 2014) and of course his 2016 hit, “Cheers to Life.”  Take a listen and feel the vibes, “Far From Finished” is truly an inspirational track. I’m definitely looking forward to other tracks Voice may have coming up for the 2017 carnival season.

This blog was written by Chandy Ablaze chandy.ablaze@gmail.com or follow me on IG @Chandy_Sweet and on Facebook and Twitter at Chandy Sweet.

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Dymez – Doh Hold No Malice, A Fresh Name To Soca

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“If I take a wine on de side doh argue fuss or no fight, doh hold no malice, ah don’t want we love life to die but tonight ah taking a wine.” Anyone who has ever been in a relationship during Carnival can definitely relate to the first two lines of this song. At some point the bass, the drums, the lyrics hit your head compelling the listener to take a wine. “Malice” is a big tune for Dymez for 2016. Here are a few things about this charismatic artist you may not know. The name Dymez came about for a few reasons. Dymez was constantly regarded as a “hustler” in school. He was always crafting a way to make money, (coins, dimes).  Dymez has been in the business making musical contributions since 2010. It was last year where he decided to venture into soca. The two songs he released last year were “Drinkers Anthem” and “Gal Ben Up.”  What makes him stand out from the rest is his writing capabilities and unique personality. For him music isn’t solely dependent on your style and delivery. Music also represents ones culture. “Dancehall is Jamaica’s culture so the masses rapidly link reggae to Jamaica. Regardless of how good you can deliver the songs ragga soca/soca are most associated with the culture of St. Vincent so choosing to focus on soca was very important”.  You can check for Dymez tracks on Julianspromos You Tube page. Also look out for is power soca track “Wuk Him Out” featuring Da Pixel. For bookings contact: islandshakent@gmail.com Follow Dymez on social media @dymez784.

 

Article written by: Chandy Ablaze, email her at chandy.ablaze@gmail.com follow her on Facebook and Twitter @Chandy Sweet and on IG @Chandy_Sweet

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Who is Chewalee and why should we care?

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Left to right: Chewalee, Lestor “Mac” Iroha, Hypa 4000

There is a Yoruba proverb “what you give is what you get ten times over,” the artiste Chewalee is a living testimony of this. Chewalee is a relatively young artiste in the soca business (2 years) and has managed to capture the Ragga Soca Monarch crown for 2016 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with his tune “Rumist”.  Chewalee can not only sing and write songs but he’s also a local pannist, he has been for over eight years. He’s a man in touch with his culture and tradition. Keeping the culture alive is something he’s passionate about. He loves Soca however, he saw it necessary to venture into Calypso, a genre he felt needed something “special” (after all that is what Chewalee means). Soca brings joy, but calypso gives an artiste the flexibility to tell a great story.  The 2016 Ragga Soca competition was a first for Chewalee. He entered into the competition as an underdog pulling position #8 (which in his opinion was great slot). If you were in the crowd that night (like I was) there was immense joy in the crowd, as soon as the beat dropped there was pandemonium in Victoria Park. The crowd began “What we drinking? RUM!” As he started to sing “When I step inside a fete, just give me a Sunset. Rum de best spirit nothing can compare to it.” The fire from the Baygon sprays ignited in droves. Everyone started to singing and jumping Victoria Park was in mass hysteria. If you were there you just had a feeling this was the song that was going to win. “Rumist” is produced by Lester Iroha and is just one of three big wins for 4th Dimension Productions.

 

The producer had an epic carnival season, closing Vincy Mas 2016 capturing the Soca Monarch/Road March win with Hypa4000 hit song “No Behavior.” Chewalee attributes a great amount of his success to his producer Lester Iroha for molding him and giving him the confidence to enter the competition. Chewalee currently has a reggae track called “Uncensored Wine” from the Summer Body Riddim from 4th Dimension Productions. Like any artiste, if given the opportunity he would love to work with other producers such as Red Boyz, Kubiyashi, and Fryktion Muzik. Staying relevant is something many artiste struggle with, especially in the Soca industry. In order for Chewalee to stay relevant, he believes it’s important to learn the business aspect of music. For him music consists of 90% business and 10% talent. In any business staying relevant is important, and having a mentor or someone you admire is one way of keeping up with the times. He admits he admires Skinny Fabulous for his talented contributions while staying true to Vincy culture and Problem Child for his impeccable writing skills.  It’s a dream for him to work as a singer, or songwriter with Skinny Fabulous, Kevin Lyttle and or Machel Montano.  A long-term goal he has is cultivating his legacy by having his music go international, making money and giving back to his community. Chewalee is a story about perseverance, determination, and humility. New to the industry yet he’s made a mark for himself in his country and diaspora. Chewalee is a true reminder of “what you give is what you get ten times over.” He is a talented young man one we should all look out for.   Check out more from Chewalee on Julianspromos TV on You Tube. Also, you can connect with Chewalee via social media @chewaleej.

 

  • Favorite dish– pizza or whatever mommy cooks.
  • A Pet Peeve– bad mindedness.
  • What inspires Chewalee– hearing and knowing great songs makes me wanna sing and make great music.
  • Something people wouldn’t know about Chewalee– “music gets me emotional there are songs and instrumentals that bring tears to my eyes and those aren’t necessarily love songs”

Notable Quote: “Music isn’t just a hobby, its hard work, and God given talent”

 

Written by Chandy Ablaze chandy.ablaze@gmail.com or follow me on IG @Chandy_Sweet and on Facebook and Twitter @ChandySweet.