Username: Da Face
Password: DeNextBadArtiste
Aight then.
Da Face has logged in for another week.
I know you all are expecting some Digicel Rising star commentary but I didn't pass through the Digicel Rising Star auditions this week because I went and limed Friday night and didn't really feel to go Saturday (sigh...hangover and hot sun really doh mix). Anyhow, expect me to speak about it sometime during next week. By the way, did anybody see how that Jason Castro dude mangled Bob Marley's "I shot the sheriff" on American Idol. Damn. Weed is a hell of a drug.
This week, however, I'm going to feature and comment on what I believe are five of the most interesting soca songs produced in the last 15 years. Now before I go, I know I may have left out some so feel free to disagree vociferously and/or send me your choices. As underground artistes, the clear advantage we have over established artistes is a greater freedom to make interesting and innovative music. Being known and having a thousand 'bousand' fans often pressures you into making the type of music that those fans have grown to expect; underground artistes who sometimes have little more than their ceiling fans have much more room to experiment. With that said, almost all of the songs featured here were made by artistes who were fairly popular at the time, a fact that makes the existence of these songs all the more interesting. Also, big up to Rasadam for having these songs available on youtube.
1) Ghetto Flex, KMC, Bunji Garlin and Ataklan - The All Star Show
One of my fondest memories from all the fetes I've attended is seeing the "All Star Show" performed live at Boy Scouts (who remember when dis fete was bad). It took about half hour for the song to finish because after each verse the next artiste had to be found backstage and the highlight for me was when they finally found Ataklan at the end. The only artiste that could have been found easily was a little known artiste (at the time) who went by the moniker of Bunji Garlin (Tell mih life eh funny). At the time it came out, a song featuring a sample of "The Muppets Show" was weird enough but hearing it now in a time where the majority of soca is depressingly generic makes this song sound like something straight off Mars. When this song came out, ragga soca was actually a genre that someone considered big enough to give it its own competition (Ragga Soca monarch anyone).
Most Interesting Points - Bunji Garlin was an unknown artiste at the time. Ghetto Flex and Ataklan were the two more popular artistes on the song at the time (Ataklan where yuh gone hoss?). Sampling "The Muppets Show"? Wtf? Four ragga soca artistes bussing lyrics on one track...ah yes, de good ole days.
2) Denise Belfon & Ghetto Flex - Rock Ya Body
This song is talking about basically "wukking a person's body right" but comes off sentimental at points. Ghetto Flex croons hopefully for permission to wuk Denise Belfon's body. Nice. At the time, a lot of men really wanted to wuk Mrs. Belfon's body right (how different is that from now?) and could have really felt where Mr. Flex was coming from I'm guessing. The beat itself is interesting as it features a pretty standard dub baseline with an organ coming in for the sentimental points on the chorus. For the intro, no hint of the baseline is given and Ghetto Flex starts by asking permission to wuk the body. Then the baseline kicks in hard and he lets Belfon know why he will wuk her body right. And in now classic Belfon fashion, she lets him know that she eh no joke either. Good stuff.
Interesting Points - The pairing of Ghetto Flex and Denise Belfon was a wtf moment at the time. One of the first soca songs to feature a heavily dub-influenced beat. One of the first of many back and forth soca songs featuring a man wanted to wuk a woman and she telling him that she eh no joke. The sentimental intro...I still get goosebumps hearing it even now. Still one of the best choruses ever in Trinidad music.
3) General Grant - Rev The Engine
Ah yes, 1996. There were a few common things about Trinidad music in 1996; analogies about cars ("Swinging engine" anyone), standard soca chipping beats ("Short pants" by Chinese Laundry comes to mind) and General Grant. Coming out as one of the most promising artistes from the Kiskidee caravan, General Grant had a few hits under his belt by the time this came out. Additionally, by the time this song came out there also were quite a few songs using cars as a metaphor for grinding. However, this remains the most memorable of all those songs (yes, it badder than "Swinging Engine")and what makes this song stand out is General Grant's nasal delivery over the very standard soca beat. In theory, this song should not be as much fun as it is but which fella could really resist a hook combining girls and cars.. I wonder how many girls actually processed that they were being revved when they let a man take a 'small chook' to this song?
Interesting Points - General Grant's delivery on the song...he was more known for being basically a dancehall artiste before this but he fit right in on this one. The hook on this song is still one of the most fun hooks ever. Made the best use of the car/wining metaphor of all the songs that used it.
4) Xtatik - Pretty Gurl
Now I'm going to start off by saying that this may not be the most interesting song that the Taipan has ever produced ("Hard Working Dog" could be though or the first collabo with Mr. Walker). I'm also going to say that I could have easily made this list only containing songs from Mr HD. With that said, this is definitely one of the most interesting he has ever done; the intro starts off on some sentimental bullsh*t and then goes into a dub beat for the intro with some guy (Machel?) saying "pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty dolly...oooh here she come here she come". The chorus also actually calls out the names of girls to promote moments of "he called my name" amongst the more vapid of the female gender.
Interesting Points - The song is constructed perfectly to appeal to women and men; it has a sentimental sequence of tones on the intro that is also used on the chorus and he calls out girls names on the chorus which sequences into a standard dub bassline on the verses that Machel uses to 'spit game' at a girl and let her know why she really 'bess' then. The first dub-influenced Machel song. The song is credited to Xtatic (when last you hear that name?).
5) Godfather's Assylum & Treason - By De Bar
In rap there is a type of song called a "Posse cut". What is a "Posse cut" you ask? A "Posse cut" is a song that contains a gazillion rappers and one of the selling points of such a song is hearing the varied deliveries of each of the featured artistes. A good example of such a song is Triumph by the Wu tang clan. Essentially, "By De Bar" is the perfect example of a posse cut; it features the Godfather's Assylum (then was Bunji, Ninja, Scar and Benjai) and 3 Suns who went by Treason back then (Menace, Ace and Criminal). Interesting enough, the topic of this song is a common motif in rap songs where you're telling some girl that you have the bar locked down. In this song it is done but in a very Trinidadian way with a memorable hook provided by Benjai. In a nice touch, Bunji doesn't hog the spotlight in this song and Scar actually steals the show with his now signature verse on the song: "De gyal dem too bizarre, dey sight mih from far, sight Scarface in a one way car, "Take mih to de bar, buy mih caviar...". And as icing on the cake, the baddest ragga soca group ever steps up to the mic. I remember getting goosebumps when this song came out and the "Treeeaaaasooon familleee" came in on the last verse. I was like "dey on this too?".
Interesting Points -The beat: some chutney-like drum is the most prominent thing on it...its still one of my favourite soca beats ever. Godfather's Asylum and Treason on one song. Scar's verse...take mih to de bar, buy mih caviar?...lol, good stuff. Menace coming in and totally distressing the beat at the end. Seven men on one soca song (is there another soca song with this much features?).
Alright people, that was one to five. If you have thoughts, 'leh mih know'. Da Face out. Check out de myspace page nuh...ah have a new song up there called "Uwi girls": http://www.myspace.com/artistedaface.
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