Caribbean Entertainment Hub

Nailah Blackman’s Sokah Origins cements her excellence as a performer as she put on a fantastic show that felt like both concert and fete but with all the vibes. This year’s theme B.A.D (born a diamond) felt appropriate given the slew of dazzling performances throughout the evening, culminating in an exercise in brilliance by the soca princess.

The show kicked off an hour and a half later than the advertised 5 pm, but soca artiste Oh.Xone showed off a new song “Attitude Problems” while urging the crowd to check out his new music. The crowd was hyped up by the antics of Major Penny before the list of better-known soca artistes graced the stage.

Some of the highlights include Pumpa from the US Virgin Islands. He stood out with his beard dyed fluorescent green and electric presentation making use of the entire stage as he got the crowd raving.

The crowd’s response, especially the ladies, was thunderous as Lyrikal monopolized the stage. He sang “Dotish” which uses the Tilden Hall rhythm. Lyrikal put on a clinic in crowd engagement, inviting an audience member to the stage who gave the freest, duttiest wine of her life to the amusement and surprise of the crowd.

Voice started his set with his Carnival 2025 release “Retro ,” and urged the audience from the South to represent. He transitioned into “Penthouse” and “Out and Bad” before jumping into both the VIP and General sections during “Too Own Way,” sending the crowds wild as they tried to buss a wine on the soca star.

Nailah united with her family on stage with “Endless Vibration,” a vivacious duet with her aunt Marge Blackman, before joining Isaac Blackman later for a rendition of “Om Shanti Om” who ended the set with timeless classic “To The Ceiling” which sent the crowd into a spree.

Nailah was the shining diamond of the event, giving multiple performances and having multiple changes in attire which included a gorgeous but risque deep blue dress. Nailah showed her mastery as a physical performer, keeping pace and leading the charge of her backup dancers while managing clean vocals. She remarked that the ladies weren’t getting on “bad enough” before inviting a few audience members on stage to mash up the place. And mash-up they did, as they sent the crowd into a frenzy with some professional throw-waist.

Toward the end, Soca icon Sherwin Winchester was invited on, but the set had to be cut short as the event had gone over the allotted time due to the late start. Nailah concluded the show with an acapella rendition of “Come Home,” her sincere and mesmerizing vocals cutting through the crowd as the venue began to shut things down.

While not a “wine and fling it up” kind of event, the audience, especially the VIP section, grooved throughout the night, dancing, chipping, wining and ‘palancing’ to match the vibe of the music and performers. If it was your first fete for the season, it was money well spent.

With the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays falling mid-week, the festivities have been staggered somewhat as Carnival 2025 events invigorate the longest season in and for many years to come. Early events such as “Day One” and “1st Jam” attracted scores of eager fete lovers to the Normandie Hotel and Hasely Crawford Stadium venues respectively on January 1 with various boat rides and cruises happening almost daily since then and smaller niche events such as the “Fete”

On Sunday, January 5, the real action kicks off with Nailah Blackman’s annual concert event, Sokah Origins (subtitled B.A.D. – Born A Diamond) dazzling and vibrating across south Trinidad from 4 to 11 pm at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy; Paradise – The Secret Garden will be held in the west together Soka in Moka which still stands as the only one with multiple live bands and performers now celebrating 25 years as the official Carnival kick-off event.

Viking Ding Dong booked to perform at both venues

Former Trinity College vice principal and Chair of the Event Organising Committee, Janice Richards highlighted the commitment and love for community and college shown by the school, its teachers, and students over the years in a media release, which also reminds patrons that this staple carnival event returns to the school’s outdoor court area after two years held at St Andrew’s Golf Course nearby.

“Plans for this year’s celebration include décor in commemorating the joy we feel as a community having hosted this event for as long as we have,” said Richards, adding the surprisingly longstanding plug that: “With tickets priced at $900, Soka in Moka is presently the most affordable premium all-inclusive carnival fete in T&T.”

According to Richards, the Soka in Moka All Inclusive has proven to be the school’s most successful fundraiser over the years, aiding substantially in maintaining and refurbishing the facility.

“Our largest expense was in 2015 when we spent $300,000 to paint the school’s exterior,” she revealed. “Over time, we have raised money from this event that has gone toward refurbishing the basketball court, implementing our school’s security system, outfitting our computer lab, repairing our administrative restrooms and now, we will work towards upgrading our security system at the school.”

Like clockwork, the energy of the carnival season in Trinidad and Tobago is making its grand entry this Sunday with Sokah Origin, and the Soka in Moka event will feature an all-star DJ cast, alumni performers, and major artiste including Patrice Roberts and the A-Team Band, Raymond Ramnarine and Dil-E-Nadan The D All Starz Band with College Boy Jesse, Viking Ding Dong, Zan, Mical Teja, Blacka Dan, Teddyson John, and Olatunji Yearwood will also perform at Sokah Origins.

Take your pick or try to sample them all, but Carnival 2025 comes alive this weekend and will continue for the next 8 weeks with increasing intensity as we chip on toward The Greatest Show on Earth come March 3rd and 4th 2024.

Five-time Power and two-time Groovy International Soca Monarch Winner, Machel Montano believes that the time for competition has passed and that more collaborations are needed to take Soca music to greater heights. Montano was asked about the recent announcement of a new Soca competition coming on stream for Trinidad Carnival 2025, while at the official launch of the Pineapple Riddim held at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Wednesday morning.

The veteran entertainer took his time to respond, starting with the quip:
“What gets you here wouldn’t get you there! Ahm, there is a desire by some people to go back: to go back to the glory days of the Soca Monarch competition, but in life, we doh get to go back. We only go forward. I must commend Mr William Munro for his contribution, so give him a round of applause.
“In my humble opinion, Soca Monarch has done a lot for us as artistes who were rising, but in this time of MONK – The Movement of Now Knowing, we need to know what we need to do now and in my humble opinion instead of competing against each other, we need to collaborate more.”

The Pineapple Riddim marks the first-ever partnership between Dwayne “DJ” Bravo’s 47 Productions and Machel Montano’s Monk Music and features powerhouse artistes: Machel Montano (“Wah We Doin”), Patrice Roberts (“Tun Up”), Lyrikal (“Carnival Meeting”), Rupee (“My Kinda Gyal”) and rising star, Ronicia “47Ronzy” Joseph (“Come Here”). A release from Crystal Clear Solutions given to media at the event stated that “the riddim delivers a fresh yet nostalgic sound, blending groovy Soca with irresistible Carnival energy”.

Montano referenced the rise of Afrobeats and Reggaeton music, which are both comparable to the sound and speed of Soca, and advised “in his humble opinion” that our focus needs to be on making Soca a global product. He said:
“I don’t personally feel we need a competition right now to take us to where we need to go. It will happen organically again at some point, but right now we have Afrobeats becoming the most popular music in the world and it sounds like Soca. Afrobeat is right behind Reggaeton music, which is doing some of the biggest numbers in the world with artistes like Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and others – and it sounds like Soca! So what are we missing to take our music to the next level?
“We need to focus on making Soca music a global product.” He advised, answering his own query. “Beyond the competition, we should be focusing on the quality of our music; the quality of our writing; the quality of our marketing, and most importantly, the quality of our message – to inspire the young people, to inspire the nation and we know that where two or more are gathered in HIS name we can accomplish a lot.”

Montano joined Bajan bard, Rupert “Rupee” Clarke; Cricket Icon, Dwayne Bravo; US-based talent, Devon “Lyrikal” Martin, and rising star, Ronicia “47Ronzy” Joseph. Joseph was discovered via Bravo’s digital app investment, Collab,r and is being managed by him also. Soca Queen, Patrice Roberts is also featured on the riddim, but was out of the country and sent a short video recording which was played at the event. The launch attracted a number of industry professionals, stakeholders, and media personnel and featured pineapple cocktails by Verve Creations for Angostura White Oak, as well as tasty edibles by Shafek’s Catering and an open bar courtesy Armando Bar Services, LED and graphic printed promotional tees, luminous signs, digital screens and trendy decor by Strictly FX. Montano and Bravo engaged in a friendly arm wrestling contest refereed by acclaimed producer, Kevin “Stadic” Charles to close the event and the elder singer defeated the younger cricket star and was knighted as the new “Champion” by attendees in reference to Bravo’s hit single of the same name.

Caribbean Entertainment Hub names Mical Teja Soca artist of the year. In the annals of soca, 2024 will long be remembered as the year that Mical Teja lifted his head above the clouds and entered that elite space of soca royalty. With the biggest soca song of the year, ”DNA,” he won the coveted Roadmarch title, became the Young Kings, was a Calypso monarch finalist, and the song was played by one of the panorama winners and several other steelbands.

A prolific songwriter and producer who has written and produced hits for some of soca’s greats like Machel Montano, Kevin Lyttle, Kerwin Du Bois, Kes The Band, Shurwayne Winchester, and Patrice Roberts’ “Mind Your Business”; and has popular collaborations with Ding Dong (“I Horning First”), Nailah Blackman (“Dingolay”), and Freetown Collective (“Mas”). Mical Tejal has been flying under the radar for a while, ascending the ladder of popularity and success with each passing year. In 2022 “Dingolay”, in 2023 “Hall of Fame”, and ” Mass Come Again”. And in the year under review, Mical’s mega hits “Runaway” and “DNA” prove that he is one of the genre’s musical geniuses.

In 2024 not only did Mical’s songwriting skills blossom as in “DNA” and “Runaway” but so did his performing attributes. His much-improved stage presence and story-telling had him commanding large audiences in all the major carnivals in the Caribbean and North America. He had them jumping, waving, dancing, and singing along with nostalgia “Noo Place Like Hoome Hoome, Hoome”, and identifying with Loraine on her ‘Runaway’ from cold New York to sunny festive Trinidad.

In 2021 in one of our E-Hub weekly Live shows, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mical Teja where his inner strength, confidence, philosophy, personality, and the musical path he was taking to the top was revealed. So it is no surprise to Caribbean Entertainment Hub that three years hence Mical is at the apex of Soca. We recommend that you take a listen to this gem of an interview as Mical opened up himself and let his eloquence shine.

Kes’ first release for Carnival 2025, “Cocoa Tea” has topped the US iTunes Reggae chart and several streaming platforms, charts, and playlists in countries all around the region and the US. The song was released on November 15th just before the band of brothers from south Trinidad embarked on their third annual US East Coast Tour. As the tour rocked packed venues in Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia; Silver Springs, Maryland; Norfolk, Virginia; Raleigh, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia from November 24 to December 5, the lyric video for the song on the band’s YouTube channel skyrocketed to 1,000,000 views in the first two weeks as the song got added to thousands of streaming playlists.

On Sunday, December 8th, Ineffable Records President, Adam Gross posted an update detailing statistics showing the song’s mainstream appeal and interest growing rapidly in less than a month and without an official music video.

“Cocoa Tea came out three weeks ago and the numbers that it is doing are unprecedented for any Soca record and are the best numbers any Kes song has ever done out the gate, as it looks to hopefully be the biggest Kes record of all time!” He enthused.

“The song has three million plays including 1.9 million on YouTube over 400 000 on Spotify and almost 500 000 on Apple Music. On YouTube, it is still doing over 125, 000 plays a day without an official music video. It’s number three on Toronto’s local pulse Spotify chart and sits at the top of Shazam charts in 20 different places.”

Written by Kees Dieffenthaller, hit producer, Michael “Tano” Montano, and Reigning Trinidad and Tobago Road March King/ songwriter, Mical Teja, with background vocals by Tano, rising star, Denzil “Coutain” and Terri Lyons, Gross added that:

“Cocoa Tea” is currently number one in Trinidad, Guyana, Antigua, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, the British Virgin Islands Dominica, and Anguilla among several other countries it’s in the top 10 streamed songs as well. The song is going viral on Tik Tok where it has been used in 66,000 different videos including 32,000 using the original sound. All of that together bringing in 61 million views on the song on Tik Tok,” he listed.

Patrons at a Kes US East Coast Concert

Sincerely giving thanks to all the band’s fans and many supporters after the YouTube video hit 1,000,000 views in just one week, lead singer, Kees Dieffenthaller recalled a time when Kes was not a household name across the Diaspora, back when the band struggled to even get airplay in their home base of Trinidad and Tobago. He said:

“Real views. A million views, two weeks!

“Yuh know ah remember de days when we used to get a lotta trouble to get even airplay, so I give thanks for the day to see this. Thank you for the support, thank you for the love of the song and yo, this is the mission: we’ spreading this to the world, thank you very much!”

The band will celebrate its 20th anniversary at their annual Carnival Festival Experience entitled “IZWE 2025”, which is scheduled for Tuesday, February 25 at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain. The band released limited pre-sale tickets online on Monday, November 18 via their websites, kestheband.com and izwefestival.com. Follow @kesofficial on TikTok and @kesthebandofficial on Instagram for the latest updates.

Photos by Jono Hirst from Kes’ 2024 East Coast Tour performances

One Caribbean Music wishes to advise the public that Adidja Palmer aka “Vybz Kartel” is billed to perform on Friday February 28th, 2025, as part of a Caribbean musical cast at a signature event entitled the “One Caribbean Music Festival” in Trinidad & Tobago.

This Carnival Friday event features a stellar cast of superstar performers from across the region representing 80% Soca and 20% other genres of musical performances.

The One Caribbean Music organization consists of a group of individuals with a deep love for all Caribbean music. We are following the long tradition of well-loved events that have invited performers from all over the world to participate in the greatest show on earth.

Caribbean music continues to captivate the world, and its influence continues to grow, and we are excited to be a part of its growing popularity and even more elated to share with Trinidad & Tobago.

We further advise that the recent video being posted to social media platforms with Vybz Kartel’s confirmation that he is performing in Trinidad & Tobago on February 28th, 2025, is NOT an official video released by the event organizers. We understand that our fans are excited to share the news.

The event will be launched officially in the coming weeks as our cast is confirmed, and we will share all the relevant information on the full concept and cast in the coming weeks. Rest assured that Soca music will be represented by the best of T&T and the Caribbean for Carnival

Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician, Winston Rodney OD aka Burning Spear says that parents are the key and must heed the calling, and accept their duties and the responsibility for the state of the world today. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Overtime Media at the Rootyardd facility Green Room in Chaguaramas ahead of his performance at the “Rootsyardd Dub presents ‘The Gift of Sound'” event last Saturday, Rodney placed the direction of the nation and the future of the world in the hands of all parents.

“That’s where the teacher comes in – you got to have a teacher when you’re talking about the youth and that is why they behave the way they do. The discipline and the respect starts at home with mom and pop. If they don’t have a teacher at home, then they gonna go outside and behave the way they shldn’t… The first step is at home – if mom and pop can’t set it straight, then who else gonna set it straight? We can only give suggestions, advice or so, but the beginning for every young person starts at home – that’s mom and pop’s duty!” said Burning Spear

Born on March 1, 1945, the now 79-year-old Rastafarian is recognised as one of the most influential and long-standing roots artists to emerge from the 1970s. Citing Curtis Mayfield and James Brown as two of his major US musical influences, Rodney was also deeply influenced by the views of the political activist Marcus Garvey, especially with regard to the exploration of the themes of Pan-Africanism and self-determination. In 1969, he was advised by the legendary Bob Marley, (who was also from the same parish of Saint Ann, Jamaica, along with Garvey) to approach Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One label and thus began his career in music. Asked about the coincidence of three great global icons all hailing from the same community, Rodney believes it was ordained.

“That’s a lot of strength to know and to see that three of us come from the same place. I, Marcus, Bob… from the same parish. Bob lived in the opposite part, I lived in the capital… It’s a remarkable thing, but did I know it was going to happen? No. It was ordained, that’s why it happened.” he said,

Chuckling when asked about the whereabouts of the comb, which broke in his hair as a young man and was thrown into the sea at St Ann’s Bay, Rodney recalled fondly the moment he “accepted the call” to Rastafarianism and what he described as “his duty” as a musician, educator and liberator.

“That was on the beach where the Marcus Garvey Youth Club used to be. That’s where I get the whole strength of Rastafari, right on the beach, when the comb go away I get that call and I opened I-self to the call and I accept the call and the call is from that time and I continued to this time: there’s no turning back, no changes, no compromise, it’s a duty and the duty is still taking place.
“That’s the way it is. The music is for the people and the people is for the music. I don’t know if the artistes coming up now will follow or go in this direction or that, cause the young people now think different, act different, approach things different… So we don’t know if they will stick to the roots and culture and speak the truth through the music, we have to look and see what will happen. Things are always changing, but that don’t mean you let go of everything that came before – that’s why I have to stick to my duty, so they can still see and hear and know the roots, the foundation and the truth.”

Performing for over two hours at Rootsyardd on Saturday night, Rodney’s presence attracted several hundred fans and reggae lovers from across the country to the Chaguaramas facility at Skallywag Bay just after the Kayak Center. The once controversial theme park now boasts of miniature golf, rock climbing and other fun activities for couples, families and groups; features many small entrepreneurs with organic, healthy and creative products and hosts regular showcase events and mini concerts for a growing community of alternative and healthy lifestyle enthusiasts.

Founder and Creative Director of Rootsyardd Dub and Night Market, Jude Patrick described the event as “a magical night” and welcomed “all lovers of love, family, good music and positive vibrations to the Rootsyardd community”. He said:
“We have created a safe space here, where families can come and enjoy good clean fun activities, consume healthy local products and support local businesses. To have a legend and an icon such as Burning Spear grace us with his presence is an honor and a privilege and he brought so much life and light, wisdom, knowledge and understanding to the community. We can’t thank him enough for coming to share with us and the people of Trinidad and Tobago at this time when the nation is going through so much turmoil and changes. He is a reminder and a torch bearer of the roots and the foundation that led us out of bondage and spread Rastafari and Pan-Africanism throughout the world before it became what it is now. We need to remember who we are and what our purpose is and like Spear said we have to honor our duty in this world and uphold and represent the truth for all and especially the next generations to see and know.”

Complete with performances from Conscious DJs Cutchie Sounds, Negus Hi Fi, Solid Rock, Black Chariot and Kingston Dub Club, as well as Jah Defender, Wadi Gad, Tafari Wisdom, Kumar, Gabre Selassie and Nyahbinghi Drummers, ‘The Gift of Sound’ was an awesome and inspiring up close and personal concert experience in the midst of the Night Market and Rootsyardd community and extended family.