Party Monarch Central

I’m not a super feter and I definitely don’t come out to play mas, but when it comes to Soca Monarch I am gladly up front and center. The friendly rivalry, and the high quality of a fair share of the competition songs made this year’s competition both highly anticipated and the winner(s) tough to accurately predict.

Jumpy Monarch and First Runner Up Groovy
Image Credit: Rogers Radio Caribbean

I’ve pretty much been on team Drue, ever since the first time I heard ‘Like Glue’, so it’s not surprising that I was gunning for him to hold on to his jumpy crown and capture the groovy.  He declared war, went into battle against other crowd favourites Claudette, Tian and the entire MnM crew, and as the dust settled he emerged to reign victorious as our Jumpy Monarch once more. Ever the diplomat, the monarch congratulated Claudette ‘CP’ Peters, our newly installed Groovy monarch, who he refers to as his big sister. He’s ecstatic about retaining his crown and has plans to continue representing for Antigua Barbuda and complete the Welcome to the Nation tour.

Thank God It Was Fantastic Friday -Burning Flames Reunion

Now that I’ve had the chance to recover from the sheer epicness that was the Burning Flames reunion on Friday 17^th July 2015, I can come tell you all about it. Like so many of my contemporaries from Antigua Barbuda I grew up listening to Burning Flames.I vividly remember being hoisted high above the crowd at Jampond by my godfather, and naively explaining to my perturbed mother why at eight years old I should be allowed to sing “if you get what you want tonight, will you remember me tomorrow”.

As for this recap, firstly- OHMERGERDDD! I can scarcely believe that I actually saw Onyan, Oungku, Krokus and Fox on the same stage. With their instruments. Performing! Yea,it actually happened unlike *cough* the last time dem bluff ahwe.

Fantastic Four reunited on stage

Reddddd Eyeeee

If we take Joseph ‘Jojo’ Apparicio, Red Eye 10 promoter at his word the fete is going to be quite a show this year.  He expressed appreciation for yester year when the crowd was more intimate, had less police restriction and jammed with the Burning Flames until well after sunrise. Jojo credited much of the growth of the event to Chalita Rose and Zack Hazim. It’s a little known that the original intended location for the fete was Valley Church beach; chosen so that patrons could fete till they falling down (see what I did there) and take a dip in the ocean at sunrise. That vision never came to pass, but the team is pleased with the product they’ve produced today.

 In commemoration of the tenth year of Red Eye the Marketing Machine has added several finishing touches. One of the main improvements this year is the Blacklist VIP- complete with a soup station, finger foods, drinks and *insert drumroll here* the chance to rub shoulders with headliners like CP The Diva, The Winter Man, Ricardo Drue, Farmer Nappy, Skinny Fabulous, Imani and Kes The Band.

They aim to start on Antigua people time)ON TIME,  with fireworks and English Harbour ten year old rum at midnight, appearances from all six local artists who first performed on the show, including Onyan, Tizzy, Bankers and Vision Band and most importantly the introduction of the Red Eye Hall of Fame. The first honouree is Claudette ‘CP’ Peters who has performed on all previous Red Eye fetes.

Image credit: The Marketing Machine

Sweet Soca with MnM Music

Carnival is upon us, plenty  rum, music and feteing! Unless you spend your days on Redonda hanging with the goats chances are you know what MnM Music is. If you don't, you're welcome in advance, now's your chance to get to know Menace, Melo and Boasta and find out what's behind the men and their music. Peep this interview that originally appears on Kulcha Matters a culture blog brought to you by the students of University of West Indies Western Jamaica Campus.

Claudette 'CP' Peters- She's Exceptional

Hey! Come here, come closer. Claudette Peters has something she wants to tell you. She’s a brand new Diva this year. At a media launch held on Thursday June 11th at Heritage Hotel CP unveiled her bold new logo, the #SocaArmy Movement and her band’s new name- Xceptional to an audience of government officials, soca artists, promoters, djs and fans. 

Addressing the need for re-branding efforts Claudette says “We have a new approach, especially seeing that social media is so massive right now. We want to make sure that we are heard, we want to make sure that we are seen. It’s the Diva, now we have to put the name to the face. It’s a name change because we have to put the music in the ears of the people along with the name. We 'wanna’ make sure that we are heard and seen not only in Antigua Barbuda, not only for carnival but carnival is definitely the start.” Fans can expect an increased presence on social media where they can interact with the Diva via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram as well as her soon to be launched website http://www.claudettepeters.com.