Author: Melissa Doughty
Squeezy Rankin is the 2025 Young Kings champion. The calypsonian, Anthony La Fleur, triumphed over 17 other contestants to earn the title. He won performing his popular single, Justice, whose message has resonated with the public. He even offered a solution at the competition on February 18, telling parents to teach their children values so […]
Ryan “DJ Private Ryan” Alexander hopes history is made with Pepper Vine and soca star Machel Montano wins his first Chutney Soca Monarch crown with a song he co-produced. The popular DJ and producer spoke to Newsday in a face-to-face interview on February 12 about the song, working with Montano as well as future plans […]
REPUBLIC Bank Exodus edged bp Renegades by one point to hold on to the lead position heading after the Medium and Large Band semifinals aka Savannah Party at the Queen’s Park Savannah on February 16. In the medium category, Tobago band Katzenjammers posted a strong lead to take them into this weekend’s finals in Tobago. […]
Trinidad Killa withdrew on Tuesday from the Ultimate Soca Champion contest, after saying virtual performances were not allowed. While Trinidad Killa is out, the competition’s director Jerome “Rome” Precilla said Dominica’s Trilla G was back in as the reserve. Trilla G’s withdrawal was revealed at the semifinal draw of positions on February 3. However, in […]
Jazz trumpeter Etienne Charles wants to explain why his 2024 album, Creole Orchestra – one of five nominees for the US National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for Outstanding Jazz Album – is dedicated to arrangers. They are the unsung heroes of every music project, he says. Though based in the US, […]
EMANCIPATION Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (ESCTT) chair Zakiya Uzoma-Wadada said the posthumous pardoning of Jamaican-born Marcus Mosiah Garvey was a win for all Pan- Africanists. The pardon was one of the final acts of US President Joe Biden before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. Garvey was convicted of mail fraud in the […]
Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore said Saturday’s small-band conventional semifinals was one of the largest the organisation had seen in recent years. Ramsey-Moore said apart from all 400 printed tickets being sold, there were large crowds gathered on the street along the way to Victoria Square, Port of Spain, where the event was held. The […]
The Ultimate Soca Champion will win a prize of $1 million, one of its organisers Jerome “Rome” Precilla announced on January 17 at a press conference at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s Road, Port of Spain. In a competition mirroring international reality TV models, it will showcase the background story of some of its competitors and […]
NATIONAL Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters and Southex CEO George Singh said competitions are still necessary for artiste development in Trinidad and Tobago. During the Chutney Soca Monarch (CSM) launch at the Queen’s Park Savannah (QPS), Port of Spain on January 15, Singh and Gypsy said artistes like reigning Calypso Monarch Machel Montano […]
SHARON NG WAI-PANTIN had a million thanks for the country when interviewed on January 8. She told Newsday that musician and producer Joey Ng Wai was now talking, awake and had been extubated (had his breathing tube removed). While he was not still fully coherent, she said, he had made massive improvements and strides. Ng […]