Certified Soka Junkie

Well it’s all over now. Crop Over 2007 that is, though the music and the memories will live on! This was a great year (do I say that every year?) Lil Rick won the Party Monarch with Can’t Wait and he was immensely popular with both that and Conch, apparently conch eating is on the rise and he felt the need to sing about it, much to the delight of the party going public. Mr Dale was second to Lil Rick with his addictive Soka Junkie, that melody is so sweet! He managed to win the Starcom Network’s People’s Monarch and clear the road on a wet Kadooment Day to take Road March too. All hail Dale!!!!!
10 to 10 was for those with stamina and most of the artistes who sang this year were on. Dominica’s WCK opened up the live segment and gave a great account of themselves much to the delight of the Dominicans and St Lucians present. Great performances were had from Jabae with Barry and Omar doing the lead and Bruce Wayne doing a cameo just for his song, he’s so dapper these days!! Much to my delight, Bunji and the Asylum Band were present. Bunji was accompanied by Devon Smith the pan ‘bad man’ who had the crowd reeling, Scarface and The Boss (formerly known as Iwer George). Garlin’s performance was reminiscent of his dancehall days and it really hit the spot, he’s a rapid-fire lyricist extraordinaire. The inimitable krosfyah led by Edwin Yearwood and ably supported by Khiomal Nurse and Adrian Dutchin had their turn in the spotlight and shone with their supporting acts who were all tuned to FYAH 200.7 what a great concept! The likes of Statement, Mr Dale, Lil Rick, Nard, John Mohameed, Mikey, Lorenzo and Peter Ram were the supporting acts.
This year I love the concepts portrayed by John Mohameed and Nard, both seemingly clowns but crowd favourites.
Euphoria was on Sunday night and not without the pre-show controversy but Peter Boyce was involved! Lucky for him, it was a success. Happening on the same night as Cohobblopot, Euphoria managed to have a packed gymnasium. They showcased the Bacchanal Time talent, krosfyah and their supporting acts and Alison Hinds who gave her only performance for the season. In my opinion Alison’s performance was a bit lackluster but she gave of her best. Her all-Trinidadian band was easy on the eyes but the music was not as tight. The patrons were well entertained though and I think people were happy enough to want to go back next year…dah is it dey!
Anyhow, so now I am officially certified as a Soka Junkie, self-certified by the way, simply because everywhere I heard Soka Junkie playing I had to stop and wuk-up!! The live performances just took it to another level, the krosfyah-Mr Dale combination is fiery!! It ranks right up there with Edwin-Bunji. Go figure General!