YOU! by Calvin French YOU! Magazine - Issue 1 | Page 75

courtesy of Caribbean dancers like Crazy Hype
and Betty Rox.
Afrobeats tracks like “Sanko” have had a
particularly profound impact in Trinidad and
Tobago, influencing not only emerging soca acts
like Olatunji and Sekon Sta, but also the genre’s
leading voices. In March 2015, Destra Garcia,
released a remix of “Sanko.” In November 2015,
Bunji Garlin launched Suit of Black, his pan-
Caribbean supergroup with dancehall deejay
Assassin and Jamaican-Canadian rapper Kardinal
Offishall, with “She Bad,” a propulsive afrobeats-
inspired track with a sample of seeming West
African origin.
For those who are unfamiliar with the
experimenting and collaborating currently taking
place between Caribbean and African artists,
here is three of my favourites just for YOU!
More than anyone, though, it is soca icon,
Machel Montano, who has brought African
sounds to the forefront in Trinidad. He
collaborated with South Africa’s Ladysmith
Black Mambazo on 2013’s “Possessed,” and was
the first Caribbean artist to endorse Timaya,
hopping on a remix of “Shake Your Bum Bum”
and bringing him out to Trinidad for his annual
“Machel Monday” Carnival concert in 2014.
YOU! Magazine by Calvin French
- 75