Shaggy in the ‘Mood’ for carnival
To release soca EP; appear on Kes The Band’s IzWE 2023
Published:Thursday | January 19, 2023 | 12:22 AMStephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer
Grammy Award-winning recording artiste Shaggy is set to participate in Trinidad and Tobago’s carnival festivities next month, and is slated to make a guest appearance at Kes The Band’s IzWE 2023 concert on Valentine’s Day.
The two artistes have collaborated on a single titled Mood, released officially last Friday, January 13, just in time for the carnival season. During the IzWE 2023 press media conference held via Zoom on Tuesday, Shaggy said that it is the first single from a soca EP he is currently working on. It is not the Bombastic artiste’s first time exploring the soca genre. His first was a collaboration with Machel Montano titled Toro Toro in 1998.
“It was in the middle of the pandemic that the song [ Mood]was written, and it sparked an idea, why not do it as a soca song,” Shaggy told The Gleaner when questioned about the catalyst for a soca production at this time.
He explained that the lyrics were inspired by the rhythm itself, which began as a track for his Christmas reggae album, Christmas in the Islands, which was released in 2020. “It was one of the tracks which came up, and the feel-goodness about it led me to writing in a whole different direction, and that’s how we decided on Mood,” Shaggy said.
Noting Kes’ charismatic and out-of-the-box style, he added, “Imagine being in a lockdown during a pandemic and just envisioning yourself having that festive mood or party, and nobody embodies that more than Kes, currently in the genre. It [Kes’ sound] is soca, but singy-songy, calypso mixed with the soca vibe, and I like [that] with his music. The whole track just kind of speaks to and screams Kes, and so once that was done, I thought, why not do a soca EP.”
Shaggy said that he has always been a fan of soca music and Caribbean music as a whole. The project will feature collaborations with other soca stars from Trinidad and Tobago, such as Patrice Roberts and Bunji Garlin, and across the region, like Skinny Fabulous from St Vincent and the Grenadines. “I have always been a fan of soca music, I’m a fan of Caribbean music, and I’ve done a lot of tracks with Machel [Montano]. It’s going to be a hybrid style — a feel-good record — of soca-infused songs, and I thank Kes for being part of the lead-out track and getting everything going,” he said.
The artistes were first introduced during a recording session at Shaggy’s studio in New York over a decade ago, around the time of Kes’ reggae release titled Can’t Wait, recorded on the Calabash Riddim, which also featured songs from Konshens, Shaggy and Wayne Wonder.
Shaggy is looking forward to making an appearance at IzWE 2023. He shared, “Kes and I have spoken about it, and I have heard so much from my Trinidadian and soca artiste friend dem and I am looking forward to [being] part of history.”
“I am just looking forward to giving a great vibe, and I think this carnival is going to be an incredible one, and people have been locked out for the longest. Kes would have recently experienced it in the energy of the people when he came to I Love Soca in Jamaica, just how people were happy to be out. Throughout the Christmas season, too, every party was rocking and filled to capacity, and I’m not excluded. I’m looking for that vibe myself,” Shaggy continued.
Trinidad and Tobago’s carnival season takes place from February 15 to February 22. Kes The Band’s flagship concert on the Eastern Caribbean island usually takes place on the Tuesday before Carnival, and this year it falls on Valentine’s Day. It is set to happen at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, South Trinidad.