Sokah2Soca

It was expected but many held out hopes for a win by Savannah Grass... that did not happen and the leader, the song that was expected to win prevailed in the end. It was not a just get by win, no it was not! Famalay was played 346 times while Savannah Grass came in second with 207 plays. A little math and the magic lead is 139... a very convincing victory. Kudos and congratulations to the Famalay team. 

Famalay is a song that was conceived by Saint Vincent native Gamal Doyle aka Skinny Fabulous. He enlisted Machel Montano (with roots in Grenada) and Ian Alvarez aka Bunji Garlin a Trini with roots in Saint Lucia. He did not stop there, Skinny then enlisted Dada Music out of Dominica to co-produce the song with DJ International Stephen (Trinidadian based in the US). This truly a Caribbean effort that took the Road March Title in Trinidad and Tobago. 

What comes next? Last year the duo of Machel Montano and Austin Lyons aka Super Blue won the Road March title. This year the trio of Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin and Skinny fabulous won the Road March title. Does this mean that solo artistes don't stand a chance winning the Road March Title again? Kees Dieffenthaller's 'Savannah Grass' is an excellent song that came at the wrong time. Maybe we may see more collaborations from singers from the other islands because of the success of Skinny Fabulous. He is the first artiste outside of Trinidad and Tobago to register a win for Trinidad and Tobago's Road March. Don't kid yourself, he had everything to do with the creative process that brought this song to Soca music lovers! Timing is everything, Skinny got it right while Kes was on the wrong side of history losing with an excellent song. 

So here are a few takeaway from the victory of Famalay:

• It gained momentum quickly and was very popular in fetes with Machel, Bunji and Skinny ensuring that the song was properly promoted.
• Savannah Grass by Kees Dieffenthaller took off late and gained quickly but it was too late to stop Famalay.
• This is the first time that someone outside of Trinidad and Tobago won the Road March Title - Skinny Fabulous stamps his name in the cultural history books of Trinidad and Tobago.
• This is also the first time that a trio of artistes collaborated and won the Road March Title.
• This is the first time that a Soca song influenced by Bouyon music (Credit Dada Music)
• Both Famalay and Savannah Grass placed first and second for the Road March race and, paralled that success, with similar success on the International Reggae Charts. The were number one and number two on the Itunes Reggae Music Charts.
• This clearly shows that Soca needs a charting system/genre listed on major music charting sites. 

So where will the next collaboration come from? Trinidad and Tobago opened its arms and welcomed artistes from the rest of the Caribbean, will we see the same thing happen in reverse? The music out of Trinidad and Tobago was awesome this year... let's keep it pumping!

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♫Please press the music player button below to listen now (small triangle in the Music player/TV Frame).

Machel Montano reacts to winning the road march title (shared with Skinny Fabulous and Bunji Garlin/song produced by Dada Music and International Dj Stephen)

Famalay Producers International Dj Stephen and Krishna 'Dada'Lawrence on "The Morning Brew"!

Skinny Fabulous responds to winning Trinidad and Tobago's Road March. Do you think that he is happy?