SONGS OF CROP OVER are on the air and the number will increase by the end of the week.
As has been the case in recent years, Anderson Blood Armstrong was the first out of the gates with the radio launch of his Dis Soca Baddy album on Monday.
He said the actual show will be pre-recorded to facilitate the simultaneous launch on four different radio stations. The 22-track album features the likes of Blood, Mikey, Peter Ram, Queen T, Windchaser, Katalyst, Kirk Browne, Brett, Basil and others.
Rhythms have caught on in a major way and Blood’s ToneDeff studio is working with the Akabaka, Beat Down and Top Up rhythms.
He described this year’s offerings as “interesting” and “hot” stuff. A collaboration with Mr Dale is also in the works. Blood is also working on social commentaries for himself, Mikey, Sammi Jane and Windchaser.
Concerning the inclusion of a number of regional artistes on the album, Blood said he was trying to get the Caribbean closer by trying to “exchange talent”.
Fellow producers Peter Coppin, Kirk Arthur and Randy Eastmond have been working with regional acts as well. Arthur has gone a little farther afield and is producing for two acts out of London and Boston.
Music from Arthur’s Room 112 studio is expected to be on the airwaves by tomorrow. Describing the music he has heard to date as “very good”, Arthur said he had done a fast Tite Choonz rhythm for Mr Dale’s project and a ragga soca groove called Vice Grip.
He has produced for Mr Dale, Problem Child, Statement, Alison Hinds, Skinny Fabulous, Adrian Duchin, Jason Paul, Katrina, Miss Desire and Adrian Clarke. Clarke is doing a tribute to former tentmate Carolyn Tassa Forde.
Eastmond said he was “upbeat” about the 2011 season, the vibe was “fantastic” and that he expects music from his Quantum Studios to be out by May 10.
He has developed a ragga soca rhythm called De Baron, which is a tribute to the Trinidadian bard.
Peter Ram, Sluggy Dan, John King, Nikki C, Daley B, Star Perez and Sluggy Dan are among artistes Eastmond is working with this season.
Coppin suffered a major setback after the systems in his Monstapiece studio crashed and he lost lots of work, but he said he was prepared to work around the clock to ensure that the annual compilation was done and music was out.In addition to
Li’l Rick, Edwin and the regular local crew, Coppin is working with Madd Dog, Beenie Man, Gappy Ranks and several others from Trinidad and Jamaica.Even though he is not a fan of rhythms, Coppin said he, too, was working on two or three of them.“Rhythms don’t sell CDs. Songs sell CDs,” he said matter-of-factly.