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Olatunji Yearwood | |
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| Birth name | Olatunji Yearwood |
| Born | September 3, 1985 Port of Spain |
| Origin | Trinidad and Tobago; Blackpool, Lancashire |
| Genres | Soca, Afrosoca, Calypso |
| Occupations | Singer, Songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | FOX FUSE |
Olatunji Yearwood (born September 3, 1985), better known by his mononym Olatunji, is a Trinidadian soca artist.
Yearwood was born in Trinidad to Edward Yearwood, a well-known composer and mother Mairoon Ali, a Trinidadian actress, radio personality and teacher. He established himself as a Soca talent early on when he entered and won multiple talent shows while still in his teens, including the national Junior Calypso Monarch competition. [1] His shot to global fame when he won Trinidad's famous Soca Groovy Monarch/International Soca Monarch in 2015, performing his blockbuster single "Ola." [2] He is the last International Groovy Soca Monarch champion, as the competition's format was changed in 2016 to exclude that category.
Yearwood was featured in The Fader Magazine as the face of Afrosoca music, an emerging genre that fuses Soca and Afrobeats. [3] He sees the release of his debut international album 'Awakening' on July 1, 2016, from FOX FUSE - the world's largest label for soca music. [4]
In September 2018, Yearwood was featured as a contestant on The X Factor UK (Series 15). During his audition, a technical glitch resulted in the wrong backing track initially being played, [5] however, once fixed, accompanied by two backup dancers, he went on to sing his original song called "Bodyline". [6] His performance eventually resulted in a standing ovation from all four judges and, thus, four "yeses" allowing him to proceed to the next round. [5] He made it to the live shows, and performed another bespoke song, "Jiggle It", but became the first act to be eliminated.
Soca music is a genre of music defined by ras shorty , its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. It was originally spelled "sokah" by its inventor but through an error in a local newspaper when reporting on the new music it was erroneously spelled "soca"; Lord Shorty confirmed the error but chose to leave it that way to avoid confusion. It is a genre of music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 1970s and developed into a range of styles during the 1980s and after. Soca was initially developed by Lord Shorty in an effort to revive traditional calypso, the popularity of which had been flagging amongst younger generations in Trinidad due to the rise in popularity of reggae from Jamaica and soul and funk from the United States. Soca is an offshoot of calypso/kaiso, with influences from East Indian rhythms and hooks.
Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century.
The culture of Trinidad and Tobago reflects the influence of Indian-South Asian, African, Indigenous, European, Chinese, North American, Latino, and Arab cultures. The histories of Trinidad and Tobago are different. There are differences in the cultural influences which have shaped each island. Trinidad and Tobago is an English-speaking country with strong links to the United Kingdom.
Adesh Samaroo is a Trinidadian chutney soca singer born in Tacarigua in central Trinidad. He gained notice on the local scene in late 2002 with his song "Rum Till I Die" from the album of the same name.
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Austin Lyons, better known as Superblue, Super Blue and Blueboy, is a Trinidadian calypsonian, soca musician, and lyricist.
In Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname, chutney soca music is a crossover style of music incorporating soca and calypso elements and English, Hindustani, and Hinglish lyrics, chutney music, with Western instruments such as the guitar, piano, drum set, and Indian instruments such as the dholak, harmonium, tabla, and dhantal.
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International Soca Monarch is an annual soca music competition/fete event, the finals of which are held on every Carnival Friday in Trinidad and Tobago. Contestants in the event vie for two separate crowns or titles, the International Soca Monarch for uptempo songs, and Groovy Soca Monarch for slower-paced songs. Between 2016 and 2018 a change in format meant that contestants vied for only one award but this one category changed was reversed in 2019. In 2016 an additional award was added, called the People's Choice, then subsequently removed, which involves text message voting by Digicel subscribers. Subscribers could have voted multiple times for their favorite artist during the competition and the artist who received the most votes was given an additional cash prize. The International Soca Monarch competition has become the mecca event for soca artists in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) where the event has been hosted since its inception; and also the rest of the Caribbean region, as many artists who have competed on its stage have moved on to successful soca careers. Dubbed the "Super Bowl of soca music" it is a highly anticipated and well-attended event that has been graced with internationally acclaimed recording artists such as SuperBlue, Machel Montano, Fay Ann Lyons Superblue's daughter and Bunji Garlin's wife, Kevin Lyttle, Rupee and Fay-Ann's husband Bunji Garlin.
Mairoon Ali was a Trinidadian actress and comedian. She frequently appeared in local theatre for almost twenty years. She was also a history teacher, who retired from Holy Name Convent after 34 years.
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Fox Fuse is a leading digital music label for Caribbean music and is the largest label worldwide for soca and chutney music. Based in Tampa, Florida, Fox Fuse has built a strong reputation working with superstar clients such as Pitbull, Lil Jon and Shaggy, and has some of the top performers and producers in Caribbean music exclusively-signed to its roster.
Gamal Doyle, better known as Skinny Fabulous, is a Vincentian musician, singer and songwriter. He is a five-time Soca Monarch winner for his home country Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and created history in Trinidad and Tobago winning the 2019 Road March title with his hit "Famalay" which features Trinidadian soca artistes Ian "Bunji Garlin" Alvarez and Machel Montano.
Erphaan Alves is a Trinidadian soca recording artist and songwriter. He initially gained full recognition in the soca world 2012 when he qualified as a finalist in both Groovy and International Power Soca Monarch Finals with the songs "In your Eyes" and "Terrible". His transition to soca megastar proved complete when he cued the HD band into his 2018 monster hit ‘Overdue’.
Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a style per se, and more of a descriptor for the fusion of sounds flowing majorly out of Nigeria. Genres such as hiplife, jùjú music, highlife, azonto music, and naija beats, among others, were amalgamated under the "Afrobeats" umbrella.
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