WIN OR LOSE, Lil Rick intends to be the last man to beat come 2015.
The soca artiste told the MIDWEEK NATION in a recent interview that he would be coming with a force in the Party Monarch and Sweet Soca competitions.
Why?
“I love Bajan culture and Bajan music and I just wanna bring some excitement back into the competition because the excitement and battles and challenges are lacking,” he said. “Next year I will be back. I won’t say I am going to win but I will be the man to beat.”
And while he maintains respect for social commentary, “at the end of the day ya gotta eat and that is where the money is. Social commentary gets me nowhere”, he said frankly.
But perhaps bashment soca could.
The Last Man To Leave singer said if he had entered the competition this year, that would have been the song he would have sung. He stressed that just as ragga soca (or sweet soca) found a place in competition, soca’s bashier variation could be accepted in the same way.
“Bashment soca is a fusion of dancehall music and soca with a little pop. The youngsters love it and the older people may disapprove of it, but you know there is a fight,” he said. “But the bashment is coming. Years back there was no Sweet Soca, just Party Monarch. In years to come [bashment soca] will be included . . . as the kids reach out to it and [they] are the future. Whatever they decide, that is what will fall into place.”
Though he has opted out of competition, the Hypa Dawg is giving the assurance that he will pull out all the stops for Dis Is Rick 2014, to be held on August 2 in the Gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.
“Everything I could possibly do in a competition I am doing for Dis Is Rick. I bringing out all of the energy and all of the presentations for the concert. It is something I am looking to throughout the years [because] it is not about me, it is about the best of Barbados,” he explained.
“Some artistes don’t get to reach certain places . . . and I putting them on that show and giving [a chance to perform at] one massive show.”
Lil Rick was also working on All Inclusive, his latest studio effort. It will feature all 21 songs produced for this year’s Crop Over, featuring Hypa Kids, Unda Dawg and King Bubba, and should be distributed under CRS Music by next week.
“I am not only releasing songs for the radio, I am releasing songs for the world,” he said, explaining the decision to produce 21 tracks this year. “I do fusions and all is not directly soca; there are crossovers and some of them which can last beyond Crop Over.”