Farmer Nappy & Teddyson John Sing Big People Party Together At Brass Fest 2014
August 31, 2014
Written by Nalo Lewis (Entertainment Macco)It is Labor Day weekend in New York City and Brooklyn is buzzing with carnival excitement. Nothing sets the tone for the celebrations like a good fete/show. This year, that show was the West Indian American Day Carnival Association’s (WIADCA) Brass Festival 2014. It was E.P.I.C.
The show started with an hour sponsored by the Daily News which featured the young soca stars Da Big Show (Kamarley Simpson), Young Devyn (Devyn Tyson), and Trinidad and Tobago’s Junior Soca Monarch King 2014, Jeremy Rodriguez. These youngsters did not disappoint. They had the audience chanting their names, waving flags, and singing along to their original compositions. By the end of the hour the Soca Soldiers had filled in their ranks and all their attention was given to the musical magic that was taking place on the stage. DJ Spice, DJ Biggie, and DJ Stephen moved their fingers from computer to turntable effortlessly and left every waistline shot.
The crowd was musically teased with performances from Zouk and The Gang from Guadaloupe, and Blakk Rasta from Africa featuring Guyanese soca artiste Yonette. It wasn’t until we became witness to and willing victims of the TJ Experience that things got interesting. Teddyson John, from St. Lucia, came to the stage with one mission in mind—to create Soca utopia, and yes, that is what happened….Brooklyn became the Land of Wine (Whine) and I became a TJ lover.
As we waited in anticipation for more Soca, we were amply aroused by the musical skills of international DJ Sounds 4 Life. With the seriousness of a surgeon at an operating table, this DJ cut, queued and mixed music from every decade in a way that had us wanting M.O.R. This musical interlude was the ideal foreplay to the soca oragasm we were about to have.
Razor, from Brooklyn’s Request Band, had the audience line up their cups, ice, and anything strong as he gave an intoxicating performance of “Sponsor Meh”. Skinny Fabulous had the crowd “Charged Up” and on their Worst Behavior. Brooklyn’s very own Lyrikal had the place “Lockdown”. The true nature of the crowd was revealed when they moved the barricades and ended up stage side as if Conquered by his musical genius. “By the way Lyro, I had every intention of coming up on stage to wine just for you (ah practice whole week) but after that Mexican woman wine ah change meh mind”. Lyrikal is truly Brooklyn’s son as he made his people proud. It was impossible to tame the crowd of scandalous people by the time Mr. Killa made his first appearance in Brooklyn. Without fail, the Soca Rider had every woman, Rolly Polly or not, giving the wickedest wine…The night was far from over.
Machel Montano, aka Soca Ceasar, took the stage and once again proved why he is indeed the best soca entertainer alive. Machel sang, wined, waved, stripped, climbed, and wined some more for an hour and a half without stopping. The New York Police Department pleaded with him to keep the crowd calm to which he replied, “This is calm. This is our culture. This is what we do.” Though nervous, they allowed him to continue his performance. As if he had a point to prove, Machel ramped up the energy and took audience requests; Ceasar led his soca soldiers to victory.
Patrice Roberts, looking like a soca Ariel and sounding equally as amazing vocally, joined him to give a little wine that had men drooling and women mimicking her moves. But the night belonged to another HD frontline singer, Farmer Nappy.
Farmer Nappy came to stage and began singing his 2014 hit songs. As the museum transformed into a Big People Party, Farmer gave the soca world a first. He noted that earlier this year he was informed that his song was actually a song that had been previously recorded by another great soca artist, Teddyson John. He then invited John on stage and they both sang Big People Party/Fete, interchanging between their respective versions. And now this TJ lover became a Farmer Nappy lover. It was a musical moment that left the audience with a feeling of euphoria and paparazzi clamoring to memorialize the moment.
