Look back at life and think about the good old days. Time will fly, things will change, but those memories will always stay...

I've been thinking, everything is happening so fast these days, it feels like your life is just speeding past you and you're playing catch up. Everyday it's just...

It's exhausting, making you feel as if you could just run away, to somewhere quiet and peaceful, or maybe full of laughter and great experiences. Somewhere mysterious and exciting, where you can find a thrill, get an adrenaline rush, create a lasting, loved memory. Well for some of us that's going to continue to be a dream...Recession, just saying.

What we do have though, are our memories, our sweet, sweet memories of growing up. Sunday lunch with the family, cricket on the beach, climbing mango trees and catching fish with home made rods. Stealing milk and sugar and watching local music videos on both TV6 and TTT. Who remember those?

Well for those of you who can't seem to remember...

Sharlene Boodram, yunno the girl who sang "oh la la la, oh la la la, oh la la la mamasita, ah ketch yuh cooking paratha for Santa," yeah her. This song was constantly played on television at a time where local music was actually given a chance.

And who cannot remember hearing this song every Saturday morning. Melanie Hudson made everyone want that jersey dress and this song was like an anthem in the nineties, a feel good time with feel good music.

Didn't that just feel good...I bet you were humming along weren't you...you know you were. This next video, I swear is a classic in the caribbean and by extension, the world. Today this dance is incorporated into so many dance moves. You can even see Rihanna giving us some action in her video, "Work."

Whenever I heard the opening music of this next song, I would run as fast as I could to get in front of the television just so that I could be there when the first word is sung. After that, I became David Rudder.

This may just be one of the most famous songs in Trinidad and Tobago. It's relevant for any decade, it basically sums up what everyone thinks. I bet when you see this video you'll be like...

It's my ultimate favourite, the one song that just takes me back to the good old days...

As much as I would have loved to share even more with you, I really want you to look for them yourselves. You may get more than you expected. When I was looking, I found advertisements from the eighties and nineties. I went back in time to a place called Calabash Alley and spent some time with Beulah Darling. It was so much fun seeing all those great little elements that made my childhood a wonderful experience. It brought back that good old feelings of long ago.

If you didn't see your favourite, drop a comment below and share the memories!

   

International Stars with Caribbean Roots

With everything that’s going on the world today, we sometimes just want things to be simple and a bit carefree. I know how it is, I get it, so I’ve decided to make things light and entertaining…but you’re still gonna learn something…I guarantee that!


The Caribbean seems to have done a lot more for music than we think. There are so many artists that you never knew had Caribbean roots and some of the bigger names in music of the '70's and '80's came from right here in T&T. The entire world knows that artists like Rihanna came from Barbados and Nikki Minaj was born in St. James, Trinidad, but there are so many more artists that came out of these tropical islands.

Haddaway's, "What is Love," went on to be the number one club song of the eighties and is still considered so to this day.

It was also the soundtrack for Saturday Night Live's full length movie, "Night at the Roxbury." Remember these guys...

Billy Ocean was born in Fyzabad, Trinidad and was the most popular R&B singer in the 1970's and 80's. He won a Grammy in 1985 for "Caribbean Queen," was made a companion of the Liverpool Institute for performing Arts and is an active member of the Rastafari movement. He's the voice behind hits like "Suddenly and "The Long and Winding Road."

Harry Belfonte was born to a Jamaican mother and Martinican father. He was a singer and actor (starring alongside Dorothy Dandridge in the movie "Carmen"). This is the guy that sang "The Banana Boat Song," you know, "...Day-o, me say Day-o, daylight come and meh wah go home."If you think it's familiar, that's because you may have heard it in numerous movies. Another of his hits, "Jump In The Line," became an instant history maker and was also featured in many hollywood movies, most notably, BeetleJuice.

For all you R&B lovers, you may be happy to know that Alicia Keys has some Caribbean roots. The singers father is Jamaican.

And making the cut is... the lovely Melanie Fiona! She has collaborated with artist like Ceelo Green and Stephen Marley. She also wrote songs for artists like Rihanna, was in a band with Drake and toured with Alicia Keys. Melanie's parent are from Guyana.

Lianne La Havas is a folk and soul singer with a distinct, soothing voice. She became a household name through her song, " Is Your Love Big Enough," out of the album of the same name. Lianne's mother is from Jamaica.

Surprise, surprise, bet you didn't know Beyonce had some caribbean roots. That's right, Mrs. Carter has ties in the Bahamas through her father who was born there.
                                                        

That's it...there's nothing else I can tell you about Beyonce that you don't already know...oh! Except...did you know there's actually a religion formed around her? Man I tell you...move over Christianity! That was completely off topic, I know...moving along...

Another offspring of the Bahamas is rock star Lenny Kravitz. Known for hits such as, "Again," "American Woman," "Are You Gonna Go My Way," and "Chamber." Kravitz is also an accomplished actor and you may have seen him in The Hunger Games movies. He's also the father of Zoe Kravtiz, so that would make him 52-years-old and looking like that...#blackdontcrack.

Ladies, I gave you Lenny, now I give you Maxwell...*swoons* ...

Maxwell is a singer, songwriter, producer and actor. He's credited alongside De'Angelo and Erykah Badu for shaping the genre Neo Soul into what it is today. Maxwell is also one of the headline acts at the Tobago Jazz Festival this year (look out for more on that next week, same time, same place). Maxwell is half Spanish, half Haitian.










Will.i.am, Rapper, producer and judge on The Voice, has strong caribbean roots as both his parents are from Jamaica.

So it seems like we have a Jamaican takeover...Rapper Busta Rhymes parents are from Jamaica...

The late and ever so great rapper Biggie Smalls parents are from Jamaica...

Singer Mya's father is Jamaican...

Oh man, this list can go on and on and could take forever...the Caribbean has produced many artists that have made great contributions to music. Even in Trinidad and Tobago, right at this moment, there are talented individuals working under the radar as singers, musicians and writers for international artists. If we won't accept and appreciate them here, then the rest of the world will and we'll be left wondering what would be the state of our music at Carnival next year. So let's not limit ourselves...this just shows you that no matter where in the world you are from, if your music is good, no one can deny you.

Before I go, I'll leave you with a small list of actors that you didn't know had Caribbean roots.I know it's not music, but let's recognize our Caribbean brothers and sisters!

Lorraine Toussaint- "Orange is the New Black"

Born in Trinidad

Karyn Parsons- "Fresh Prince of Bel Air"
Born in Trinidad

Kerry Washington- Mother is Jamaican

Tia and Tamara Mowry- Mother is Bahamian

Corbin Bleu- Father is Jamaican

Romany Malco- Only American in his Trinidadian family

BRING BACK THE MUSIC...Bravo out for duck with his less than impressive "Champion"

Our culture lives in our music...to understand who we are, listen to our music and it will tell you of our souls...if our music is empty, then our souls must be empty as well...

                                                                                                                                                                   

Rihanna is one of the biggest recording artists in the world. She's even broken Michael Jackson's record for number one hits on the Billboard top 100. But her last song, "Work," wasn't her best and she got a little ridicule for her very um...complexed lyrics. Thing is, because it's RiRi, it's a sell off and everyone's talking about it. So that worked, but that method really isn't safe for everyone. I mean, for every bad song that RiRi's had in her career, she has fifty more that were really good. She's allowed to have a bad song once in a while, but what happens when everyone think they can use this method of simple lyrics and using star status to sell a song?

                                                    
Now if I may, U-13 is not here to bash or criticize any form of music or entertainment, but simply to give humane and honest opinions that may foster the will to think.

Now that that's out of he way...

So our boy, cricket star Dwayne Bravo, who was actually signed to a label by the way, released his new song, "Champion." 

The songs lyrics are so complexed that it may leave you in awe. You may get a sense of wonder when you loose yourself in the magic that is his voice and you may get inspired by the energy and creative presence of the video. I'm sure you'll be out of your seat and dancing in no time!

What is even more beautiful, is the fact that he's talk-singing about mainly local "Champions" and some international ones who are all black, yet the women in the video are umm...not corresponding with the uh...yunno theme. Let's check this out for a moment here...

"Beenie ah champion, Bounty ah champion,

 Machel is ah champion, Bunji is ah champion

 Pollard is ah champion, Lara is ah champion, Gayle is ah champion

 Don't forget..."

It's literally two minutes and forty five seconds of basically calling out a list of random black celebrities and dignitaries and adding the words "...is ah champion," after them, while prancing around with a little Lindsey Lohan. Oh and there's a dance too and wait for it...it's actually his official World Cup anthem... you don't understand, they're taking this to the World Cup... i'll just let that sink in...

I'm all for celebrating our brothers and sisters, but maybe if they spent like, at least another, I dunno, six months or...say some years...writing the song, hey, it may have turned out pretty good...I think...probably...

Oh who are we kidding, this song was destined to be a wide ball (see what I did there). I mean, is this really happening? What type of message are we sending to the world about the way we treat music? We constantly try to get the world to notice our music, because let's face it, Trinidad is overflowing with talent and most of it is unseen or unheard. But for an unknown, trying to enter into the music scene in Trinidad and Tobago it's a constant battle. 

Yunno, it's like when you walk through a giant cobweb and you suddenly become a karate master...something like that...I dunno if that was an accurate analogy, but...lol right? Anyways...

What's messed up, is that these unknowns, the ones that are getting constant "fight down," are the ones with the actual talent. But at the same time, they have to make sure their music is so coordinated with their lyrics that it feels...well...wonderfully surreal.

So basically what we're telling the world is that we consider music a joke. There are people who dedicate their lives to perfecting their craft, constantly practicing, improving themselves out of the sheer love and respect they have for music. But these are not the ones that we want to hear on our radios and see representing Trinidad and Tobago, because they just might reveal how musically detached some of our praised musicians and artists are...hmmm, just saying.

Well...until that day, when I can listen to new music coming 'Straight Outta Trinidad and Tobago' and actually feel some sort of pride...I'll just keep looking to the outside to fulfill my musical desires.