Inside Mi Car

KI Persad & JMC 3veni - Catch Meh Lover 2009

One of my favorite places to both listen and read about music these days is Rizzla's great sex, drugs, and Soca spot, Wasted Youth Sound System. If not for the amazing web of links to both sides of the issue of homophobia in the Caribbean, than for the fact that he shines light on a genre stuck in the dark shadow of Dancehall. I'm gonna leave all that up to him, but I'll go ahead and dive into this Chutney song about catching your woman with another woman. From what I gather this is a big tune among East Indians in Trinidad right now, and it isn't a no-batty man/woman anthem at all but a rather tongue-in-cheek pop song about lesbians. Pretty harmless, basically right between My Girl Got a Girlfriend and I Kissed a Girl but I can't say I've heard anything from the Caribbean that takes on any similar subject in such a lighthearted poppy manner. It's incredibly corny, but I dig the production. The video is a must see especially for the hilarious bubble captions, and if you were worried about KI and his girls sacred bond it all ends up being a dream in the end. His acting makes me think he was actually psyched about it though.

King of Chutney

Sundar Popo - Chal Kechal (from Greatest Hits vol 2)

East India in the West Indies has been on my mind ever since I heard this, and these Soca infused Bhajans are really hitting the spot lately. Sundar was greatly responsible for popularizing Chutney music, a genre born in Trinidad and Tobago consisting of songs sung usually in Hindi over a beat rooted in Calypso. While the music is usually dance floor friendly, a lot of it especially in the early days was anything but secular music. Sundar mixed folk music from the island with his own agenda and sang love songs that changed Indo-Caribbean music forever. This track isn't as Soca flavored as some of his others, but his vocals are so great I had to put it up. The man released plenty of music in his lifetime (15 albums!) so next time around I'll throw one up that you can mesh easily with Montano.