The Rounds: Usain Bolt jumps into the action for Bacchanal J'ouvert

Good Evening Soca Lovers, I’m Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds. Jamaicas two carnivals come to a dramatic end this weekend. Friday night, revellers, artistes and local heros got together in a cloud of mud, powder, paint and water for Bacchanal J’ouvert. Jamaican dancehall king and carnival lover Sean Paul, was sorry he had to run away from the excitement early to catch a flight to Australia, but the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt was in no rush for J’ouvert to end. Nope, not at all...he was in the middle of the action at Mas Camp in Kingston covered from hear to toe in Blue and White paint!

Photo of Usain Bolt courtesy of www.jamaica-gleaner.com

Over in Virgin Gorda, King Paido won his 4th Calypso Monarch Title with the songs “Time to Check Ourselves”, and “Dey Pon Farmville” a chune about that game on Facebook that half of you are probably playing right now. So now he’s got four wins in Virgin Gorda, the last being in 2000, to match the four wins he has in Tortola as well. If you ask me, there’s a good reason they call the man King.

St. Thomas has crowned their first ever party monarch last weekend, and HER name is Rudy! The addition of the competition, is a definite step in the right direction for Soca Music in the US Virgin Islands. The tune is called Pressure Me and a video for said song is just around the corner. So don’t forget to check me for that when the time comes.

After this weekend, the next big carnivals on deck are St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia. But New Yorkers will be plunged headlong into both carnivals before the soca lovers in the island even get to. Last night in Brooklyn, the Vincy community paid tribute to one of its best loved calypso and soca artists, POORSAH. This year marks 30 years in the biz for the iconic political and social commentator. Known for his tiny stature, nasal voice and frantic running and pacing on stage, Poorsah has 5 road march titles under his belt.

Poorsah at SVG Soca Monarch Semifinals, 2008

St. Lucians in New York are gearing up for... “I must be in dat” the event dubbed as the Official US launch of St. Lucia Carnival. It will feature 2010 mas presentations from a variety of popular mas bands, top DJS, and of course, performances from a cast of St. Lucian artists. I think the best thing about it is that Brooklynites will get a chance to register for Lucian Carnival costumes on site, before they even book flights to head to home in July.

When I was in Trinidad for Carnival, I was surprised to turn on the TV and see that Akil Borneo, a popular DJ on 96 We FM had put out a song as a soca artist under the name 5Star Akil. Well, that same guy made news for a completely different reason this past week. On Thursday Akil narrowly escaped death after being shot 5 times in St James Trinidad. He was rushed to hospital where he was swiftly operated on. While he’s not completely out of the woods yet, the good news is, he is in stable condition with hopes to recover.

My shot of Akil on the mic Carnival Tuesday 2009 with Evolution mas band, Trinidad

Before I go, special belated birthday greetings go out to Knycky Cordner who celebrated her special day on Monday in Trinidad. Patrice Roberts turns 25 today, and Sizwe C turns 30 on the 16th. Happy Birthday to all. I’m Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds. For more info on everything I mentioned tonight, visit me online at Nurse dash Karen dot com, or follow your favourite non-medical Nurse on Twitter. Twitter dot com slash Nurse Karen. Now back to de Docta!

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Booster Shot: 2008 Vincy Soca Monarch Finals (Video)

So, the best way to tell you what happened is to show you.

Check out all the video clips and let me know who is YOUR soca monarch!


First up: Dani.O, Skarpyon, Coyaba and Poorsah...

Next up: The title winning performance from Skinny Fabulous!


Congratulations on your first Soca Monarch win. You called it! I'm soooooooo happy for you.

Introducing: Danielle Veira


You've heard/seen me talk about her in The Rounds. Here's her debut solo performance in the soca monarch show. She's just 18, with a voice like a lion. The tune is called "Wuk up your waist" on the Gladiator Riddim by Studio 758, St. Lucia.


The man and dem are waiting for a little more meat on the bones before they decide, but if you listen to music with your ears, you know what time it is.

Performance Time: Fire Empress and Bomani

Fire Empress is a stylish woman with an ear for quality. This year's entry Mamalaya is blazing up the charts on Toronto-Lime.com.

Bomani is no stranger to the Soca Monarch stage. In 2004, he was crowned SVG Soca Monarch with I AM SOCA. This year, he's riding down the highway and looking great doing it.

Chune Again!: Problem Child and Icon

Problem Child was the 2007 road march king of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but he's never entered the SVG Soca Monarch Competition until now. Decked in designer duds, Problem...it's gonna be a serious problem!

Icon on the other hand is a country boy with a flare for two things, Booming vocals and Kicksy lyrics. Overseas, most people only know him from his song on the 2005 Lavaslide Riddim. Country, country, side!!!! Before that, he had a song called Coconuts that will help you make sense of the double entendre slackness he brought in 2008: A Pain!

Vincy Variety: Alla-G, Fullclip, Homey, Maddzart

Alla-G likes to keep the mood light and local. This time he's "Sharing Horn". How generous.

As for Fullclip, remember his tune Frenzy last year? If not, go to YouTube and check out my video UK Frenzy. That's the song I used. In my opinion, it was the most slept on song of Vincy Mas 'O7. He can do it sweet or rub-a-dub style. Move - Big Truck Coming!

Homey's song is called Drunk and Dutty. Well, in the spirit of the lyrics a loyal fan bowled him a Hairoun can in he head. I know that has nothing to do with the clip I have attached here. It was so mean...but classic. Don't mess with that crowd. I have to hand it to him for continuing without missing a beat.

Maddzart! It was so good to see you on that stage tonight. Carnival is mine! Every time you sing "Nasty Wukking Up", I have to get on bad. Thanks for making me dance.

The Home Stretch: Zoelah, KGB, Tamisha Nichols, Fireman Hooper

Miss Go-Down-Low has her Hand In the Air this year. Each of her 3 releases did well this carnival, but not well enough to place in either Ragga Soca or Soca Monarch. We all know that's not going to stop Wine Up On Me from tearing up internationally.


KGB is a rather sweet guy who was totally confused that I knew who he was. Well, Kevin Browne...you're a soca artiste and I study soca. We on the same page now? Single Till Carnival Done? OK, but I'm sure your girlfriend can figure out how you spend your time too!

Tamisha is completely adorable. Earlier this season she competed in the Miss SVG pageant. And from what I can tell she's getting friendly with fellow artiste, Landlord. There are a few soca romances in SVG, but that's besides the point.

Somebody say FYAH!!!!! six-time soca monarch champ, Fireman Hooper lost his crown tonight.
As you can see from the video, he's still the king to many of the fans in the crowd. By the way, Tabia and Mr. Playhouse, allyuh get ketch in this one.

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Nurse's Lounge: Vincy Soca Monarch Semi-Finals

Every time I'm in St. Vincent, I am amazed at how many people down there are singing soca. When you tune in to the radio stations, there are nuff songs to be heard, but you may not realise how many more are pumping out of speaker boxes, in ipods or just on other radio signals.

Now that I'm hear, I'm noticing that again. There I was, thinking I was up to date, just because a handful or producers are nice enough to forward their releases to my inbox, but yet again, I feel like I had no idea.

So tonight, the lime is Soca Monarch Semi-Finals. 35 artistes are vying for 20 coveted spots. Everyone is hoping to defeat 6-time soca champ Fireman Hooper from his perch as soca monarch. We'll see if this will be the year.


Here are three videos full of clips of the semi-finalists competing:












This year, the Monarch will earn automatic entry into the International Soca Monarch finals in Trinidad and Tobago 2009. So, the stakes are high. The winner doesn't just walk away with $20 000 EC, but also an additional $100 000 TT appearance fee once they grace the stage in Trinidad. That news brought former soca king Maddzart out of hiding, and brought soca monarch virgin, Problem Child into the ring for the first time.

It's been such a rainy weekend here in St. Vincent, so I suppose the moderate turnout isn't so bad for a Sunday night in Kingstown. None-the-less, the music community made sure to show up.

Here are a few of the artistes I ran into at Victoria Park.

Ras X

DJ Twenty

Fire Empress

Colin Peters from Mystik Vibration

Shaunelle McKenzie

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