The Rounds: Olatunji's mother found dead. RIP Mairoon Ali

Originally aired on Flow 93.5 FM's Soca Therapy with Dr. Jay de Soca Prince. (Sunday, December 20, 2009, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm)

Good Evening Soca Lovers,
I’m Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds. With Christmas just one week away, I decided to do something special just for you. I went into the trenches to ask a few soca artists what they’ve got planned for the holidays. Here’s what I found out.

Skinny Fabulous just wrapped up his university exams last week. Fans who went to Dr. Jay’s appreciation party last night can attest that the Fabulous One was in an extra festive mood, giving Toronto a memorably wild performance of hits, freestyles and new releases.

But before Skinny returns to St. Vincent to celebrate Christmas with family and friends, he’ll be shooting a music video for “De Beast Leggo” with director Jay Will, tomorrow in Jamaica.

But in his home country Christmas time is traditionally celebrated with a festival called Nine Mornings. Luta says he’s already been spending his time performing at school Christmas concerts around the island. Yesterday, he and the Soca Dans performed on the road in Chateaubelair for their Nine Mornings jump up. Then Tuesday he will be a guest artist at the National Carolling competition.

Nurse Karen and Luta in Toronto (September 2009)

Edwin Yearwood and a host of other artists will be working through the holidays in the Virgin Islands..and boy do they love HIM down there. This will be his 5th year in a row spending Christmas in the VI. But then again everybody loves Edwin! On Friday, a fan at a show in Antigua demonstrated it the best way she knew how, by holding onto his legs and kissing his feet while he was on stage performing! I bet I know what she asked Santa to bring her for Christmas!!!

Nurse Karen and Edwin Yearwood in Toronto (November 2009)

Dominica’s Mr. Benji from the Triple K Band will be travelling to St. Croix for the Cruzian Christmas Festival. Problem Child will be performing there too.
Antigua’s Tizzy will be spending Christmas Eve at another Carnival in Montserrat, and on Boxing Day she will join her band and El A Kru in St. Thomas. But she’s reserving Christmas Day just for the family.

Nurse Karen and Tizzy in Miami (October 2009)

Closer to home, Toronto’s Slammer Cutter is hard at work preparing for Trinidad Carnival amidst his festive time with family and friends. Then when the calendar switches to 2010, he’s headed straight to Trinidad to shoot the video for Hangover 2 (aka Bad Weather)

Unfortunately, the hoIidays can be a difficult time for many people. And this year, It’s going to be a very hard Christmas for one of the lead vocalists of Roy Cape All-Stars. One of Trinidad and Tobago’s best loved entertainers passed away mysteriously about 8 hours ago.Actress, comedienne and radio personality  Mairoon Ali, the Mother of Soca singer Olatunji Yearwood was found dead in her bathroom early this afternoon by her son. She was not known to be ill. Mairoon Ali was 51.

Super Jigga TC is also quite shaken as a result. He tells me that he saw her just last night in fine form. She was in the front row cheering him on during the episode taping of Synergy Soca Star. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Olatunji, his family and friends at this very painful time.

Olatunji Yearwood and Nurse Karen in St. Vincent (June 2009)

The holiday season is full of all sorts of emotions. So no matter what you happen to be going through at this time, please accept my gift of joy, peace and love... I’m Nurse Karen, and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds. For more information about anything you’ve heard here, feel free to connect with me online at Nurse dash Karen dot com...or follow my Christmas activities on Twitter . Twitter dot com slash “NurseKaren”.   Now back to de docta!

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Eye Unit: Rap Artist Drake makes an appearance at White Out!

My carnival has begun! For me, when Dr. Jay throws his annual White Out party, the season is officially on. This year, I was strickly on personal vibes. These days, I seldom get to enter de party and jus leggo. Well, this time around I stuck to the plan. Went backstage to hail up Problem Child, Blaxx and Olantunji, then it was time to party.

Three days later my aching back and thighs are stick recovering! What a fete!

Shot you a couple of clips in between wines. You'll see Blaxx, Rita Jones, Olantunji Yearwood, Shyann Bailey and Problem Child, all backed by Roy Cape Allstars. Towards the end is a special treat. Toronto-bred hip hop phenom Drake passes through and touches the mic to send some greetings. Big up T-Rexx for controlling the MC duties for the urban part of the night.

Doh vex over the video quality. My liming spot at Koolhaus is to the very back right hand side. The view may not be the best, but the vibe is always sweet!

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Nurse's Lounge: Insomnia V - 4 bands, more vibes!

Sunday morning, June 28 – Insomnia V

When I travel...I wanna see the artistes perform live. Don’t get me wrong, I love sun, sand and surf. I love my food too...but I like to know how an artiste’s studio performance will translate on the stage. Insomnia was the perfect opportunity for that.

With a title like Insomnia, carnival lovers are well aware that the list of performers is gonna be longer than my arms...and you’ve seen my arms. That night I got to see onstage appearances from established and local acts alike. Four bands backed the artists; HS Phaktor, Roy Cape All-Stars, Alliance and The Madd Symphony.

Before I go on. I have to big up Hitman Colin Graham hooking me up with a comp pass. One issue though, he didn’t arrive to Insomnia until about 3:00 am. That just means I paid the door price to enter! For what it’s worth. The show was worth every penny of that $60 EC.

From watching Shaunelle McKenzie belt out incredible notes to Bomani performing his modern classic. There was Icon and First Lady clashing on stage, Fire Empress bending over, Full Clip, DJ 20...sweet.

Here’s what you missed...

I have to hand it Luke Boyea and Hot 97 for making the decision to put the Alliance band up last, after visiting band Roy Cape All-Stars. Usually, visiting artistes close the show, but here's the deal...it wouldn't have mattered what big songs from Trinidad the band was covering...they couldn't competed with the pandemonium that erupted every time Skinny Fabulous and Problem Child touched the stage in SVG.

The other treat of the closing set was seeing so many female artistes command the stage. It was beautiful to see Zoelah, Danielle Veira, Daria and Jalena all performing in the same set.

That vibe was infectious. Olatunji and Rita Jones caught it too. After the sun came up, I saw them bouncing at the front of the stage as they took in the local talent. Insomnia was a big night! Check the vid...you'll see!



One small word of critcism, doled out with a heap of love...trust me. Alliance is a great band. I've sat in on rehearsals, so I know some of St. Vincent's best musicians are responsible for their sound. BUTTTT!!!! Nurse Karen knows a little something about brass. I spent most of my youth playing the trumpet. I played in school concerts and jazz bands...even got a solo or two, now and then. The brass section for Insomnia V was out of tune, AND out of sync.

It was a late night, for sure, and the drinks were flowing. However, you can hear this on the video clips, and it definitely came across on the radio broadcast. Poor Mr. Vegas got the real short end of the stick, because it was pretty clear his set hadn't been rehearsed with him. Correct me if I'm wrong. Mind you, I doubt the other 3 or so thousand people there were paying much attention to all that. So kudos none the less, just remember music is SOUND. Make sure allyuh sound your best.

I had a great time at Insomnia. It made for a memorable day, especially after that CRAZY wedding! The night was totally memorable, and was made moreso by getting to chat a while with music legend Roy Cape. If you wanna talk about brass...check he!

Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

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Eye Unit: More videos from the Soca Monarch Semifinals!

This week the big talk in soca circles is who will win the titles of International Soca Monarch and Groovy Soca Monarch.  If you didn't have a chance to watch the semis last Sunday, I've collected a few clips to help you not sound chupit in music conversations:

Remember:  The real action begins at 8pm Eastern Time on Friday, February 20th, 2009 for the FINALS!  If you want to watch it live, CLICK HERE  (might be smart to save the link...just saying!)

In the meantime, let me know what you think of the clips...

Iwer and Ziggy Ranking



Fay-Ann Lyons



Lil Bitts and Olatunji Yearwood

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Nurse's Lounge: Going to White Out!

I'm heading out to KOS White Out tonight. Took me ages to find an outfit and I'm thinking that I may not get there in time to see the performances: Roy Cape All Stars featuring Blaxx, Trini Jacobs and Olutunji Yearwood!!!!

BREATHLESS!!!

Nurse's Lounge: Going to White Out!

Guess what? I got to see the show. The fete went till 6 in the morning, and I was there till the bitter end. Sweet party. The DJs played quite a lot of new music from Barbados and St. Vincent, and naturally all the Trinidad favourites as well. Unfortunately, I didn't have a good vantage point in the dark to really show you the stage.

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