Though he has made a name in roots-reggae with the group Suns of Dub, Trinidadian singer Jah Bami is a soca man at heart. Recently, he returned to his roots by recording the song, Soca Trend, with Ted Ganung.
Soca Trend is one of several songs on the SeaSide Villa rhythm, which was released on July 12.
According to the 41-year-old Jah Bami, who has been recording professionally since he was 11, it means a lot to score a hit song in Trinidad and Tobago.
“It guarantees you doing a lot of Carnival events globally. Every country on Earth have a date in their calendar set aside for their celebration of Carnival,” he said.
Jah Bami grew up around music, as his father owned a sound system and had an impressive cache of music, ranging from calypso and soca to roots-reggae. It’s how he was introduced to the sounds of Trinidad legends like The Mighty Sparrow and Lord Nelson, as well as dub visionary Augustus Pablo and roots singer Hugh Mundell.
For the past seven years, Jah Bami has toured mainly Europe with Pablo’s son Addis and fellow ‘Trini’ Ras Jammy as Suns of Dub who released critically-acclaimed songs like Selassie Souljahz and Unconditional Love.
While he lives in South Florida, Jah Bami stressed that Trinidad is never far from his mind, especially his village of Curepe in the country’s eastern region.
“I love being there and sharing my world’s travel stories with the youth in my
community with the hope of encouragement for them that they too can do it,” he said.
Born Damian Walters, most of the songs Jah Bami recorded early in his career were in the Ragga-soca genre. Prior to Suns of Dub, he worked with Tempo Networks, a New Jersey-based television station that promotes Caribbean music and culture.
The SeaSide Villa maintains a popular trend in Trinidad and Tobago where multiple artists record on the same beat. Singers Keystal Khan and KKay also have songs on it.
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