Submitted By Austin Cain
As SVG moves towards what will be the first physical carnival celebration in 2 years, promoter Lemore “Vincy hotspot” Ryan gave the leeward community of Barraoullie an extra special treat last Saturday 7th May 2022 with an exciting, action-packed, artist, filled event themed Bagga Soca Monarch Under Water. The event which was marketed as a road jam and soca monarch competition had the element of also being a water fete, which is currently a major seller in SVG. Despite a late start with the first competitor not touching the stage until past 11:00 pm, the energetic deejay sets from “young shellac” as well as Dj Hosea in the earlier parts of the night kept the audience of estimated 2,500 persons, grooving until the first artist took to the stage. A total of 25 singers competed on Saturday night for a share of the $5000.00 cash payout. The cast was a mixture of names who have been around the soca arena for several years as well as some newcomers who brought their A-game to the stage and wowed the audience with their exhilarating performances. However, at the end of the night, there could have only been one winner. A song that started making waves via popular social media platforms Tik Tok and what’s an app, and later erupted into a trending soca hit in SVG earned its singer Rayshorn “Mirror Dan” Franklyn the top spot, taking home $3000.00 Cash, a Samsung Smart Phone compliments flow and one-year data plan. The song Mad Government had the entire crowd in a frenzy as soon as he was introduced by the hosts of the event Rochard “ supadogg Pitbull” Ballah and Austin “Zj Powerz” Cain. When asked about his plans for future competitions the 27-year-old “Genna Genna” singer stated he is looking forward to competing on all relevant stages. In second place was Keith “Grabba Finesse” Charles whose song “more iron” has also been creating quite a stir in SVG. The 3rd spot went to an artist whose song was released on Youtube the said day of the competition and by the evening had already amassed more than 5 thousand views. Syndrome “son son” Charles of Layou had what was undoubtedly one of the biggest crowd responses on the night. After hearing the result and doing a 60-second performance of his song the popular figure from Layou ended his performance by stating he will put his $500.00 winnings to repay a portion of a loan he has at GECCU.