ALL HOUSE IS ROAD

The Road March is an important Carnival tradition that officially began in Trinidad during the early 1930s, although it’s roots go back even further.  Essentially it is the most popular song of the festivities, but is marked by the amount of times it gets played when the bands (the name given to an organised group of costumed masqueraders) cross the Carnival’s official judging points, where they are each marked on how well they have presented themselves that year, including how well they dance, or how much energy they give to the potential Road March when played.  

Originally this would have been performed by live musicians, based on songs that spread around the island but nowadays it’s a recording pumped out by DJs on huge floats stacked with insane amounts of speakers.  Every year on the Super Soca Show we discuss who might be the winner that year, it’s never quite clear cut but there’s usually a couple of really obvious contenders. 

This year of course there is no Carnival due to COVID 29 restrictions, but the Road March’s official body, the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians' Organisation (TUCO) have decided that the competition should still continue, so rather than being judged officially, it’s being handed to the people to decide by texting their votes in.  You can check all of the entries here, but I thought I’d pick out a few of my favourites to look at.

Farmer Nappy - Backyard Jam

I mentioned Farmer Nappy in my post about Soca Monarch yesterday, the fact that this tune is the biggest in Trinidad & Tobago right now means it’s got the strongest chance to win here.  This would likely be a different story if Carnival was happening mind, as it’s a Groovy tune and not really made for the ‘road’.  Similarly, when I was at Carnival in 2019, his ‘Hookin’ Meh’ track was probably played more than any other, in bars, in taxis, on the radio and throughout the carnival, but it couldn’t quite beat “Famalay” (the Road March for that year) or ‘Savannah Grass’ (which came 2nd) for sheer energy.

Code: FARMER

Olatunji - Don’t Stop The Carnival

Even for those of you in the UK that don’t know much about Soca, you might recognise Olatunji from X Factor over here.  He might not have won that competition but it showed that he is a well seasoned performer with bags of energy and this reworking of a classic Lord Invader track from 1939 is absolute proof of that.  System 32 on production mix up the Calypso vibe of the original with a pounding dancehall beat and it’s a winning combination. 

Code: OLA2

MX Prime - Mad City

MX Prime has been in the game a while under different names and is one of the best ‘shouters’ in the business. His crew Ultimate Rejects took the Road March title in 2017 with ‘Full Extreme’ and although he’s being pushed as a solo artist these days, they are very much a team again with this one.  This is Power Soca at its most powerful with elements of Jab Jab, a darker strain of Soca that serves as the soundtrack for a whole “jab jab” culture associated with J’ouvert morning in Grenada (I will tell you more about J’ouvert tomorrow).  This is one of the few tunes to get a proper rewind on the Super Soca Show. 

Code: MX1

Bunji Garlin - All House Is Road

On the 8-Bit Riddim which has a similar fusion of Power and Jab Jab, suiting the legendary Bunji Garlin perfectly. Known as the Viking, Bunji is by far one of the biggest artists on the island but surprisingly didn’t win a Road March until 2019 when ‘Famalay’ took the title, a collaboration track with Machel Montano (perhaps the only artist who could be said to surpass Bunji’s status) and Skinny Fabulous, who would normally be disqualified as he’s from the island of St Vincent, but as the bulk of the track is made up of artists from Trinidad & Tobago he got a pass that time.  Artists from outside the islands have been left out of the competition since 1955 when a German song won ("Happy Wanderer", originally by the Obernkirchen Children's Choir).  Antiguan Calypsonian Short Shirt caused quite a stir with his song “Tourist Leggo” in 1977, but the rules prevented him from being officially acknowledged. 

This is perhaps the only track to my mind that might beat ‘Backyard Jam’ and it would be the perfect tune to take it this year, proclaiming that “the road” still exists in everybody’s houses, so lockdown shouldn’t stop anybody from celebrating Carnival this year.

Code: BUNJI2

Fay- Ann Lyons-  Sleepwalk

Another absolutely firing track on the 8 Bit Riddim.  Fay-Ann has won the Road March 3 times previously and also suits this production perfectly.  Her track ‘Dive’ was one of the highlights for me last year and much stage diving ensued.  This time she keeps finding herself in Carnival every time she goes to bed, I can totally relate. When Carnival is such a central part of the Soca scene it must be a brutal feeling when it doesn’t happen.

Fay-Ann’s father Superblue has won the Road March a staggering 10 times, second only to the late great Lord Kitchener who notched up 12 wins between 1942 (another year when there was no official Carnival - only that time was due to World War II) and 1976.  It’s likely he would have won even more had he not spent a large part of the 1950s and early 60s in England. 

Code: FAY1

If you feel strongly that any of these should win then anyone outside of Trinidad & Tobago can vote via 1 (868) 798 2661 - just text the code under each track.