- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 07:53

Voice invests in up-and-coming talent with Sabga challenge

“THE UNEARTHING of raw talent” is how Aaron “Voice” St Louis describes the overwhelming response to his open verse challenge for his latest single, Sabga. He considers it a blessing to share his platform with others, giving way for them to be discovered. The mellow dancehall track speaks about wealth, legacy and hard work. Previewed on Instagram on June 4, it was officially released across streaming platforms on June 6. It was co-written by Voice and Mikhail “MegaMick” Corneal and produced by Jamaican music agency Zimi Records. The beat is actually Zimi Records’ Night Cruise Riddim, which also features Jamaican artistes Jada Kingdom, RajahWild, Kraff and others. Voice is the only Trinidad and Tobago act featured. He sings, “Lucky thing bright lights never bother me/Say you have ah issue, sound like a you problem/But I sure it cya bother we/All on meh mind is how we making more money.” As the beat drops, he proclaims, “Cause man wa rich like Sabga,” a direct reference to the Sabga family in TT, known for their history of successful business ventures, including the conglomerate ANSA McAL. The next line solidifies this as he sings, “Group of companies, money call me ANSA.” He also makes other references like wanting to be successful like local contractor (Junior) Sammy, as well as event promoter (Adrian) Chandler, local contractor Ricky (Raghounanan), among others. [caption id="attachment_1163122" align="alignnone" width="630"] Aaron "Voice" St Louis' Sabga artwork.[/caption] “Must buy one island, resorts in Thailand, hotels and franchise, riches like Sultan.” He said he aims to build generational wealth, especially as someone who came from a family that “suffered with no one to lean on.” The song was well-received by the public. But on June 18, he took it up a notch. He announced an open verse challenge. He invited members of the public to freestyle over the instrumental, alongside a video of him reacting as if he were hearing them in real time. Participants must upload the videos to Instagram and tag him. “Artiste with the most likes wins,” he had posted. This has led to an explosion of lyrical talent from people of all ages. Some established acts put their hat in the ring like producer and singer Trini Baby, soca singers Anika Berry and Mela Caribe, Trinibad artiste Jahllano and gospel artiste Nathanael. But the real shine has been on the unknown, newcomers, people who are “trying a ting,” and people who want to get into music may not have all the necessary resources. Voice posted to Instagram on June 22 saying the “unearthing of talent” happening with the challenge is “astonishing.” He added, “The only route to sustained success is hard work and commitment to your dream. Celebrate your victories but never settle. Invest in your craft, put in those hours and be patient. Your time will come and when it does…BE READY.” In an interview with Newsday on June 25, he said the theme of the track was a concept he had in mind for a while. “I actually tried with a soca beat before. I never finished the song, I never used it…and for some reason when I started freestyling in the studio, the whole idea came to me (and) I felt like it would have been perfect to do it on a dancehall beat as opposed to a soca beat where the BPM (beats per minute) is much faster.” He said this allowed him to “express himself better” and to “go more in depth” with his original idea. It was written over two days – June 2 and 3. He said he and Corneal, who is also his in-house engineer, typically share ideas on lyrics and melodies. They took about four-five hours. [caption id="attachment_1163124" align="alignnone" width="768"] TT producer and songwriter Mikhail "MegaMick" Corneal.[/caption] “So the concept was always to mention someone that we (TT nationals) could relate to. “Obviously the Sabgas are one of the most (prominent) families in TT…(They have) a bunch of business ventures, and as a young businessman myself, I see him and I see their company and their empire as something to look up to. It’s definitely something I would love to achieve sometime in the future – being able to leave generational wealth for my family and set a legacy because when it’s all said and done, all you have is your name.” On the challenge, he said the response has been “amazing.” But, to him, the “icing on the cake” was how many up-and-coming artistes participated. “I have people coming up to me saying, ‘I like this entry to the challenge,’ or, ‘We have real talent in TT.’ It’s like they only just noticing the amount and level of talent we have right here in TT. “A lot of the artistes who would have gone viral are people who (the wider public) probably never even heard of before. Some might have songs, some of them may have been singing a little while now, but definitely not established.” He added, “It’s just a blessing to be that vessel to be able to share my platform with others and discover talent and share the light with them because sometimes that's all we want as an upcoming artiste, as an upcoming act, even as a songwriter – whatever you do. All you want is to be heard, to be recognised… “To give them a platform where people could see them and fall in love with their talent, where they can use it to create a stepping stone to create something that is even bigger for themselves...Words can’t describe the way I feel to be able to do something like that.” Producer Zimi Franc/Franc White (real name Nevardo Newton) told Newsday it felt good to introduce the riddim to a TT audience. Candidly, he said he was expecting a “gyal chune” when he first sent the beat to Voice. As he chuckled, he recalled being sent the demo for Sabga for the first time and he “didn’t even know who Sabga was… But apart from the names that he did not initially know, “I can fully understand the rest. You get up every day and work so hard, not for your children to (suffer) but to live a life of luxury.” [caption id="attachment_1163123" align="alignnone" width="684"] Jamaican dancehall producer Franc White.[/caption] He said he is grateful for the impact the track has been having in TT. He also noted many who did not typically listen to dancehall, showing love to the track.” “And that’s the aim. For the project to grow in a where that it’s being heard from not only for (listeners of) dancehall but even beyond that.” Corneal, who also recorded Voice's vocals described the beat as “emotive” and agreed the topic felt like a good match. He said exactly how the public is receiving the song right now is how he hoped it would. “We wanted people to be motivated and to feel destined for greatness. That was the intent.” He said seeing all the challenge participants’ videos have been both crazy and validating. "We live in such a small country and there's so much talent here." The winner of the challenge will get $10,000 and will also be officially be featured on the remix of Sabga.   The post Voice invests in up-and-coming talent with Sabga challenge appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.