Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 19/Oct 04:08

Verrse defends Soca Titans crown with Paradise

JAHIEM THOMAS, aka Verrse, is positioning himself to be the country’s next big soca star. The Roxborough native, who will be defending his crown in the Tobago Soca Titans competition on October 22, is not ashamed of his ambition nor is he fazed by the views of those who may regard him as overzealous. His talent as a performer, he believes, speaks for itself. “My dream is to become successful in the industry and to sing music that people would love because when all the greats like Machel (Montano), Voice (Aaron St Louis), Mical (Teja) decide to retire, the music has to live on. “So there has to be someone and I think unto myself that I am one of those persons. I know I have the talent and ability to do exactly what they are doing,” an upbeat Thomas told Newsday on October 15. The young artiste, who turns 20 on October 21, a day before the competition, believes his 2025 song, Paradise, will be another stepping stone on that trajectory. He said the tune, produced by Kyle Phillips, celebrates Tobago’s culture and its people. “The song is about what the island has to offer and that now we have our very own carnival. So it is about the mas and what we have to show to the world.” Thomas and Triston Andrews wrote the song. He recalled, “One day, I was home and I got a phone call from Triston and he said, ‘Verrse, I have a rhythm here. I want you to see what you could work on.” Saying he found the rhythm to be “nice and sweet,” Thomas figured the song would be well-suited to the October carnival. “We thought, ‘Why not write something about the island for the Tobago carnival because we are known as the Mecca of carnival?’” He expressed confidence in retaining the Soca Titans crown. “I feel amazing. I feel good. It is a great feeling because I want back the title and I am going in with full force. This is a career I chose and I really want to move forth in the future. So winning this title will make it easier for me to go forth into the soca industry because the citizens and people will now see that I am worth my salt.” [caption id="attachment_1185465" align="alignnone" width="683"] Jahiem Thomas, aka Verrse, will be defending his Tobago October carnival Soca Titans crown with his 2025 hit Paradise. - Photos courtesy Konsortium Studios[/caption] With mere days to go before the competition, Thomas said he has been putting in the long hours at rehearsals finetuning his presentation. “I am very confident because we have been planning out what I am going back into the competition with and what I have so far, I know that for sure, I will be bringing it back home.” Raised in a musical family, Thomas said he was exposed to various elements of Tobago’s culture at an early age. His grandmother was a guitarist and an uncle, a keyboardist. He is also related to well-known calypsonians Prince Unique (Jeffrey Thomas) and Johnny King (Johnson King). Thomas recalled he started playing mas at the age of five and was drawn instantly to the energy of the revellers on the road. “Seeing the unity of the people and the mas and the colours, I immediately fell in love with the culture.” He said he told his father and grandmother of his interest and they began making mas costumes for him to portray at Carnival. Thomas said his costumes were mainly Carnival king portrayals and he placed first in several competitions in his hometown and in Scarborough. He said during his years at the Roxborough Anglican School, he was also heavily involved in music. “I was an all-rounder, playing music, drumming and dancing for the school. I did all kinds of things music wise.” His love for soca music, though, piqued at his alma mater, Speyside High School. While many of his peers were undecided about the careers they wanted to pursue, Thomas said he knew that entertainment was his calling. “I was home and going through soca monarch competitions with Voice and Machel and I was telling my peers I feel I want to do this soca thing because I already have the ability to entertain a crowd because I was ‘a winer boy,’ and I used to pull crowds and dance mas costumes. So I had the ability to entertain a crowd.” His parents, he said, were sceptical about his decision to pursue soca as a career. And for good reason. “They knew that I was talented but they kept asking me if I was sure that it was something I wanted to do because they knew the responsibilities and pressures that comes with that kind of career. They wanted to know if I was comfortable and willing to be in that kind of space even though they knew I could do it.” In 2023, Thomas wrote his first song, Overload, to test the waters. [caption id="attachment_1185464" align="alignnone" width="683"] Jahiem Thomas, aka Verrse, will be defending his Soca Titans crown at the Old Market Square Carpark, Scarborough, on October 22.- Photo courtesy Konsortium Studios[/caption] He performed the track at an event in Pigeon Point during a 91.9FM caravan and later entered the 2023 Soca Titans competition. Although the song was well-received, Thomas said he was not successful but gained valuable knowledge and insight from the experience. “I listened to the judges, went back home, did the homework and came back with everything I was supposed to.” A year later, Thomas auditioned and won the 2024 competition with his composition, Pump It Up, which spoke about the lengthy wait for carnival, the alcohol and “madness on the road.” He was the youngest contender in the cast. In the song, the artiste, who was dressed in a gold and white outfit and accompanied by back-up dancers in colourful costumes, also commented on the frenzied atmosphere of the national festival but advised revellers to stay away from “bad vibes.” The song would catapult him into the finals of the Ultimate Soca Champions competition, where he placed second in the youth category amid a formidable line-up of artistes. Since winning the Soca Titans crown, Thomas said his journey as a soca entertainer has been phenomenal. In January, he performed at Mical Teja’s Mas: The Experience at The Normandie, St Ann’s. It was his first-ever show in Trinidad. Thomas said he respects Teja’s work. “The way he writes, he understands the artform, what soca music is about. “ He also loves Voice’s music. “The way he captivates the crowd and performs and carries himself on stage, his appearance and the way how he writes his songs as well, it’s all very positive. I have the same energy that they have.” Thomas has entertained guests at several fetes during the October carnival season. In fact, Thomas attributed his success in the Ultimate Soca Champions to the support he got from two major parties. “That was also a milestone for me because I came from a reserve to getting into the semi-finals and finals. I want to say thanks to the Tobago supporters because if they did not vote for me, I would not have ended up in the finals. I still went through and made it and came second from being a reserve. More recently, Thomas was among the cultural contingent that went to New York, US, to participate in the Tobago Day celebrations in August. “When you win Soca Titans, you automatically become an ambassador for Tobago. And that, in itself, was a wonderful experience singing for the foreigners and they enjoying my music.” He also performed at the all-white fete, Dream, on October 4, at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex. For now, the singer is laser focused on doing what he does best – entertaining his audience. Thomas said retaining the Soca Titans title would be a fitting birthday present, far more than he could ever imagine.   The post Verrse defends Soca Titans crown with Paradise appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.