#streamcaribbean with DJ Jel - Special Edition 1

Welcome to the #streamcaribbean podcast. This is a special episode in English with DJ Jel, the Soca Boss from Trinidad and Tobago. He co-hosts the Di Soca Analysts podcast and that’s actually how I found out about him two years ago while I was doing research on soca for the first soca film I reviewed on my cinema podcast Karukerament. A few weeks ago, I listened to the first Pandora Music Twitter space and he was one of the guests along with soca artists Kes the band, Patrice Roberts and Nailah Blackman. His vision of what we need to build a strong music industry in the Caribbean really spoke to me because he talked about the need for Caribbean people to love themselves in order to support their artists. And I just knew I had to talk to him because on my side of the Caribbean, people don’t talk about this aspect. At least not in public. But it’s a key factor to building a market. Listen, soca and zouk have very similar trajectories. Soca artists and zouk artists face the same struggles, so why not try to find solutions together? Jel and I didn’t get to touch on every topic. You know, like accessibility, live performances, marketing strategies, but we had a great discussion about what has been done to define the Caribbean market and what we can do as of 2022 to take things to another level. I hope you will enjoy this discussion.

0:00 - 4:34: self-(re)introduction

4:35 - 8:00: DJ Jel’s first memory of a soca song + how cinema establishes Trinidad & Tobago as the place where soca was created with “Bazodee” and “Queen of Sofa”

8:00 - 10:25: how he became a DJ

10:25 - 15:02: the French Caribbean influence in Caribbean music + how Caribbean countries are influenced by different kinds of music genres.

15:03 - 17:10: our strengths as a region to thrive on the international scene

17:11 - 19:45: a few past Caribbean collabs + the lack of infrastructures to handle the business aspect of music

19:46 - 24:47: how no Black artists got nominated in the French Music Awards of 2022 + no awards ceremony in Guadeloupe

24:48 - 27:14: why young artists don’t want to sing zouk or soca + how the media contributes to the invisibilization of zouk

27:13 - 31:40: the lack of transmission in the zouk industry to inspire young talents + how to become a zouk singer when you’re in your 20’s in 2022

31:41 - 35:50: how soca and zouk are perceived as seasonal songs

35:51 - 38:29: how a Caribbean artist can transition from the local market to the US market and still keep their Caribbean identity

38:30 - 44:05 : why French Caribbean artists can succeed in the Caribbean while still singing in French or/and in Kréyol

44:06 - 45:40 : how Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica have music infrastructures giving DJs easy access to new music, need the same infrastructure for Guadeloupe and Martinique

45:41 - 46:40: last words from DJ Jel: “keep doing music true to yourself, if we love ourselves first, we can succeed in anything”.

46:41 - 47:25: outro