Fireball wants to take soca further

Winner of the recently concluded Synergy Soca Star competition Rohan “Fireball” Richards said that in his distant future Fireball he sees himself breaking barriers and taking soca music further, to the Grammys and Oscars. When asked what he will be doing different to other soca artistes that promised a similar feat Fireball said, “Money and fame don’t make people big. I value respect and taking chances and I am willing to do whatever hard work it takes to compete with other music of the world.”

His immediate goal is to show the country that there is still some positives coming out of Laventille where he resides. Fireball’s first time on a stage and in front of a large crowd was at the tender age of seven. That was at a show in City Hall. He next entered TTT’s Party Time competition in 1996 and was a finalist that year. After that Fireball said he continued entering various competitions and his talents extended to performing at weddings and parties.

“I just like performing anywhere. If I am walking down the road and I notice a party I want to stop at the party and perform,” he said. In 2001 Fireball beat out 11 other finalists to win a Showtime competition in Tunapuna, before venturing in the Scouting For Talent arena. Fireball said even though he didn’t get past the preliminaries he was happy that the people around him appreciated what he had to offer and supported him. After that he said he got deeper into the soca business.

Asked where he got the name “Fireball,” he said at age nine, he entered a competition in Laventille and the organisers found that he was so talented that they wanted to give him a name with heat and came up with the name which has stuck with him to this day. “Danger” the name of the song with which Fireball emerged “New Soca Star” was all about some of his true life stories. He said he takes pleasure in writing all his songs but would not refuse the work of someone else if it suits him.