Tallpree comes out wicked for Carnival 2 K 10

Wilt Cambridge, stage name Tallpree, hails from the Spice Isle of Grenada. As a young boy he enjoyed writing poetry and he was heavily influenced by the popularity of dancehall music. He fused poetry with dancehall beats and the people loved it: “I just started to dub over the poems and converting the poems into lyrics and laying dub music down over it.”

With his roots in dancehall, he was formerly known as Mr Evilus, who was the popular opening act for artistes like Beenie Man, Buju Banton, Super Cat, Maxi Priest, Barrington Levy, Merciless and Bounty Killa, among others. He even challenged Sean Paul in a musical clash.

“I did dancehall until 1997. Everybody knew me as a dancehall artiste. So it was almost like when I started doing soca, I just brought my fan base with me.”

He was one of the top dancehall artistes outside of Jamaica, when he decided to crossover to soca. Tallpree explained that he was actually recording a dancehall track when the producer started playing around with some soca rhythms that got under his skin. “I went into the studio in 1997 to record a dancehall track ‘Old Telephone’ and the arranger started playing a soca rhythm. I got into the groove and I told myself that I should do a soca. That is how I ended up crossing over into soca.”

He explained that the timing was right for the transition and that he felt he would have a greater chance of a successful music career as a soca artiste: “Most of the time, you get a gig if a reggae or dancehall artiste comes to town. But there was nothing much behind it. You make a little money as the opening act, but that’s it. Soca is our thing in the Caribbean and most of the artistes from the islands who make it big are soca artistes. All I had to do was to speed up the beat. I jumped on the soca rhythm comfortable.”

Over the years, Tallpree has had a number of soca hits: “My first soca track ‘Ram-E-Deh’ was a hit. It made it to the Grenada Soca Monarch finals. I followed up with a ‘Pound-a-Rice’ in 1998.” In 1999, Tallpree took Spice Mas by storm with the track “Old Woman Alone”, which had a lively jam.

The success of the song in Grenada, led Tallpree to compete in Trinidad’s Soca Monarch in 2000 for the first time. “Our Carnival in August leads into Trinidad Carnival in February, so after the song mash up Grenada, I entered Trinidad Soca Monarch”. He was one of the few non-Trinis to make it to the final round of the competition, with “Old Woman Alone”. He placed third.

“It’s like they always say, we make the songs and the people make the hits. In fact, sometimes the song that you think will be a hit may never pick up and the track that you think is the least likely to catch on will become a hit. Like ‘Old Woman Alone’, for example, which started of as a joke and we made it into a song.”

He released “The Grave, the Jail and the Hospital” in 2000 which won him the Road March title in Grenada. Tallpree was crowned the Grenada Soca Monarch for the track “Carnival Madness” in 2003. He has consistently entertained crowds with tunes like “Invasion on the Rags,” “Jennifer” “From de Heart,” “Jab Jab Take Over” and “Miss Antisocial.”

Tallpree said that he writes all of his own music and draws his inspiration from his surroundings: “I get my inspiration from everywhere, from the shop, the streets to the people on the block and the Carnival. Even a mad man shouting on the road will say something that makes you think. You cannot force it. At times it just comes and it flows.”

After “mashing up” the soca scene across the Caribbean, Tallpree tore up the international scene. He has toured Canada, England and the US. “Things were happening. Most of these songs may have never crossed over into the Trinidad market, but it was big on the outside.”

Tallpree came back to Trinidad in December to promote his tune for 2K10 “Wicked Jab” which was inspired by the traditional Grenadian Jab-Jab Mas: “In Grenada people live for the Jab-Jab which is like Trinidad Jouvert. It is the most exacting part of our Carnival. There is a unique beat and vibe associated with the jab-jab. It is something that the people like and if you have a wicked jab-jab tune, then Carnival will be huge.”

Tallpree corrected the many people, who think the lyrics are “wicked jam” instead of “wicked jab.” “It’s a wicked jab like the jab-jab posse for Carnival. I always have the jab-jab flavour in all my songs. So this track is about that vibe. It is really about playing a wicked mas and getting on bad. That is the concept. I think I bring back that ole mas feel.”

Tallpree has performed the track at fetes like Blue Flame, Amnesia, Du Maurier One Fete, Fire Fete, WASA Fete and Licensing Fete. Last Thursday, the music video for “Wicked Jab” was released on Synergy and swiftly went into high rotation. Going into the Soca Monarch Finals, Tallpree said that he is amped up and his performance will definitely be fueled with energy. “No one outside of Trinidad has been able to take the Soca Monarch title. I was close, though. Anything that is mad in Trinidad will do well overseas. So as an artist, you definitely want to be in the mix in Trinidad Carnival. It is something different to offer. Once the people are jumping and waving when I am on stage, I am happy.”