masterminds behind Razor House Music

Stefan Cudjoe and Andre Corbie are two enterprising young men. With college degrees in hand, Andre could be the Perry Mason of the law fraternity, and Stefan, the Alex P Keaton of Business in Palmiste. But they are not! Their aspirations are deeply rooted in music, local music, and there is no need for a wealth of academics where that is concerned. Andre said: “It’s (calypso/soca) our culture and there is no reason why, regardless what your station is, bricklayer or lawyer, you cannot partake in the culture; and calypso is Trinidad people music.” The two are the masterminds behind the production outfit newly-formed Razor House Music which currently operates out of Andre’s home in Gulf View, La Romain.

With the help of Kasey Phillips of KMP Music Lab, Razor House Music produced its first album entitled “Yardi Grah: Volume 1” for 2004. Named after an event, hosted by the duo and scheduled for launch at Crop Over in Barbados this year, the 13-track album highlights a well-put-together mix of infectious soca songs and wind-down ballads. The trick was choosing the right artistes for the right tunes. “We thought of what artiste would compliment the song the best. Some of them were written with the artist in mind. For example ‘Pokey’ was written with Dawg E Slaughter in mind,” Stefan said. Other artistes and musicians featured on Yardi Grah: Volume 1 include Roy Cape Kaiso All Stars, Blaxx, Kees Dieffenthaller with his popular “Oh Why”, 3 Canal, Fearless, Invasion, Ronnie McIntosh and Andre himself carrying the moniker Jack Rayza.

“For the song ‘It’s got to be Carnival’, we had Iwer George in mind but he told us that he had already completed the recording of his album, so we went with Blaxx who did a good job with the song.” Stefan and Andre wrote all the songs, completed full musical production in three months and handled the album promotions. “It was exceedingly difficult. But it was cool, though, working with the artistes,” Stefan said, but for first-timers, they pulled it off. The long hours and late-night-until morning studio hours they had to log in didn’t matter.

You can’t help but notice the words printed on the face of the CD which read: “Un-authorised reproduction of this recording is prohibited by law”. And, there is where Andre comes in. Andre, 28, is holder of BSc in Economics and Law (Hons) He spoke about “Intellectual Property” and the ability to apply “a lot of the concepts I would have learned from university”. When asked about the large-scale pirating of CD in Trinidad, he said: “They taking money out of my pocket right now. Is one thing for people to argue they have to make a bread too, but the artiste has to do it too, and at the end of the day, stealing is stealing. Whether you (pirates) consider it consequential, the artistes consider it consequential too.” Whilst at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados, Andre dabbled in a bit of script writing and acted in four plays. He copped the school’s Calypso Monarch title on two occasions.

He was also attached to Spektakula Tent for two consecutive years and in 2000, he was awarded TUCO’s most promising calypsonian award. He may be remembered for his humorous calypso “For crying out loud,” which saw the end of public performances for the now Product Specialist/Deposit and Special Products employee at RBTT. “I didn’t want the stereotyping so I got out of it.” Andre’s inclination towards music was somewhat influenced by his mother, who is a former member of the Marionette’s Chorale. His comrade in music and former colleague of Presentation College said that it was mainly trying to eke out a living while studying abroad that got him involved in music. “I didn’t want to be calling home for money all the time,” said Stefan.

Stefan is a graduate of St Francis College, Brooklyn, NY, and holds a Bsc Accounts (Hons), Associate Business Admin, and MSc Construction Management. Getting involved in music was always his childhood fantasy; “I loved it from growing up”. So, there was not much of a surprise when, together with Joel Marrain, they registered as “Syndicate” for the first Ragga Soca Monarch competition a few years ago. The duo placed 20th.

That may have meant an end to Ragga Soca, but certainly a beginning for music production. The 27-year-old is a Health Safety Environment and Quality Director at Cudjoe Constructions, an industrial maintenance company. On his off-time he can be found working on recordings at Razor’s home base. “Ah doh sleep!” he informed. He is so unlike Andre, who said that when he is not at work, he could be found “reading, playing football or spending time with the girlfriend”. They have future plans: “To carry our work international. We want to specifically produce music that can reach international markets without straying too far from its local root (soca music)... Calypsonians abroad are always ready to work with fresh young talent. “We have very infectious beats and when we complete them with good lyrics, artistes tend to be drawn into the vibes.”