All of Angela Hunte brings her own band to soca

Although Grammy-award winning writer Angela Hunte does not readily accept that her work helped pushed this, evidence shows otherwise.

The fact that her 2016 hit Mon Bon Ami was named as one of the top 100 songs for 2016 (it was number 73) gives testimony to the fact.

Hunte has also stamped her style and songs on the hearts and minds of many a Trinbagonian.

This year she has continued in the vein of the infusion of zouk-style songs with Love Me Some Him.

She also has Big Beat Drum and Make Me Go for this season.

For 2017 Hunte is doing things a little differently. With her own band in tow, she will perform without Machel Montano at Lime, Hyatt Regency Trinidad’s all-inclusive fete, and at Calypso Rose’s SoCalypso-Rose on Carnival Friday (February 24).

Asked about continuing to build her name in soca, Hunte said, “I have no intentions of abandonment, even though I am embarking on a global artist career, venturing with a brand new label and a brand new team.” For the singer/songwriter, while this is not her first go-around as a performer, she wants people to see her more as a performer with her own band now.

“My band is a very different band than what they’re used to seeing…I’m excited for them to see that. They have seen one way of me, now it is time for them to see the other side… Angela, an artiste in her own right, and switching up styles. People will see a total change for Carnival 2018 in my music and what I plan to do.” Hunte’s band is made up of musicians from a lot of different cultures. “We have a horn section, two percussions, we have bass, guitar, two keyboards and one background singer.” “It is made up of diverse cultures. They love soca, but they have a different way of approaching it…it is very big and percussion-driven and it brings a totally different sound to my music and what I do,” she said.

While Hunte wants to see soca win a Grammy, the process has not been easy. Hunte has called upon the local music industry to continue to put music out there as its path to Grammy recognition.

“I don’t feel I have contributed to the globalisation of soca…I am just trying to help that process if I can. I think it is on its way truly but surely. I think the unification of the artistes and the constant putting out of music is needed. The more you put it out, the more it will be the world will be aware.” Hunte is working with Belgian model, singer actress and media personality Fanny Neguesha, who is expected to come to TT in 2018.

“She came into the studio and was looking for a director. I was showing her Party Done video…and she says to me, ‘Angie, why are you showing me this?’ The French accent is really harsh and she was like, ‘Why are you showing me this?…This is Party Done.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, you know this song,’ and she was like, ‘Yeah this is my favourite song.’ She said the song is huge in Belgium, and when they go out in Belgium this is the song they turn out to…” Hunte gave illustrations such as walking into a major record label’s office and hearing Mon Bon Ami, to say that soca’s global reach and growth have been occurring for a while.

There is a movement that is happening, she said, an infusion of soca into the global space.

Her blend of soca with the wider global sound she has branded as Gully Pop.

She defines it this way: “You can look at ‘Gully’ as being a bad word, but I don’t look at it like that. For me, gully is like the street urban. Urban spaces don’t always have to be the ghetto. Urban spaces are spaces full of life. It represents the people who work to live. It is like street music.” While Hunte’s musical taste might shift during the year, as she is in a “very musical space right now,” she wants to do more live performances in 2018 with her band. She is also looking to add more of a Trinidadian sound to her music, having had meetings with Phase II steelband. She also hopes, one day, to hear Mon Bon Ami played on pan.

She believes she has something different to offer than what is normally seen in TT , particularly from a female performer. “It is super-high energy. You don’t usually see females in that space. It would be good for the people to see something different.” In 2018, Hunte has plans to bring not only Neguesha but some (other) “really big names,” whom she could not identify at the moment owing to contractual arrangements.

While she and Montano have worked together and may work together again, she said, “I think it is time to showcase what I can do as an artiste and what I can do as a performer. I think it is time to show them another side.” She is expected to release a soca EP next week called SPEAKHer which will feature a remix of her popular Mon Bon Ami made with a well-known rapper.

And in answer to the million-dollar question that’s probably on everyone’s mind: while she did not have time to get it done last year, a video for Mon Bon Ami is set to happen soon.