Trini Trent 🇹🇹

I didn't realise how much Amerie sounded like Mary J. Blige until I watched her Tiny Desk. Similar inflections and all. But more soprano.

Well...most of them were over 25. Mike City was 31.

a man is cutting a woman 's hair in a salon Alt: a man is cutting a woman 's hair in a salon saying 40 dollars

$52? USD?! I'm over here doing the TT conversion like...

And there were challenges getting the sample cleared. It didn't stand a chance lol I always wondered why it didn't make the deluxe edition back then.

The producer who put it on Soundcloud years ago mentioned that it was probably because it was similar to Stay the Night, Circles and Your Girl, and Mariah wanted more variety. It was a close race between that and Stay the Night and she chose the latter.

Trinidad is the central soca market. There's a reason why most of the music is released during our Carnival season: It is tied to our cultural expression.

The leading artists in the genre are all Trinidadian.

If you can't accept that then go argue with the ghost of Ras Shorty.

Facts are facts.

There is a glaring level of ignorance among people in the diaspora regarding soca music.

Many don't know its history or cultural significance in Trinidad. Some even attempt to separate it from Trinidad, claiming "no one island can claim soca."

That is bullshit.

Soca is a Trinidadian genre.

Reggae is considered Jamaican genre, although it is performed globally. It was developed in a Jamaican cultural context and is tied to their national identity.

Soca is a Trinidadian genre created by a Trinidadian in Trinidad for Trinidadians. Others have added to it but the music is Trinidadian.

Jamaica's carnival of today was started by Trinidadian people in the late 1980s. It doesn't have a cultural or historical foundation that makes it distinctly Jamaican. Regarding soca, it's a Trinidadian genre; invented in Trinidad by a Trinidadian for Trinidadians and it spread to include others.

Then I say keep it simple and focus on genres that are considered primarily African American in origin - jazz, gospel, doo wop, hip hop, disco, funk, house, go-go, etc. They may have wider diaspora influences and participation but the social, geographical and cultural contexts are African American.

It's an interesting challenge because Caribbean people were also involved in the development of hip hop, etc. It's undeniably American but can't be divorced from the wider diaspora. Then there's salsa that is Caribbean but it took form in America, specifically NYC, thanks to Puerto Rican musicians.

Might be. There's also the cultural divide between Jamaica and Trinidad; the long history of competition and rivalry between the two. And the difference in the rhythms. Soca, especially music from Trinidad, is generally very different from dancehall and reggae. PS: Some Jamaicans love soca!

Salsa and merengue are Caribbean genres.

It's also important to understand that Caribbean musics as well as releases from the rest of the diaspora influenced what those in America. It's a big exchange of ideas and culture. There would be no reggae or even hip-hop without calypso, for instance, which has roots in Africa.

I was today years old when I found that the voice actress for Storm in X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men 97 was born in Barbados 🇧🇧 and raised in Canada. Caribbean people everywhere!

The joy in that title track and the way she uses her upper register. I wonder if it was the structural template for Mariah's Emotions single? The way it builds higher and higher with each chorus.

The name of the book is Capitalism and Slavery, and Dr Eric Williams never ran for President. He was our first Premier in 1959 then first Prime Minister when we became an independent state in 1962. He later led us to became a Republic in 1976 when our first President, Sir Ellis Clarke, was appointed

Someone knows it!
Dr Carol James (Biologist, honoured for her contributions toward people-centred environmental management 🇹🇹)
“Haven’t seen them for decades! They make fabulous smoothies and punches because of the sweetness. Great to purchase slightly turned so you can eat over a longer timeframe!”

Run Free by Rebecca Ferguson on Apple Music Song · 2011 · Duration 3:12

Thinking of this one by Rebecca Ferguson today.

It always speaks to me when I think of who and where I want to be ✨

Some black British pop and soul for your Sunday!

music.apple.com/tt/album/run...

YouTube video by MariahCareyVEVO I Still Believe / Pure Imagination (Damizza Reemix - Official HD Video)

She worked with them again + Layzie Bone and Bow Wow on Lil L.O.V.E. in 2007. She also had Krayzie with Brat on the I Still Believe/Pure Imagination remix in 1998 youtu.be/xj8npgf0BRc?...

(And I can teach it too)

Is there a university course on Mariah Carey?

I think a study of her life and career as a case study of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality in American culture through the late 20th into the 21st century would be great.

Mariah sits on a very unique intersection that hasn't been fully explored.

If we are going to discuss black musics and culture in America or otherwise, it is important to acknowledge the existence and significance of the wider black diaspora.

All of our contributions are valid and none of them were created in a vacuum.

And I have heard instances when non-American black music is mentioned - usually by guests on said podcasts - and it is either brushed aside or mocked as somehow less important.

I listen to several podcasts discussing black music and I find the glaring omission of black Caribbean, South and Central American, British and continental African works to be incredible.

The challenge with how black music and culture is discussed in America that it often omits or ignores blackness outside of America or from non-African American communities.

It also ignores the contributions of other groups of black people to African American cultural spaces (hip-hop, for example).

I finish! Well done. The only thing I would add is more context on the results of the election in Tobago and the now-confirmed TPP/UNC coalition. There is a parallel between Tobagonians' call for self-determination and those of the oilfield workers in southern Trinidad. Great work!

This is so well done!

At first I thought the Red Wedding comparison was a bit much but the analogy really came together as the article unfolded.

I particularly enjoyed the perspective on labour and its connection to party politics in the existing dominant duopoly! 🇹🇹

Child, not the red wedding. Things aren't THAT bad 🤣 I will check this out!

I have so many words muted on this app that the timeline is QUIET 😅

It also shows me that I need to follow more people who talk about things I enjoy.

Because clearly most of the folks I currently follow don't. And that's no shade.