Reggae & Soca Stars: Tessanne Chin / Farmer Nappy

Where reggae music is predominantly viewed as Jamaican, and soca is often seen as ‘small island’ music, there is no dispute concerning the fact that they both represent the Caribbean. Meet the new stars of the genres: reggae-Rock singer Tessanne Chin and soca artist Farmer Nappy.

Tessanne Chin
myspace.com/tessannechin

It’s not every day that a vocal talent such as Tessanne Chin comes along. You may be forgiven for believing that she is a ‘newbie’ to the music industry, but having been a backing singer for the legendary Jimmy Cliff as well as working with several musical talents from Diana King, Wayne Marshall and even her sister, Tami Chynn, she is definitely not new on the scene. Back in 2007, music lovers were forced to stop and take note when the track Hideaway was released and played on heavy rotation on radio stations in the Caribbean. The fusion of reggae music with a rock twist became a signature sound for the 24-year-old whose songs have been seducing many crowds with her strong vocals and powerful pitch.

Currently working on her debut album, Tessanne has released a collaboration track Loving You with lead singer Kees Dieffenthaller of Trinidadian group Kes the Band. It was after hearing the reggae-rock mix which Tessanne had previously done, that gave Kees the idea of working together. With their music video already on youtube and surpassing 50,000 hits, this track looks set to be another successful mix of music genres soca and reggae.

When she went to live in the UK at the age of 12, Tessanne experienced cultural differences which inspired her to write her songs. Upon returning to her birthplace Jamaica, she worked on improving her talents by joining the Jamaican Rock Band Mile High where she performed at various concerts.

Messenger is another track which features poignant and thoughtful words, again using the reggae-rock mix which suits Tessanne perfectly. These songs will be included on the album which is due for release this year.

Farmer Nappy
myspace.com/1farmernappy

Trinidadian singer/songwriter Farmer Nappy has been part of the soca band Xtatic for over 20 years, until 2007 when he made the decision to become a solo artist. After working with the band and most importantly lead singer Machel Montano, he went on to create several songs for the Carnival such as this year’s Pavement and 2009’s Chippin (With Me Own Woman).

At the age of seven, Nappy  had joined a band called Pranasonic Express with Machel where he played percussion. It was this same band which would later be highly regarded and known as Xtatic.

Producing hit songs with highly-charged performances, lyrical content and energized rhythms often led to venues being sold out across the Caribbean. Whilst with the band, Farmer wrote a series of songs such as Big Truck, ‘ayee Ayee and ‘No Carnival’ which are still considered great soca tunes today. Having won an award for best songwriter for writing the track Footsteps’ Farmer’s popularity increased as word began to spread regarding his writing talent.

On deciding to head to Barbados, Farmer was given the opportunity to work with producers De Red Boyz, who had already worked with reggae artist Biggie Irie on Nah Goin’ Home which won the International Groovy Soca Monarch in 2007. The duo also went on to produce two albums and had several hit songs.

So as Farmer Nappy prepares to release more songs for the following year, we will wait for the next set of instructions that will captivate the listeners and soca junkies around the world.