As day one Ragga followers know I started this project on Labor day weekend so technically this was the anniversary turn up and where it all started. To re create the synergy and collective where all Caribbean countries gather once a year was the vibe! I called on some Ragga residents and a special blessing from LA for this install of Ragga Nyc for a night of Soca meets Dub meets Dancehall meets Techno and more. Black and Afro Caribbean folk in the diaspora contribute to so many avenues in music and culture - and for this rendition of RAGGA NYC we brought it back to the root of RAGGA NYC in pure BASHMENT VIBEZZZ.
SHYBOI // BAE BAE // SYDFALLS // NEON CHRISTINA
Carnival weekend in contrast to the intense times we are living in had me thinking a lot about the origins of Carnival, the navigation of black joy in times of chaos and Carnival’s roots in rebellion. -
@shharine writes:
“Though crafted with carnival and fêtes in mind, there was an illuminating parallel between the energy in these songs and the energy I was witnessing in these demonstrations. Despite the obvious, differing, visual optics of Caribbean-originating carnivals and the protests that touched nearly every major city in the US and select cities abroad, they were all bound up in the same thing: Black liberation. With calls in contemporary soca to have “no behavior, total disorder” and to ramp up the bacchanal as a means to talkback to respectability, code of conduct and order, both the genre of soca and the traditions of carnival are a reflection and extension of the Caribbean’s own history of riots and movements that spoke to state-imposed violence and then-colonial rule. Understanding the roots of Caribbean carnival and listening to soca provided a soundtrack and means of digesting this pivotal moment of liberation for Black people in America and the world over.“
Exactlyyyy Sharine. Let’s all go into the weekend and rest of the year remembering these seeds in our history and sounds. Celebration and resistance have always been intertwined. It’s who we’ve been and are.
Carnival weekend’s roots in African sounds and the fusion of other cultures in this “melting pot” know as the Caribbean. I’ve been asked all my life what my drive to be so politically charged and musically mixy comes from. Then I look to my up bringing and find the answers there. The sounds of growing up with House music at family BBQs to my aunts/ mom crushing over Prince dabbling in Rock/ R&B to Sunday mornings with Soca/ Reggae music blasting as we cleaned the house after church. These sounds have played a pivotal role in the soundtrack of my life as we’ve lived through complicated times. These sounds also are calls for continued resistance that we enjoy but can’t forget are rooted in rebellion. Literally rooted in pushing back against empires, white supremacy and oppression of all kinds.