Caribbean artist Kalpee is making waves with his ebullient music, having curated a tropical sound he describes as new calypso. This fresh take on calypso got Kalpee noticed by the SXSW committee, resulting in his pioneering of the Island Wave stage at SXSW 2022. The Trinidadian musician curated a lineup comprised entirely of gifted Caribbean musicians, proudly sharing their musical heritage with the coveted Texas event.
His most recent release is a remix EP of sunny track ‘Island Gyal’ – a nostalgic dip into calypso, reggae, and dancehall that maintains its light-hearted groove even after reworking. The EP includes a remix by the Trinidad and Tobago-based outfit, Precision Productions. Kasey Phillips is a legendary Caribbean producer and a key member of Precision Productions, working to expand cultural sounds into new pockets of the music industry.
It’s clear that there’s so much talent coming out of the Caribbean, but for the artists, making music isn’t without its difficulties. Kalpee and Phillips are creators with a passion for bringing Caribbean music to the forefront of the international music scene, but each acknowledges the obstacles the Caribbean music scene faces.
In conversation for Clash, artist and producer interviewed each other over National Caribbean-American Heritage Month to discuss how to help their local music scene, navigating international waters, and the importance of Caribbean culture.
Kalpee: What are some of the limitations/ challenges of being a producer, working in the Caribbean?
Kasey Phillips: Some major limitations are access and seasonality. Working in the Caribbean makes the access to artists, song-writers or music industry executives more difficult than being in and around the music industry itself, where the big decisions and important connections in the industry are happening in real time. Seasonality touches on the time constraints with Caribbean music. We mass produce music towards a festival like Carnival, which kills the life of songs whenever the season is done. Songs don’t get to fulfil their true potential since everything, all songs, are bottlenecked into a few months.
Kalpee: Why do you feel it’s important to push Caribbean music out to the international markets?
Phillips: I believe that Caribbean music is already being fused with other types of mainstream music without it being identified correctly, so it’s time to bring it to the forefront so the world can experience the greatness of the Caribbean.
Kalpee: What inspires you locally as a producer?
Phillips: The need to innovate and find new ways to present and package our local music. The Caribbean; specifically Trinidad & Tobago, is a melting pot of talent and a multitude of cultures that are untapped and just need that breakthrough for the world to recognize its power.
Kalpee: What advice would you give to aspiring Caribbean producers to help them break internationally?
Phillips: First, structure, and then, taking your brand and yourself (your craft )seriously. From your company registration, to having your music registered, and also signing up with the necessary Publishers and Performance Rights Organization (PRO) is of paramount importance in order to be taken seriously internationally.
Kalpee: What drawbacks does the Caribbean music community face when striving to reach the international music scene?
Phillips: Infrastructure. We have amazing music that hypnotizes people and they love it, but we lack infrastructure around our Caribbean music industry to push it beyond our own region. We need entities like record labels or distribution channels that would facilitate moving and promoting these songs across the globe into mainstream markets, showcasing Caribbean music and talent globally.
Phillips: What do you think an artist from Trinidad or the Caribbean needs to breakthrough into the Mainstream market?
Kalpee: I feel that what Caribbean artists need, is an education of how the music business works, accompanied by an infrastructure within our own industry that supports the entertainment economy, so that we are able to earn from making music. Creatively, even though the resources aren’t easily available, we are able to navigate around delivering music and music videos but, without marketing, the exposure and export of our sound, remains mainly on the Islands. Marketing initiatives such as PR, digital promotions, radio pluggers, and digital ad spend not only require budgets (which most of the time are not available due to a seasonal economy centred around events such as carnival,)but also, with no one offering those services from the Caribbean with an international reach, we are limited to just exposure within the Islands.
Phillips: Why Caribbean music? Why not another genre?
Kalpee: It’s who I am! Caribbean music runs in my blood, it’s what I grew up listening to and what I’ve been performing since I was a child. It’s so important to me to always include elements from home when creating new music, as it’s the foundation of my craft and I am proud of my cultural heritage. With digital platforms connecting the world online, I grew up listening to so many different styles of music and naturally, outside influences have also impacted how and what I create. My sound is a blend of genres like, pop, rock and trap, fused with calypso, dancehall and reggae. It’s an expression of where I am today that resonates with not only my vybe and personality, but also my story so far.
Phillips: Where do you pull your inspiration from as a Caribbean artist in music?
Kalpee: I live for music, so I find inspiration everywhere and anywhere. It really depends on the day, a conversation with a friend, a bad day, watching a movie, listening to other artists, going on a hike… anything can trigger a melody or a lyrical line. Music is therapy to me, so I like creating ideas out of challenges, both personally and within society. I’ve been performing calypso music since the age of five, which most of the time had very serious or political lyrics, so that’s something that’s stuck with me. I believe in the power of positive music evoking a positive mentality, so that’s what I try to convey most of the time in anything that I create.
Phillips: What has been the biggest challenge to date in being a successful artist?
Kalpee: One of the biggest challenges would be funding the artistry when there’s no industry around you outside of carnival to bring in paying gigs and other opportunities. I do a lot of the creative process myself which means having all the necessary tools to make and edit music and video. From the hardware to the software, I promise, none of it is cheap at all. What’s even more difficult is the accessibility of up to date equipment in the Caribbean, which is extremely important If you want your ideas to compete with the international market. If I wanted to buy a professional condenser microphone, for example, 9 times out of 10 you’ll have to buy it online and ship it in. Which means paying for the item, along with the standard US taxes and shipping. Then after two weeks, paying local taxes, custom fees, and taxes on the cost of the item to be able to clear it. So at the end of the process sometimes we end up spending twice as much or more, for the same tools.
Phillips: Do you think being from the Caribbean helps or hinders your international aspirations?
Kalpee: I think it can do both based on the person and their belief system in themselves, but most of the time, I think it can hinder aspirations. We play by very different rules in the Caribbean, especially Trinidad. So sometimes it can feel as though you have to create within a box if you want a chance at succeeding locally. That box for me, was carnival. As much as I appreciate the festival and how important it is, it gave me no room to evolve the culture and create how I wanted to. If it didn’t sound a specific way, it didn’t work. There was no space for an artist like myself. No platforms, opportunities, grants – nothing. So the only way to progress was to create the space. I saw the vision for myself and believed it so I decided to teach myself all the crafts like music production and video editing – things that I couldn’t afford to pay someone to do. The other major hindrance for a Caribbean artist to try and compete internationally is the extreme difficulty of applying for Visas. In order to travel to most places on a Caribbean passport, you need a work or tourist visa which has to be applied for at an embassy. We do not have an ESTA equivalent like the UK or any quick process to do this, so It’s extremely expensive and the wait time for appointments can be up to six months. We can’t efficiently export our music if we can’t travel to promote it. This is something that really has to be looked at and in time, hopefully it will change.
Kalpee’s platform Island Wave has opened submissions for their SXSW 2023 showcase at Flamingo Cantina; to enter, artists need to register interest by emailing: [email protected]
Words: Gem Stokes
