In his 2017 chutney soca offering Ah Doh Mine She, Shivan Ragoonath, in collaboration with Stephon “Slammer Cutter” Mark, explains that even though his song is a rum song, it does not encourage others to drink. “In fact,” he explains, “it is about a wife loving alcohol more than her husband. It is just a fun song about how fun his wife is when she drinks.” For him, the structure of most rum songs hinges on men always taking the blame; but “this time, we are putting a twist on it and highlighting the woman, while no bashing is involved.”
The song was produced by Rishi Mahato and written by Stephon Mark.
The song took shape when Ragoonath and Mark met for the first time in a barber shop. They struck up a conversation about singing, when Mark, who was on vacation in Trinidad, asked Ragoonath to sing his song. By the end of the song, Mark asked Ragoonath to collaborate with him. Then and there, Ragoonath called his producer to have him set up the collaboration. “When I called my producer, I told him that Slammer only had three more days in Trinidad, so the riddim was built on Wednesday, we worked on it the Thursday and added the vocals on Friday,” Ragoonath said.
The song has already got some radio airplay.
Their video has garnered over 30,000 views and it is still climbing. “There is a remix in the making, as we speak, with a prominent soca artiste,” said Ragoonath, “and it will be released three days before Chutney Soca Monarch Semis on January 15.”
This is just one of the two songs Shivan has entered the Chutney Soca Monarch with.
“I have also entered the traditional category in the competition with a song titled Duhlah and Duhlahin, which I will be singing with Reshma Ramla. This song was released two months ago.”
Ragoonath said it has not been an easy road for him—he was not able to make it to the semifinal round in the competition, and has been rejected by other popular chutney artistes over the years. However, he is not ready to give up on his dreams, and is pushing even harder this year.
“In the meantime, I love performing for my family and friends or at different places and will continue to do so. I have also performed recently at a business anniversary in Aranguez and the feedback was amazing,” he said.
He had some words of advice for the stalwarts in the business: “Please assist those that are now coming up. It does not have to be money or collaborations, but just words of advice can go a long way.”
And for new artistes, he advised: “Always keep pushing for your dreams, no matter what.”
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Instagram: Slammer Cutter- slammer_cutter, Shivan R- ragoonathshivan
Facebook: Slammer Cutter- Slammer Cutter, Shivan R- Shivan Ragoonath
Twitter: Slammer Cutter- @StephonMark
