Melly Rose, Crazy unite for love of the music

Calypso veteran Edwin “Crazy” Ayoung and up and coming afro-soca artiste Melissa “Melly Rose” St Rose have joined forces for a groovy, inspirational tune called Love of the Music.

The song and its colourful music video has received more than 31,000 views on YouTube since it was published on September 5. The responses have been mostly positive including comments like “this tune bad it bad it bad” and “Good vybes. Know this song by heart already. Love it.”

The two singers spoke about the single during a recent visit to Newsday’s Port-of-Spain offices. St Rose said that the song was about spreading love and unity, and teaching young people about it.

St Rose recalled that she went to producer Kyle Phillips with the concept and when Ayoung heard it in studio he liked it. The song was written by Phillips, Lani K, St Rose and Ayoung, produced by Lani K, Keyonn Jemmott and Phillips and mixed and mastered by Flex GLR.

She said that everyone came together and that good vibes transferred to the music.

The lyrics include, “The calypso music starting from deep down inside, something like a burning fire for we to survive” and “The spirit of soca music will live on and on, uniting all different races together as one.”

The duo stopped by the Newsday office and shared a live performance of their new song.

St Rose was born in Trinidad and Tobago but grew up in the US. She studied music at the Baltimore School for the Arts for music before enrolling at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for music. St Rose then completed her undergraduate degree in business management and music at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, and then decided to return to this country and pursue a music career. She returned home in September 2015 and her songs include Get it from Mama and Roll it Back featuring Jay Cube.

She performed Get it from Mama at the International Soca Monarch as part of a prize package as winner of the inaugural NLCB “Scratch Soca Airplay” competition. She also won $15,000 cash and a session with a “top producer and writer” for her 2017 soca song. St Rose’s genre of music is a new fusion of international flavour that can be described as afro-soca.

On Love of the Music St Rose said that she wanted to represent the country to the fullest and was glad to work with Ayoung, “a living legend” who was creating music before soca was invented.

With a career spanning more than four decades Crazy is the pioneer of parang soca, composer of numerous pan songs and known for hits like Madness is Gladness, Doh Try That, Nani Wine, De Party Now Start, Cold Sweat and won the 1985 Road March with Suck Meh Soucouyant.

During the interview Ayoung said that he wants the song to educate young people about the history of soca and that it started with Ras Shorty I, who he mentions in the song along with Superblue, Machel Montano and Bunji Garlin.

St Rose hopes to take the song into schools and recalled that a year ago she participated in a school tour with Synergy. “I love doing things like that.”

The song is for the 2018 Carnival season and they also plan to enter it for competitions including the International Soca Monarch.