Soca Dre gives them Pressure

ANDRE JEREMIAH SANDIFORD, 20, touched his family and friends when he rapped at his father’s funeral. His passion for music pushed him to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Now, calling himself Soca Dre, he is aiming to make a name for himself in Carnival 2019.

Soca Dre loved to perform as a child. He started singing calypso when he was eight in primary school. With the help of his parents he wrote and composed Through My Crystal Ball and My Family. These songs earned him the Calypso King title for Richmond Street Boys’ Anglican School in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

While in form four at Queen’s Royal College (QRC), his father died.

“In QRC I started singing again when my dad passed away. I sang a song at his funeral and my family said I had a great voice.”

Now, as a business management student at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Soca Dre wants to breakthrough into the soca industry.

“I love soca and I love to party,” Soca Dre said.

With Bunji Garlin and Machel Montano as inspirations, Soca Dre hopes to become a master lyricist like Bunji and have stage presence like Montano. “Machel’s vibes on stage is inspirational. I want to perform like him. Watching him perform is brilliant. With Bunji, it’s all about the lyrics. His flow, his rhymes, it’s just fluent and unique. He does not need to wait for anyone to write for him. He just spits out the lyrics on the spot. I want to achieve that in my career someday,” Soca Dre said.

He has never performed outside of a school competition but is hoping to change that in 2019.

Soca Dre’s first single Jab-Jab Crew was released on November last year for this year’s Carnival. That single was produced by Album Arts Production. Soca Dre’s 2019 single, Pressure, was produced by KMP Music Lab and was released earlier this month. Soca Dre and his management team are working on a marketing campaign to get him on radio stations and soca channels on YouTube.

“I want to get myself out there and let people know about Soca Dre. I want to broadcast myself to the whole Caribbean,” he said.