TT to feature in Love & Hip Hop TV show

TT will be featured in at least two episodes of season eight of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, the Viacom reality TV Show on VH1.

This was revealed by Mona Scott Young, producer and CEO of Monami Entertainment, at a media conference at the Hilton Trinidad in St Ann’s.

Love and Hip Hop Atlanta is one of VH1’s most popular shows, running over eight years and continuing to trend in the US, European, African and Caribbean markets internationally, with billions of viewers.

The series chronicles the lives of several people in Atlanta involved with hip hop music. Among the cast are two people from the Caribbean, Trinidadian Karlie Redd and dancehall artiste Spice from Jamaica.

At the press conference Redd said she cried when she touched down in Trinidad, because she so wanted to show the rest of the cast and crew TT and how it parties. She said their attendance at the Jam Nation was a hot topic after the event, adding: “When people get to see this, it is going to blow their minds.”

Spice expressed her pleasure at getting the opportunity to record and perform with Destra Garcia. She added: “As Caribbean artistes it is good we can come together and show the international world how beautiful it is here.”

For the past week shooting for the episodes has been done all over Trinidad in locations including the Caroni Swamp and the Bamboo Cathedral in Chaguaramas. Other shots were done in San Fernando, Port of Spain and some restaurants, according to Young.

Stephanie Gayle of Monami Entertainment said other scenes of Carnival, Tobago tourist sites and the famous Tobago goat races will be done by another VHI film crew. She also said a plethora of people from TT worked on the production.

The production is a collaboration between Imagine Media International Ltd, FilmTT and Tourism Trinidad Ltd, co-ordinated by LA-based Trinidadian Sherrese Moise.

Both Nneka Luke, general manager of FilmTT, and Camille Campbell, CEO of Tourism Trinidad Ltd, were particularly pleased that Love & Hip Hop had chosen "Destination TT" to film the episodes, and said it was their mission to have more such productions done here in the future.

The episodes featuring TT will be aired in May or June.

Both cast and crew have already started promoting TT via the hashtag Visit TT.