Swappi sweeps away Groovy competitors

THE party has not started yet for Marvin Swappi Davis, who won the Groovy Monarch title yesterday, beating out seven others.

Swappi, who was not present to receive his $500,000 cheque, told Sunday Newsday that he fell asleep before the entire competition ended. He said after his performance in the last position, he left the venue and fulfilled another commitment before heading home.

“I was surprised, I didn’t expect it. I was looking at Teddyson John and V’ghn (Jevaughn John) in this race” he said, adding that he was overexcited and, hours later, was still processing it. Second place in the Groovy went to John, from St Vincent, while Grenadian V’ghn took third place.

Swappi said, since he was announced as the winner after 3 am, he had been receiving phone call after phone call to congratulate him right up to 2.30 pm when Sunday Newsday called.

He added that he avoided the picong in his performance because his song, The Party Start, was about partying, and when it came to partying, there was no room for name calling and shade throwing.

“Right now it's all about giving thanks. Give thanks to God, to the people, to the ISM (International Soca Monarch) family for keeping the tradition.

"Right now, the next step is work. I don’t shy away from putting in the work to perfect my craft. So I am going to do the work. I will scrape the plate clean and run away with the knife and fork,” Swappi said, laughing at his kitchen comedy.

The Groovy segment went first in the two-part competition, which began 90 minutes later than advertised. The delay was caused by production issues that were identified at a late stage. After this was done, the competition ran without a hitch. A new category was introduced to the competition called the producer’s pick which was to promote both producers and upcoming artistes alike.

The winner in that category, taking home $30,000 was Roger Henry Matthew Lincoln III, whose uses his last name as a sobrique. The You Bad Too singer said it was his first time on the biggest soca stage.

He said, “The response from the crowd for my first time was unbelievable. The producer’s pick, is where an unknown artist and a known producer work together.”

The other competitors in the category were Marlon “Sticky Wow” Smith who celebrated his 31st birthday on Friday, Jason “Kuttrah Ahdikuff” West and the duo Roger Zoff Celestine and Abraham Josiah Eccles who go by the stage name Z-Red and Abudarkie respectively.

Smith, a born Canadian to Trini parents said he grew up Trini because while his parents were out of TT, the country was not out of them. He described his performance as an awesome experience and considered himself a soca ambassador in Canada.

Smith who sang No Feed Back, said he spoke his appearance into being last year with a song entitled Call on Me. The lyrics of the song read: “Nine to five no call ain’t answering; Pack meh bags is brass and no selling; Overseas we gone on plane again; Carnival and me inside the fete; Soca Monarch invite all ah me friends, I looking for peace no punishment."

West, who also resides abroad but was born in Trinidad, said it was his duty to represent soca music. He sang Puncheon High and felt he had a great performance, leaving him feeling blessed and speechless.

The duo in the category, also known as A-Z, said they were thankful for the opportunity and relished the thought of the category remaining to assist other new artistes.

“We’re glad that they initiated it because younger artiste need this, it is great way to get the experience and exposure. Hope they continue this.”