Mechanic TID: Music in my veins

HIS great-grandmother sang opera, his mother is a former pannist and his grandmother a choir singer. So for Stephen Sampson, music is not only part of his family – it is his family.

His younger sister introduced him to rapping, and he started playing pan at three and singing in the church choir not long after. His father also played pan.

Sunday Newsday sat down with the 30-year-old father of two, who defines himself as a hip-hop artiste.

However, he does not want to be limited to any one genre of music. Sampson, who goes by the sobriquet Mechanic TID, said he was "taunted" to sing soca, but his first attempt was rapping to a soca beat.

“My intro to soca was last year December. I was in studio with Prince Pronto and he had a beat and it was a fuse between hip hop and soca. The song is titled Live it Up.

"After that, Prince Pronto had a rhythm called the Java Rhythm. that was my first 'soca soca.'”

Sampson said singing soca is one level in the game of life that he's conquered.

“I am a gamer. You name it, I played it, and gaming is all about dedication – to beat the game, you need dedication.

"I try my best to beat every stage in my life, and one stage I know that I have beaten is the identity stage. I already find who I want to be as an artiste. Soca and dancehall music are like bonus stages to me.”

Sampson’s sobriquet came from his training as a mechanic. When he was growing up in Ste Madeleine, everyone who knew him referred to him as "Mechanic." He added that the “TID” came after he had "Mechanic" tattooed on his back. Because a tattoo is permanent, the nickname evolved. Now living at Spring Hill, Couva, Sampson is a full-time musician who dabbles in mechanics every so often, mostly on request from those who know he is trained in the field.

“As a hip hop artiste, I didn’t want to go with the 'lil' in front my name. There was a time when everyone wanted to do that. I stuck with Mechanic and after I took the tattoo, it was there until I die so I said that’s it: Mechanic Til I Die.”

A fourth-degree black belt, he said he has managed to compartmentalise his life.

“Business is business,” he said, adding that what happens on the stage remains there. His performances are just that, an entertaining performance. His family’s life is a critical part of his being. Seated next to him, as he smiled, talking about his two daughters, was his wife and manager, Tishana Sampson.

The extent of Sampson’s musical connection continued even into marriage. His wife’s father and brother were DJs and she too has been around music all her life, she said. The couple met at Machel Monday this year and were married a few months later. Their daughters, 11 and nine, from previous relationships, are also showing signs of being musically inclined.

Sampson said there was one time he felt like turning his back on music. This was on his first trip out of the country for music, in St Maarten, earlier this year. He did not walk away from his passion, which “speaks to his soul,” because during that trying time it was music that helped him out of it. Sampson recalled not making much money for his gigs on the island and what little he made went back to studio time. Sometimes he said, once a a day was all he would eat. So on the trip he was singing without eating, and the literal hunger made him crave music even more.

"It was a bittersweet moment for me, because it was my first time performing out of the country. Right now I am working on my (US) visa, because I have prospects in the making," Sampson said, but remained tight-lipped on those prospects saying only that they involved his passion for rap music.

Locally, he has performed at the Central Bank Auditorium, Silhouettes, Kaiso Blues Café, Club Rush and Smokey and Bunty, where he shot the video for his song Avenue, which features Addelon "Banjela X" Braveboy.

When faced with the obvious question – why he chose hip hop over soca – Sampson said: “Music runs through my blood. Why should I be limited to one genre just because it’s our music?

"We have accepted local dancehall and reggae. We have to pay attention (to all genres) and not just soca alone.

"I did it to prove that I can. Everyone knows me as a hip hop artist. I told myself that it is time to give the people what they want.”

Mechanic TID can be reached at Mechanic TID on all social media platforms and for bookings mechanictidmusic@gmail.com