We Got This –a song for the Caribbean during covid19

MUSIC’S healing and therapeutic power is well documented. It is this healing power that Ian “iWeb” Webster and Cheyne Jones, the Barbadian songwriting duo known as Water Street Boyz, hopes to harness in the fight against the covid19 pandemic.

Water Street Boyz wrote We Got This, a song they say is meant to uplift the Caribbean spirit during the covid19 pandemic.

“The song is a song for all Caribbean people, both who are afflicted at this time by this deadly virus as well as those who are doing their best to help others who have found themselves on the wrong side of covid19.

“It is a song that is designed to inspire and to evoke hope within people, so we know that if we come together and we continue to do the right things, we are strong in spirit and lean on each other in hard times we can come out on the other end still doing well and believing in ourselves. And come out even stronger than when we went into the whole situation,” Jones told Newsday.

Its chorus says:

Don't worry about the circumstances.

Don't stress about the fears and the madness.

Together we will take our chance at life and conquer this.

Dont worry about the circumstance.

Don't stress about the fears and madness.

Together we will take our chance at life cause we got this.

The song features 25 Caribbean artistes from 14 countries including TT’s reigning Groovy Soca Monarch College Boy Jesse. Other artistes on the track are Barbados’s Marzville and St Lucia’s Motto. Many of the artistes video recorded the song using their phones, one used a videographer and a small number were able to go to studios, according to the policies which permitted them to do so in their respective countries.

The song was produced by Chris Allman at Slam Home Studio Recording, Barbados.

Webster said the song was originally written for an organisation but was not used by them.

“A friend had reached out and he figured we should do something else with it. What I suggested to him is if I were to do something with the song, it would have to be at a regional level to bring together artistes from all across the region, because it would then be more meaningful and impactful.”

Webster's friend agreed. He then took the suggestion to Jones and Jones also felt it was a great idea to do that.

Webster then began the process of contacting other people.

“We did this without any kind of funding at all. Everybody just got on board because they saw the bigger picture and vision,” he added. None of the artistes were paid and there was "absolutely no cost" to do the project, Webster said.

He wanted to get the Caribbean singing one song.

Many of the artistes contacted each other to work on it.

“It was really a collaborative effort once people caught the vision,” he said.

Webster said it took about three weeks to complete the song. It was written on March 27 and recording began on April 6. Jones said, “The song roughly took around ten hours to write.”

It was released on May 1.

The 25 artistes singing on that track are now known as the Caribbean Connection.

Asked if there were other songs in the works, Jones said the Caribbean Connection group that came together have been “absolutely fantastic.”

Jones added that morale in the group is extremely high and artistes have already spoken about doing something else. However, there are no further plans as yet.

“This was done by Caribbean artistes who probably right now are feeling this covid19 situation in a different way than some people would, obviously because in some instances as a touring artiste that is how you would generate income and many people are not able to travel.

“We are all affected by it and we hope somewhere along the line, who knows, we can get a fund sorted out so we can contribute to the artistes of the region who would have seen it fit to come on board with some thing like this. Not only for those people but also to raise funds for the artistes in the Caribbean as a whole,” Jones said.

Webster was also inspired to do We Got This by a 2019 documentary on the late Rawlston Charles, legendary owner of Charlie’s Records in New York, who produced recordings for many calypsonians. Charles's label produced tracks for legendary calypsonians such as Calypso Rose, the late Ras Shorty I and Explainer.

College Boy Jesse shared the documentary with him. He said it inspired him to record the track with artistes from around the region and not just one territory.

“When he set up his label in New York, he reached out to the entire Caribbean. It was not just artistes from Grenada or TT. It was the entire Caribbean…Arrow was on there as well.

“If we use this situation as a platform to build, this is the prime opportunity for us to establish ourselves on the world stage as a region,” Webster said.

Artistes who contributed to We Got This:

College Boy Jesse – TTClaudette Peters – AntiguaTasha Peltier – DominicaMotto – St Lucia Karisia Willett – St Kitts

Shaunelle Mckenzie – St VincentQueen B – Anguilla Timeka Marshall – GuyanaJadine – MontserratMarzville – BarbadosAdrian Dutchin – GuyanaAdana – TT

Kaay Jones – JamaicaD S Devine – DominicaRochelle – BarbadosVictor O – MartiniqueArthur Allain – St Lucia Tara Lynne – BahamasTimeka Marshall – GuyanaKhiomal – BarbadosDrew Dean– NevisNisa Genesia St Hiliare –TT

Shontelle Layne – BarbadosJosh Berkeley – GrenadaMahalia – Barbados