Making it Rane

Sherane “Rane” Blackman is working on becoming one of soca’s powerful voices. The singer/songwriter’s latest single My Behavior is her way of taking her one step closer to her goal.

The US-based, TT- born singer has been singing since she was a child, she said in a press release.

Rane was introduced to calypso, soca and Carnival from an early age.

“I was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and was introduced to calypso, soca and Carnival at a tender age by my paternal grandmother as she would ensure that I was jumping up in some kiddies band every Carnival season.”

When her family moved from Port of Spain to Maloney and she began attending Maloney Government Primary school, she started writing calypsoes to enter the school’s calypso competition, she said.

“I loved to write, and my teacher then always mentioned that English composition was my best subject, so I decided to give it a shot,” she added.

She was also a part of the school’s dance group, did karate, played netball and wrote poetry.

Rane continued in the creative field: dancing while the late Shadow performed Dingolay at the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and in 2011 she played Destra’s Cool It Down at the Panorama small bands competition for Blue Diamonds Steel Orchestra.

But her true musical journey began in 2014 after writing some verses for the late Devon Matthews’ No Kill Joy.

She said, “While vibin in the studio of the late Devon Matthews, he wanted a song for a riddim they were building.

“Right then and there I penned the verses to the song No Kill Joy. After hearing the finished product of that song, I bought myself a notebook and just kept writing.”

But it was not until 2018 that she fully entered the soca sphere.

She released Ms Whiner, one of the many songs from her notebook. It was followed by Handle It in 2019 and Ay Papi and Bam Bam in 2020.

“I am grateful that I was able to have a great Carnival season last year, being able to perform at different fetes and being able to perform with a live band for the first time which is such a different vibration,” she said.

Her 2021 release My Behavior is also one of those songs from her notebook and was written in 2015. It was then called Hardcore, she added.

“I reached out to Darryl Gervais (singer/songwriter) who made it a little more modern and Xone who gave it the fire hook. As with most of my songs Wildfire was the genius vocal engineer along with Mysta Lyon of Lyon Roar productions where the song was recorded. It was produced by Krome of Krome productions in St Lucia.”

Rane is working on a video for the song and it can be found on YouTube and digital streaming platforms.

She also plans to release more music in the near future. She also plans to pursue a career in entertainment law and has a bachelors's degree in legal studies.