Yung Bredda, DJ Hotty, take you 'Outside' with visual YouTube mix

It's 10 pm on a Thursday at the Optimus Productions Studios, in a quiet neighbourhood in San Fernando.

Being the middle of the week, one wouldn't expect too much excitement, but this isn't just any other studio, as local dancehall star Yung Bredda is set to begin recording the fifth episode of his We Outside YouTube mix shortly.

The mix which features Yung Bredda alongside longtime friends and collaborators DJ Hotty and social media influencer Big Pimpin has amassed hundreds of thousands of views online, bringing the full experience of a fete to the comfort of your own home.

While the covid19 pandemic temporarily halted live performances, Yung Bredda and DJ Hotty never stopped working as they turned their attention to the internet, creating online mixes up to 40 minutes long.

These mixes which combined Yung Bredda's freestyling ability and raunchy wordplay and DJ Hotty's mixing skills, propelled the friends to social media stardom.

At 23, Yung Bredda, (Akhenatan Lewis) remains one of the most sought-after local artistes for promoters in the region, having performed at Tribe's 2023 Carnival band launch earlier this year and completing a Caribbean tour shortly after.

Even with this busy schedule, he still finds the time to record the We Outside, YouTube mix, which now features video recordings to provide a more immersive experience.

The mix brings everything audiences have come to know and love about Yung Bredda including his racy sense of humour and DJ Hotty's song selection and mixing ability.

Speaking with Sunday Newsday before one of his recording sessions at the Optimus Productions Studio, Yung Bredda said while he is grateful for the success, he still feels he has a lot more to achieve.

A Sea Lots native, Yung Bredda's appreciation of music goes as far back as he can remember, from African drumming where he first developed an interest.

"From the age of five, I was playing drums, tambourine before entering a schoolband and learning music theory."

For Yung Bredda, family has always been an important part of his musical journey, noting that his mother and sister helped him write songs for calypso competitions while he was still a student of the Eastern Boys' Government Primary School.

He even credits the origin of his stage name to his family.

"I'm my mom's only son and I have sisters, I'm the youngest, hence the name Yung Bredda. It's simple."

Even before he adopted this moniker, Yung Bredda says he always had a dream of becoming an entertainer.

He says this vision for his future was further strengthened when he considered joining the TT Regiment when he was only 19.

"My cousin is also in the army he does music as well, he plays the drums, the steelpan, he's musically inclined as well so I was trying to get in there.

"I remembered the Major saw me and asked me if I really wanted to be in the army and I told him I really saw myself on a stage.

"I like to see myself more as a commander of the audience, I like to prep it and bring that presentation for the people to enjoy."

From this point on Yung Bredda began working tirelessly towards creating a brand that would distinguish him from other local dancehall artistes by incorporating catchphrases into his music.

One such slogan is his signature, "What are you doing?" which acts as the introduction to his songs and live performances.

Yung Bredda says he quite literally stumbled across the phrase while participating in J'Ouvert celebrations in Sea Lots some years ago.

"This was the first time we ever brought a big truck in Sea Lots, I was deejaying with Hotty and somebody was dancing in the road and I saw how they were dancing and I just said it out loud what was in my mind at the time which is 'What are you doing?'

"And everybody repeated it, then someone else said, 'Who does that?' and I repeated that and it sort of became my catchphrase."

Watching Yung Bredda perform, you can tell that he has a lot of fun with his work, there's a relaxed atmosphere in the studio as he switches the conversation from song selection and sound engineering to plain old talk with his friends.

This chemistry, he says, is crucial to creating a quality product viewers can appreciate.

"The vibes must be nice, we have to have things to eat, the cameras set-up, make sure everything straight, how's the artiste looking with the lighting before we can even press record.

"Everybody has to be as one.

"I can't even explain my craft because if it's there, it will come naturally, if it's not and I try to force it, it will never happen."

All of these conditions, he says, are vital to making a mix that has a lasting impression with his audience.

For Yung Bredda, music isn't just a commodity to be bought and sold, it's a feeling.

This is most evident in his song selection for his mixes as he switches styles effortlessly from soca, dancehall, Afrobeats and even chutney.

At one point he even sings a chutney song in Hindi before adding his own gritty flare.

This flexibility, Yung Bredda says, gives him a better appreciation of music allowing him to connect to a wider range of audience.

A fan of Japanese anime series Naruto, Yung Bredda uses the analogy of chakras or spiritual energy to describe music and says even the simplest sounds can make a major impact.

"If you know how to open yourself and allow that music to flow through you, that vibration to flow through you, then brother you can do anything.

"You could just bawl 'Ha' on the rhythm and it will sound good, just because you and the rhythm are in sync, it's not like your voice and the rhythm are two separate sounds.

"It doesn't have to be too complicated, I can just sing the alphabet once I'm in sync with the rhythm, so music is very spiritual."

This versatility as an artist is one of Yung Bredda's distinguishing features which has exposed him to a wider audience.

This is best seen with his recent collaboration with Jamaican dancehall artiste Marcy Chin on the song Shake, Shake, Shake.

Even as his popularity grows outside of Trinidad, Yung Bredda remains grounded and is wary of the distractions fame may bring.

He also credits the support of his friends and family to keep him focused.

"I don't really like to say fans because I find the word fans sounds too worshippy and I don't want anyone to worship me.

"We are all people and we support and love one another so I describe them as my supporters and my people, that's why I say 'Ay big up the people them.'

"With a mother like mine if you feel you're too high she will pull you down to keep you grounded.

"I always remain normal and remember that I'm a human like anybody else."

This strong sense of identity is part of Yung Bredda's success as he continues to collaborate with one of his oldest friends, 25-year-old DJ Hotty.

DJ Hotty (Jelani Hepburn) also hails from Sea Lots and developed a passion for mixing from an early age.

He says his first experience with deejaying began when he received his government-issued laptop as a form one student of Belmont Intermediate Secondary School (St Francis College).

He remembers the difficulties he faced and overcame along the way to perform before packed audiences at home and abroad.

"Sometimes I used to perform at parties and the back of the laptop would fall out or the charger would blow and we didn't have enough money to buy new equipment.

"We used to ask people for songs and sometimes we couldn't get songs so we had to go back on YouTube and download all these songs again sometimes up to 500 and 600 songs from scratch."

All these experiences Hotty said further strengthened his resolve to been a DJ.

But even with this passion, he says his inspiration to take his music-mixing skills to the next level was through Yung Bredda.

"I used to play music in a bar, it didn't really inspire me to do anything with my talent, it was only after I heard Yung Bredda's song, Everybody Jamming Yuh Gyal, I thought to myself I had to figure this out.

"I knew I had to do something and that's when I got the inspiration to move forward."

Hotty says the feeling is surreal as he has gone from admiring the work of celebrity DJs to being booked alongside them in sold-out events.

Another important member of the We Outside cast is social media influencer Trenton Augustine, aka Big Pimpin.

Known for his signature yell "pimpin" at the beginning of every recording, Augustine, 28, says he brings a lively energy and dancing to each episode.

As simple as his role may be in the We Outside formula, Augustine says he is happy to bring some positivity to viewers wherever they may be.

He also says the recording sessions come natural and is happy to offer advice to Yung Bredda and DJ Hotty on their web series.

"I like those kinds of things, he's a child of God and God put me in a position to be around him to guide him and I don't want him to go on the wrong path, I want him to stay straight and if that's what he likes and what makes him happy he should do that.

"I know him since I was small, we never used to interact too much because I'm older, but I know him from around the neighbourhood but his grandmother used to attend the same church as me and I knew he always enjoyed beating drums and so on."

Yung Bredda's manager and producer Jesse John says the popularity of the We Outside series is that it immerses viewers in a full party experience alongside the artistes anywhere, further enhancing the mixtape format.

"I wanted to showcase the artistes' talent, show their face and show how they vibe to the music, this way their energy could transfer from YouTube to your living room or to a bar so people can feel the energy of Yung Bredda while they're playing music.

"It's been really successful, within a few days of uploading a single video we get over 100,000 views so we intend to keep the mixes coming for the remainder of the year, and for 2023 we have new surprises in store."