Doing D Dyam Ting: Nessa Preppy secures 'dream collab' with SuperBlue

"STOP! Enter the madness!"

Soca artiste Vanessa "Nessa Preppy" John and soca legend Austin "SuperBlue" Lyons have joined the Road March 2023 race with their track Dyam Ting.

The energetic and brass-filled song was produced by Johann Seaton and written by John, Lyons, Kern Rose and Kareem Thomas. It also features live brass by All Stars Brass.

Many people on social media have called the collaboration an unexpected one, which fuses old-school soca with modern soca.

Dyam is also an acronym for: Do You and Masquerade.

Nessa embodies the euphoria surrounding the return of Carnival, singing,

I dey in meh zone again, in d road again representing/

I dey in meh mood again, on d road again, this is we ting!

SuperBlue then adds his hype to the tune with a break in the music to say "Stop! Enter the madness" telling masqueraders to wave their rags and flags and jump in celebration.

In the hook, they both sing:
Masqueraders move on the stage/Doing d dyam ting.

Seaton told Newsday that work on the track began around October 2022, when Rose came to him with the idea of a song talking about a "rag posse."

"It had a kind of old-school vibe like SuperBlue's music from long time, like a jab jab kind of sound...so we started to build up on that.

But both he and Nessa told Newsday the final track is quite different to how it initially sounded.

Lyons "added his genius" to the production, according to Nessa.

While this type of power soca is not exactly her style, she said it was a great learning experience as she is always open to "experimenting with songs and sounds."

But this collaboration was also a very special one for her.

"For me, it has been amazing working with Super, being that he's an icon and a tailor when it comes to musical production for the road and the stage.

"Working with him has always been a dream of mine."

Lyons told Newsday he loves the track, describing it as "beautiful," noting that he "gave it (his) expression and added some things."

He said it was lovely to work with Nessa and was happy to teach her some new things.

"Everything just flowed," he said.

Asked if he expected it to be a Road March contender, he told Newsday that since it is a power soca, the possibility was always there.

Nessa said she realised many people have been discussing that aspect of the track but going up for the Road March was never her intention.

"It was just about doing an amazing power soca with a legend."

But, she added, "If that's what people want and think it has the potential to be..."

While they are yet to perform the song live together, they are both anticipating it.

The song can be found on YouTube and other music streaming platforms.