RemBunction hits the road with Car-aoke series

YOU may be familiar with Roland “RemBunction” Yearwood through his witty songs and comedy sketches, or even as a video director and filmmaker.

But for the 2025 Carnival season, he’s trying out something new, cruising around the country in his car with local artistes as they sing along to their tunes. His Car-aoke (karaoke) series is now an online favourite.

It started on January 6, when Yearwood uploaded a video to Instagram of him and Lyrikal in a car singing the latter’s song Dotish.

The two had been working together on the music video of another one of Lyrikal’s songs, Bacchanal Time.

“So we were heading to different locations, and en route to one of the locations, he let me hear Dotish and I was like, ‘Yo, bro, this one right here, love it.’

“I pulled out the phone and was like, ‘Nah, we had to get this.’”

He said they were leaving either the Temple in the Sea in Waterloo or Icacos at the time.

He admitted he got “bun out” for driving while recording that video from a commenter, for which he took accountability. It is an offence to use a cellphone and drive. Drivers can be fined $1,500 or get three demerit points.

Yearwood said, “So after that, I made sure I set things up properly because safety first. But the first one was just really organic.”

That video now has over 205,000 views and 9,000-plus likes and has attracted over 400 comments.

He said it was a “kismet, beautiful moment,” after which he realised, “Hey, this could be a beautiful thing moving forward.”

Former host of The Late Late Show James Corden had a similar series in the US called Carpool Karaoke, which ran from 2015-2023.

This was not on Yearwood’s mind at all.

“In the first instance, I didn’t even think about that. But then I was like, ‘Oh, right.’

“But there’s nothing like a new idea under the sun, just a new take on an old one.”

Many strangers and friends alike began persuading him to do more of the videos, with some even listing who they’d like to see featured next.

Other artistes who have appeared so far include GBM Nutron, Preedy, Anika Berry, Rae, Trinidad Rio, Ozy Merrique, Olatunji, Juby, Crazy, Lil Bitts and Kevon Carter.

Asked what led to him mixing the old and new school artistes in the series, he said he feels many great, older local tunes deserve more appreciation.

Decked in his classic jacket and tie with no shirt, Trinidad Rio performed his 1983 hit Travelling Man.

Merrique, who was part of local rapso group Homefront, sang their 1995 hit Rollin.

“I am a culture lover to my core. So I always find to know where you heading, you have to know where you come from,” Yearwood said. “No discredit to anybody, but we may not always be aware of the magnitude of our cultural capital…We have so much music that don’t get heard. There are so many songs and I took this as an opportunity to share those as well.

“Maybe it could inspire somebody to dig in the crates and sing two more Trinidad Rio tunes or other songs.”

Trinidad Rio's video has 301,000-plus views and Merrique's, has 113,000.

Yearwood said he is already achieving his desire to "give a nod" to the past and present.

One of the most recent comments on YouTube under Trinidad Rio’s Travelling Man is: "Saw the carpool karaoke with RemBunction and I had to take a listen. I’ve never heard this song till today and I absolutely love it.”

Others replied saying they did too.

As for the younger artistes, he said he also hopes to provide a forum for people whose music “don’t get regular rotation for whatever reason, wink wink” – an obvious reference to the complaints of artistes who do not get airtime on radio frequencies or from DJs at parties.

To him, singing along to music during a car ride is a common thing when “you going to the beach with some friends, going for doubles, going a party with your bredrin…

“So there’s me, the artistes, and the people viewing are sort of in the back seat.”

He added that it was never intended to be “too formal.” He contacted some of the featured artistes and others asked to be part of the series.

He did not reveal whether he actually picks them up at home, to “keep a little mystery.”

RemBunction is thankful for all the positive feedback so far.

“It is a great feeling because…I’ve always been doing work in my own little way to bring (cultural) awareness to people.

“Sometimes you just get lightning in a bottle…It’s a beautiful thing when it can happen so naturally.”

Asked if he plans to interview the artistes during rides, he said that is already being done. But that footage will be released later.

“So I have vignettes. It would be brief insights into who the artiste is, what they’re into…

“We are just focusing on the karaoke right now and keeping more short-form content.”

So far, he has driven around east, west and south Trinidad, and hopes eventually to take the series to Tobago.

“As it builds and grows, we hope we can get some sponsors to buy in and recognise the value of it, so in turn, we can improve the production value.

“The sky is the limit. And nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Those interested in keeping up with the series can follow @rembunction and @caribbeancaraoke on Instagram.