Carnival time is the one part of the year in the Caribbean where you don’t expect to hear from Jamaican reggae artists. However, there are a small handful of reggae and dancehall acts who excel in their occasional forays into soca. Mr. Vegas, Beenie Man and Busy Signal are a few that come to mind. (And who could forget the great soca ambassador, Byron Lee?) Now you can add I-Octane to that list.
The artist, who previously collaborated with Destra on a remix of his 2014 hit “Wine and Jiggle,” has been dabbling in Carnival sounds and decided to put together an entire EP of bashment soca tracks for the Barbados Crop Over season, with Bajan producers. These include “Dash It Out,” produced by Peter Coppin of Monstapiece and “What A Way,” produced by Gorg and Jon Doe. Also included are soca versions of the recent dancehall hit “Ride & Wine” and “Fire Dancer,” a collaboration with Gambian artist T-Smallz, remixed by Peter Coppin and DJ Puffy, respectively.
Stream the full EP below, download it here, and start firming up those Crop Over plans. The summer’s biggest Carnival is less than a month away.