Barbados’ Crop Over action has been heating up. Kadooment culminates on August 6th so ahead of that, the soca artistes are engaging fans, heating up the fetes and making sure the world understands that Carnival and soca go hand in hand. Amid the fun however, Trinidad and Tobago artiste, Blackie says he’s hoping a track he’s released ahead of the festival, makes the desired inroads, if only to wake up his male counterparts.

‘Brown Sugar’ was written by Alister Edwards and produced by Jesse of Optimus Productions TT. The track sits on the Overseas Riddim. A number of other entertainers are also featured on the riddim, among them, Barbados’ Fadda Fox. For Blackie, delivering the track was an opportunity to once again place women on an elevated level, removing stigmas of sexual demonization that has seemingly penetrated hard in the past few years across a number of musical genres.

“There was a time when music sung about women, promoted love and admiration for the female sex.”- Blackie. 

“Now, we have a situation where women are being subjected to lyrics that over-sexualize them, something that could have other implications. As a man, I feel like women must be respected and held in high esteem, because despite everything that society tells us, women are still the bearers of life,” said the entertainer.

Blackie has been a part of the Soca industry for over a decade. He’s best known for his humour. This issue he’s raising however is far from humorous. This time around, the artiste who sang ‘Hook’  a few years ago, says he’s making it known that about the need for men to show love and must show women the respect and adoration they ultimately deserve. In Trinidad and Tobago alone, a number of women have suffered death at the hands of men, in the past few years. Blackie is now hoping that his effort and vocalization on the topic will encourage more Caribbean entertainers to endorse the same. “Maybe then we’ll see a decrease in violence perpetrated against women. Sometimes it only takes a little effort to make a big change,” he said.