He’s never too far. He’s a part of the carnival tapestry even when you hardly hear of his pursuits in a season. T&T’s carnival 2019 period has seen Jason ‘Shaft’ Bishop penetrate the airwaves with more than six carnival anthems. He’s the man behind Patrice Roberts’ killer tourism-jingle- like hit, ‘This is The Place,’ and Lyrikal’s monster chipper, ‘Passing Through.” Shaft’s always in the shadows, even when his name isn’t calling much.

For years, Jason’s been the songwriter of choice for many. From Destra Garcia who’s hit ‘Lucy’ was written by Bishop, to Machel Montano, Nikki Crosby’s ‘Granny’ persona- who he manages, and certainly Patrice Roberts, with whom he struck gold when they delivered, “Big Girl Now”. His artist repertoire across the islands, includes the likes of Peter Ram, Alison Hinds, King Bubba and Ricardo Drue. Jason ‘Shaft’ Bishop is most certainly the model songwriter in the Caribbean. “I’m an executive songwriter. I’m the only songwriter with such a significant number of songs tabulated since 1999,” he said to us during an exclusive EBUZZTT interview. Jason’s however got his eyes set on international territory these days, telling us that when Carnival is over, he’ll be heading out to Los Angeles where he’ll be treading deep waters outside of his calm Caribbean comfort zone.

Jason writes for each season, one year in advance. Explaining his process to EBUZZTT, he said he offers artistes full concepts based on his vision for the songs he pens. He also personally hand picks who receives which songs, based on character, topic and personality. Ahead of Barbados’ CropOver, he’s already prepared to distribute songs to the artistes who’ll sing them. “I’m heading to Barbados this evening,” he said when we spoke with him on Thursday. Jason’s been hard at work. His team, based in Barbados, has worked arduously behind the scenes, executing his vision of creating a full fledged songwriting business, that also features other elements that would aid all artistes in the execution of their goals. “I’m setting up offices of Shaft Vibes Entertainment in Barbados, Trinidad and New York,” he said, highlighting that artistes will be able to hire professional songwriters for all genres, videographers, marketing specialists and even dancers.

Who is this Mr. Killa and why the hell is he mashing up Trinidad and Tobago? The King of ‘Mash Up’ hails from Grenada and like a whirlwind he’s invaded Trinidad in the heat of the Carnival season… and guess what? Nobody’s complaining! Go brave Killa, go brave!

The entertainer, born, Hollice Mapp, hails from Guave. He’s no newbie. In fact, Mr. Killa’s been Grenada’s culture ambassador for quite some time. He’s an incredible entertainer. In Ibiza a couple years ago, Mr. Killa’s on stage antics led to an insane viral energy that immediately propelled him further. In the wake of that, his social media activity thrust him even higher toward stardom in the Caribbean, amplifying his worth as an all round entertainer. From dancing to performance and vocal ability, Mapp has all that it takes to stand among the best in the music industry.

On Sunday night in Arima, East Trinidad, Mr. Killa made his presence felt, like only he could, at the semi finals of the International Socia Monarch competition- so much so that the online competition punters have already crowned him King, ahead of Fantastic Friday. The artiste’s tune, ‘Run Wid It’ has influenced pure wild abandon at fetes, in recent days. People have reportedly been picking other people, tables, chairs and other items of solid weight. There’s no doubt that Mr. Killa’s influence is real and powerful.

Take a look at his performance from the Semi Finals of the ISM competition, on Sunday night. Let us know if you think Mr. Killa’s the man to beat on finals night in Port-of-Spain.