Reigning Chutney Soca Monarch Rikki Jai (Samraj Jaimungal) paid tribute to the late Sundar Popo in word and song on Friday night and admitted to having started his career with a soca song “deliberately—in order to change society’s perception of the Indian man”.
Jaimungal was addressing a capacity crowd at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, during his performance at a fund-raising concert entitled, “Vintage Fuh So 7” staged by the Holy Name Convent Past Pupils’ Association (HNCPPA).
He said:
“In those days, you couldn’t hear an Indian man singing soca. Anytime you heard an Indian man is ‘ahhhhhhhaaaaaahhhaaaaaahhhhh!’ And that was nice…and people enjoyed all the movies on a Sunday with lovers hiding behind the trees and stuff, but I wanted to change the perception and someone told me: If you don’t try to effect change, change will never come. So, I’m happy to have contributed to the change, so that now fellas like Ravi B and Raymond Ramnarine and others having a time in Trinidad with no problems. But before me, there was a little guy from Barrackpore named Sundar Popo and I was taught that we should always show respect and pay tribute to those who came before us…”
Performing Popo’s “Scorpion” for the appreciative audience, Jaimungal later defended his decision to enter the Chutney Soca Monarch again this year, after winning a record sixth title in 2011.
He told the Sunday Express after his performance:
“Aside from the fact that it wouldn’t augur well for the competition if the reigning champion did not return to defend his title, with the show moving to Port of Spain and all the hype that surrounds that, why would a gold medal sprinter choose not to compete in the biggest race? There are music professionals all around the world who have careers spanning more than half a century and I don’t see anyone telling them they should pack it up and stop singing. If my music wasn’t relevant, or God forbid my voice was gone, I could understand these detractors, but I am in prime condition right now – back to my winning ways, so they can’t beat me no-how and ah going for the Calypso Monarch crown too!”
Jaimungal was the third of four “vintage” performers to grace the stage on the night, which saw encore performances from Timothy Watkins Jr aka “The Baron”, Rapso Trio, 3Canal and veteran bard/bandleader, Ronnie McIntosh. Watkins opened the show after humorous introductions from MC Nikki Crosby in her role as “Granny” and delivered classics such as “River of Tears” and “Sweet Soca Man” before rushing off to the opening of the Kalypso Revue Tent in Arima.
3Canal made its appearance after the gold-wearing bard and in no time had the audience singing along to hits like “Sacrifice”, “Ben Lion” and its debut smash “Blue”. Jaimungal followed after a brief intermission and Mc Intosh closed the show with classics like “How It Go Look” and “Ent”.
