The swag was dripping all along Rust Street recently as the stars aligned + assembled to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop here in T&T.
Simultaneously, Trinidad and Tobago's most popular and successful rap group, Spotrushaz returned to the limelight this month as they celebrated the twentieth anniversary of their biggest hit song, "True Soldierz" in fine style with Hennessy Cognac.
Kwame "Gazzi Gates" Williams, Nigel "BDangerous" Telesford and Wade "TIM Starr" Christian rose to prominence in the late 90s / early 2000s after recording an exclusive rap-plate for soundsystem, Sel Construction to use in a soundclash.
The group subsequently recorded original songs at Caribbean Sound Basin, Studio 161 and Next Level Studios and released four CD projects and 2 DVDs over a 12 year span. During that time, they dominated the local airwaves with regular single releases, opened up for major acts visiting T&T such as Sean Paul, Ms Jade, Naughty By Nature, Bow Wow and Ludacris among others and performed at venues across the country, as well as neighboring Grenada.
Spotrushaz reunited onstage at Hennessy cognac's 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop Celebration
In 2003, the group recorded and released the single, "True Soldierz" featuring Jamaican Dancehall acts, Mega Banton and Ricky General and filmed their first music video. The song became a radio and club favorite and still plays on several radio stations across the Caribbean and the globe to this day.
In 2009, a single from their 2006 EP, It's Almost Time was licensed to the mega-popular NBA2K10 Video Game Soundtrack, alongside notable heavyweights such as Kanye West, K'naan, Matisyahu, Flo.Rida, MGMT, Ace Hood, and The Game.
In celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop this week, local distributors of Hennessy, A.S. Brydens and Sons Limited commissioned the group to perform their hit songs at their signature event designed to launch a special limited edition bottle in honor of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and featuring Hennessy's Global Ambassador, Nas and his lyrics on the label and packaging.
Local hip-hop acts, Xtreme Dance Academy, Braveboy, Yung 2Rudd + 1st Klase also performed alongside the Trini Tech.Nition DJ Jus Jase! See Slideshow below + Subscribe for Updates!
Taking advantage of the opportunity to showcase their work, the group will also release an album across all digital platforms this week and offer some exclusive merchandise for sale. Publicity company, Overtime Media described the group as "pioneering and ground breaking" and advised the media that this will be their first official release in the new digital music space.
Spotrushaz circa 2003. Photographed at Caribbean Sound Basin Studio A by Jermaine Cruickshank. Click on image to go to Gallery.
The group is also working on an insightful and educational documentary on their journey into the history of hip-hop in Trinidad and Tobago and will soon release what they described as "a beautiful and powerful, nation-building collaboration with the late Calypso Queen, Denyse Plummer.
"We always took great pride in our ability to ride any kind of riddim and to incorporate Caribbean sounds, slangs and genres into our music." Williams added.
"I approached Ms Plummer with an idea to collaborate and she was always so warm and welcoming and she agreed in principle, but told me to write the song and then run it by her." Telesford explained. "I wanted to harness her powerful voice and wrote lyrics in keeping with her stature and patriotic mentality and when she heard it she whooped and was immediately excited and ready to get it done. We recorded the song and had a vision for a nice video for it, but then the group dynamics changed when Matics went solo and subsequently Aunty Denyse, as we called her, gave her life to God a few years ago and was ill for a while too before transitioning earlier this year. We want to release the song and video now to keep her memory and legacy alive and put her voice in the mix of Carnival 2024 still."