Ozy Merrique, the proponent of local music best known for his work with popular 90s rapso group Home Front, was about 15 minutes into an energetic 45-minute set when he paused, sweat running down his face under the dim light of the small space inside Martin's Piano Bar, and asked: "Allyuh remember me from 1994?"The audience of about 25 supporters seated at dark brown wooden tables, at the bar and against one wall played along with Merrique's often-cynical humour and made sounds in the negative."Good. My career only started last year," Merrique said.Whether by design or coincidence he launched into Home Front's biggest hit, Rollin, more popularly known as Jump Start, which drew the most enthusiastic response from the crowd of any song in his set.
And jump start is what Merriq appears to be trying to do with his post-Home Front career, promoting a new album–Twice Bitten (Dog Eye Yampi 2)–with a series of performances at Martin's. The show last Sunday was the third.It was a strange mix of some of the most progressive, modern approaches to local music you're likely to hear with a celebration of the roots of calypso, the art form at its most stripped down and basic.The duo Da Face & Enginear, dressed in jackets and bow ties, opened the show with their combination of kaiso and rap. What they call "kaiflo" is a little more laid back than typical rapso.The song KaiFlo samples Gypsy's Little Black Boy and references Singing Sandra, Scrunter and Denyse Plummer in the lyrics. Another song, Ugly Gyal, samples Roaring Lion's Ugly Woman and champions, like the older track, the virtues of an unattractive mate.
The group is experimenting with ways of distributing their music as well. CD copies of their album, KaiFlo, were available for sale at the concert. But they're also offering the 12-song record through a link below the nostalgic video for the song KaiFlo on YouTube. Customers can download the album for free or leave a "tip" of between US$1 and US$6 through the music-marketing Web site NoiseTrade. Panman Derron Ellies performed a string of calypso standards–including Portrait of Trinidad, Mama Look a Boo Boo and Ten to One is Murder–on the percussive harmonic instrument or phi, in effect an electronic pan developed by UWI engineers within recent years.And Johnny King closed off the show with some of his biggest hits, among them Wet Me Down and Nature's Plan.The entire night was an attempt to balance the old with the new.
Veteran DJ StarChild provided musical backup for the artistes. Merrique reminded the audience that he was the first person to win the popular 90s lip sync/dance TV competition Party Time with a local tune. He made the assertion–likely tongue in cheek–that the amalgamation of innovative young acts of which Home Front had been a part, the Kisskidee Karavan, was "the most important thing to happen in Trinidad."Along with his new record, he's also selling a Home Front best-of.But forging the new from the old can be a delicate operation, as Merrique himself seemed aware."So that's it then," he said after Rollin, implying it was his last song for the night. When the audience made sounds of objection and surprise, he explained: "Well, people does say that's the last good song I do."
But it's evident that Merrique still has a lot of studio creativity and onstage charisma in him. He entered the tiny performance area with dramatic strides, his face covered by a skull mask and shades. Fellow artiste DjelibaJanique introduced him as his alter ego Electric Mongrel, but Merrique was made recognisable by the tall, spiked afro rising above the mask like dark flames.
On stage he was funny and engaging, performing the Home Front hits and his new stuff with the same enthusiasm. The bigger response from the audience came for the hits; but that's to be expected. The new tracks are rhythmically and lyrically strong.Twice Bitten could have benefitted from beefier production, but performed live, tracks like Roam, Feel So Good and Monster promise to be as euphoria-inducing as anything from Home Front. And Nigerian Money tells the genuinely heart-wrenching story of a man struggling with economic hardship while waiting in vain for a windfall.Merrique joked that when newfound relatives in Nigeria send him the millions of dollars they promised via e-mail, his next gig would be in the National Stadium.But, seriously, it's not hard to imagine his outsized music and personality in such a large venue.
Albums and info on live performances, check Merriq Merrique and KaiFlo on Facebook.