Several artistes are enjoying the unexpected success of the Kan Kan Riddim which continues to gather momentum but one artiste on the rhythm was never in any doubt that it would be a hit.
Nesta Boxill better known as Sekon Sta felt sure the beat would be a top contender but did not anticipate the magnitude of its popular appeal. He said this while speaking to the T&T Guardian during an interview at Advokit Studios, Diamond Vale. His song on the rhythm, The Best, has been getting a lot of airplay.
"That song came naturally. The song is about a girl that has body and personality and is just the best. I just carnivalised it and made it Trinidadian. It's a song written for one but meant for many," Boxill said.
The song has received so much attention that he has performed it live all over the country.
Boxill believes that he was born to be an artiste and revealed that he has been hanging around calypso tents since he was very young. This was mainly because of the influence of his father Dennis Williams Franklyn, better known as Merchant.
"I was basically born into it, born around it and I grew up in it. Since I know myself I've been around the calypso tents and that has given me a proper foundation," he said.
He said that his father's refusal to write him his first song was a very valuable life lesson and it is because of this that he now writes most of his own music and continues to stay close to his calypso roots. His father will always be his inspiration and this deep appreciation of calypso is reflected in his style of soca, he said.
"A lot of my stuff sounds very vintage-influenced. It's not retro but it's a genuine calypso foundation on which my music is based, while a lot of modern soca artistes have R&B and other foreign influences being their main influence. My influence encompasses what I think is the entirety of Trinidad which is calypso and soca."
Even though it has only been three years since he decided to make soca his career he has been performing in national competitions like the Junior Soca Monarch since he was a teen. The first song he did when he began in 2011 was called Stick It and that was also done with Advokit Studios.
"That song solidified my foundation. It was a sound that said to T&T that there is a new talent to look out for," added Boxill.
This has been a bumper year for the 25-year-old who also had a wildly successful Crop Over season in Barbados in May.
He said: "I had a breakthrough year in Barbados where I had seven songs playing on the radio this year. I wrote 15 songs for Crop Over. Seven singles got consistent airplay. I had Put In that Work on the Junebomb riddim. I had another one called Bumper Swag which was a big hit over there too."
Boxill was also very thankful to have worked with King Bubba and Platta studios while in Barbados.
He is not sure if he will release any more music for the year but he already has several contributions for Carnival 2015 which include his work on the Kan Kan Riddim, Put In that Work, Maximum which was co-written by Emmanuel Rudder and Keep Pushing. He is also looking forward to entering Soca Monarch next year.
He admitted that whether or not he does release anything else it would be heavily dependent on what type of vibe he felt. He said that team Advokit is always working on new rhythms but he could not say which ones would make it out of the studio and on to the airwaves.
"There are no guarantees. I could wake up in the morning and say the breeze feels like it want a new song. You never know with us you might hear something for Christmas but it might not be a parang," he laughed.
Even though he believes that he was born to be on the stage performing and having a career in soca music, he urged other young artistes to remember to fight for what they want and never accept defeat.
"Go hard at it and be committed because the first person that needs to believe in you is yourself. If you take no for an answer, no is the only answer that you will ever get and it only takes one yes," Boxill said.