With barely enough time to launch an official release of his latest musical collaboration with chutney star Ravi Bissambhar (Ravi B) just over a month ago, up and coming Latin soca sensation Laurenzo Gonzales (Mr Renzo) has already performed the hit on the regional stage.Mesmerising audiences for the Miss Guyana Universe Pageant last Saturday night at the Princess Hotel in Guyana (for the first time), Gonzales delivered a rendition of his Caribbean crossover genre of music-Pull Up-lauded as his most critically acclaimed song ever.When asked what the song was about during an interview with the Sunday Guardian, Gonzales said there was "no story really" but that the song's aura exemplified "a guy dancing with a pretty girl at a party."The semi-finalist of this year's Groovy Soca competition (Hold You Tight) said he invited Bissambhar to do something "creative" with him and proposed "an Indian and Latin" mix prior to the Carnival season.He said working with Bissambhar was natural because he was easy to get along with and it was like "chemistry" when they got into the studio."The lyrics was not something that we planned. We actually went to the studio and created it in one night.
"He had a Hindi translator (Tiffany Ali) because his part was more Hindi while I sung a bit of latin-soca kind of thing with a dancehall influence."Gonzales said he had the rhythm for the song which was done by a music producer Jason Victory (Victoris) based in Miami and was mixed and mastered by Dave Ramoutar of SOS Studio-the producer of his latest music video Sway (2010).He said while he had not been able to generate any lucrative returns from this latest work, he is comforted by the fact that the song was permeating the online and the airwaves on some of "the Indian radio stations across T&T.""I haven't had a bad response about the song thus far. Even the Internet responses were favourable. Some of my other songs have received sharp criticism, though," Gonzales said.Pressed to identify what some of those criticisms were, he attributed them generally to the views that his music was "not local enough" or "too international."The four-minute song which was first aired June 15 on WinTV is to be complemented with a music video set for release soon, according to Gonzales. He also hinted at the possibility of future collaborations with other popular local artistes."Actually, I'm planning to do some collaborations but I wouldn't like to mention them at this moment."I even have songs in written form and those which have not been released yet, more than enough to come out with an album, but it's all about the right timing," he said.
Gonzales, 27, who has been in the music industry for just over seven years, said he had been exposed to the "negativity" of the business but had refused to harbour on them and get "discouraged.""Sometimes I have those emotional moments but I won't say I ever felt to give up because it is something I'm always hungry for and it's the one thing I've always loved."I believe that once you're in the music industry, it's either you're in or you're out and there must be a passion that allows you to stay in it and keep going," he added.
LYRICS
Pull Up Chorus:
(Mr Renzo): Me wanna see de gyal dem bumper pull up under meh
Me wanna see de gyal dem bumper roll up under meh
Me wanna see de gyal dem bumper bubble up on meh
Eh eh meh wha ya bubble it up on me
(Ravi B in Hindi): Sexy soni dekhe mera dil nachile (3)
Bas tu, meri soniye