Soca breakthrough by Yung Bredda opens up possibilities

There is now an emerging possibility of rising soca artiste Akhenaton “Yung Bredda” Lewis’ composition, The Greatest Bend Over (Take It Easy), making an impression on the United States musical scene, given the traction it has been receiving there.

As a hit of this year’s Carnival season, it’s reportedly attracting attention based on what is being referred to as “a star-studded remix featuring US R&B/pop powerhouse Chlöe Bailey and Ghanaian viral star Moliy.” The early projections for the remix, seemingly buoyed by the incorporation of R&B stars from the Americas and Africa, are for it to expand its reach internationally amongst the audiences made up mainly of the Gen Z (those born between 1996-2010).

One lesson here is that globalisation in music and culture has great possibilities for reaching audiences in a truly transcendent manner, beyond the control of individuals and forces which seek to divide humanity along narrow sectarian lines. The fact being demonstrated again is that humanity can rise, when given the opportunity to do so, above political and economic geography, which restricts rather than expands human civilisation.

As the Trinbago population came to understand earlier this year, Yung Bredda has emerged from one of the most underprivileged and physically impoverished communities, from which criminality is said to flourish. Indeed, the police service has categorised his Sea Lots as a “hot spot” of crime. In fact, Yung Bredda focused on poverty and crime in his other major hit during the 2025 Carnival season – We Rise.

The concern of the purest may be with the sexual permissiveness as displayed in the Greatest Bend Over video. So too, there may arise questions of the visuals portrayed by Yung Bredda sitting on his stool with gold chains hung around his neck.

Those visuals notwithstanding, for decades, T&T’s calypso/soca genre, in its many forms, has been coming close to making a breakout impression in the North American and European markets, but has never managed to clinch a long-lasting space over time. Here is another opportunity for soca to come to command something of a permanent niche in an international market on this occasion through Yung Bredda’s hit and obvious appeal to his generation.

A successful entry of this selection into an international market, if it eventually gets there, will once again open a space and possibility for the soca in its modern stylings to capture the attention of audiences beyond T&T’s borders.

Other young soca artistes must take note of this initial success of Yung Bredda and so begin to craft their musical compositions in a manner that can be appealing to wider audiences. They should also think of associations with well-known artistes from the large markets; it’s a strategy which even the all-time great singers/musicians have successfully adopted.

The larger issues are for the society, the Government, the producers and promoters of the culture to take cognisance of and to make use of possibilities. The music, the culture, those creations of the imagination are not depleting resources, but rather can and are being replenished on an ongoing basis.

Investors here must now also seriously begin to perceive these human talents as also being economic possibilities for profit generation.