COURTESY OVERTIME MEDIA
SouthEx CEO George Singh reminded Jermaine Cruickshank creative director of the XVibes and Overtime Media, that his company specializes in producing trade shows and conferences, apart from staging the beloved Chutney Soca Monarch competition annually.
“Chutney Soca Monarch is one of the things that we do, but it’s not the only thing that we do.” Said Singh. “Southex is a company that has really grown over the last 30 years as well in terms of the amount of events that we do, but because Chutney Soca Monarch (CSM) is something that is very dear to us and very special and we have put in so much work, we have almost ended up co-branded with the competition, but it’s just one aspect of the business.” Singh lauded the contributions of all the foundation members of the fraternity, while also embracing the influx of technological advancements and input of younger generations, like his two sons.
“I think that AI is also changing the game in many ways in the creative industry, in particular videos and the music production, right?” He noted. ” So AI is really developing very, very fast, and the technology around it is developing very fast. You know, when you look at it and when you think about Soca and Chutney music in general, it’s clear that what you would have been hearing in the 70s and the 80s is completely different to what you’re hearing now and while some say that we’re taking the Indo elements out of the music and it’s not what it used to be, we have to realise that technology has really changed the way music is produced today, so neither Soca nor Calypso sounds the way it used to be. From 1996 when we started, to 2025 now, there have been several generations that have changed and evolved things and that process is constant – the only constant is change and we either accept and adapt, or we will bevome extinct like the dinosaurs. So the party market that we would have been catering to in 1996 compared to the party market of 2025 are two completely different markets. Therefore, we have had to modify our marketing, our concept for the event, and our overall vision for and imaging of the event several times over the last 30 years to accommodate for the new music and also the new markets that we are now targeting…”
Singhs two sons, Raj Kabir and Sameer both have sep arate careers, but taken over the logistical load of the CSM, which allows their father to focus on the production aspects onstage exclusively.
“My two sons are 38 and 32. One is an attorney and the other had his own business but they have grown up under the SouthEX banner and under chutney within the Chutney Soca Monarch family, so they are very familiar with the event. In fact, they are very much involved and basically run the show. So all the logistics that we deal with at Skinner Park, they handle the aspects and I am able to concentrate on the production on stage. They are also very intertwined in the marketing and in the look and feel of the final product that we are moving towards: we have signed a contract with a foreign company this year, International Film Group, and they are looking at taking the show to a whole different level. My boys have actually been very much involved in that whole process, from the from the concept development to the final contracts of what we would have signed, and the plans for 2026 which are already in place. We have already received from our foreign partners, a run of show for 2026 that they would like us to do with CSM. So you’re going to see a lot of changes in the CSM moving forward and it’s really coming from the new generations that are around me.”
