By Michael Mondezie
Imran ‘GI’ Beharry could create musical history this Carnival.
GI wrote his name into the Chutney Soca Monarch (CSM) hall of fame last year when he became the third competitor to win three consecutive titles. Only Rikki Jai (Samraj Jaimungal) (2001, 2002, 2003) and Rooplal Girdharrie (2006, 2007, 2008) have achieved that feat.
Should he win the title this year, GI would secure an unprecedented CSM beaver-trick. Most significantly, the return of a full in-person, unrestricted competition gives him the chance to make history in front of a potentially large live audience.
“Four in a row has never been done before,” GI said during an online exchange with Kitcharee on Thursday evening.
The prolific performer says, however, his camp is yet to make a decision on defending his title, but maintains that the CSM title remains “one of the most coveted in our diaspora”. And while a lack of sponsorship and pandemic-forced restrictions meant significantly less prize money for competitors in the last two competitions, for him it was more about “defending the culture” than a pay day.
“It was never only about the money. The title Chutney Soca Monarch holds significant merit in the industry and by extension, the world. In 2021 and 2022, defending the title was about defending the culture. Nothing can take away from the title.”
This year, the CSM first prize returns to its pre-pandemic payout of $500,000. GI took home that purse in 2020, but only collected $40,000 a piece for his last two wins.
“I have been unlucky in terms of the payout from the competition,” he admitted.
“The payout in 2020 was the same as it had been for 2018 and 2019. However, in 2021 and 2022, it was the lowest prize money possibly paid in the history of the competition. To give you some perspective, in years gone by, persons placing from fifth to 12th got approximately $100K entrance prize, simply for participating in the competition — which was more than the combined prize money for 2021 and 2022 for 1st place,” GI lamented.
Heavyweight collaborations
What’s for certain is GI has the musical artillery to defend his crown. The Penal-born entertainer has a choice of songs, having collaborated with Viking Ding Dong (Andre Houlder) on the fete-pleasing “10 Wheeler”, and three-time International Soca Monarch and Road March winner Bunji Garlin (Ian Alvarez) on “Raining Rum”.
“Ding Dong and I have been friends for many years now. Working together came easily as Ding Dong heard the track and asked to collaborate on it with me. The energies were right, and it all happened as it was supposed to. Working with Ding Dong is working with a friend. It was easy and fun at the same time.”
Collaborating with Garlin was a whole other experience, the chutney star admitted. He revealed that he has been a longstanding fan of Garlin and that by recording a song with him, he has now crossed one item off his bucket list.
The music video for the project drops soon.
“Working with a legend like Bunji Garlin was an honour for me. I have been a fan of Bunji Garlin since I was a child growing up therefore this collaboration is one for the history books. Both teams—TeamGI and Team Viking—have maintained a great relationship and mutual respect over the last few years and it was a walk in the park with this collaboration. A collaboration was always in the discussion with myself and Bunji, and we both agreed that the time is now.”
The best part about being the CSM king for the last three years, has been travelling and interfacing with new audiences, GI said.
“I was able to travel and represent the chutney soca genre throughout the world. I have been to New York City, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New Jersey, Orlando, Houston, Schenectady, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota in the United States as well as London, Guyana, Suriname, and Aruba.
“Travelling as the title holder is a heart-warming experience. The love and respect you get from fellow artistes, promoters and supporters is amazing. I have been able to further grow my brand with travelling as the CSM King.”
GI says his aim for this “Mother of All Carnivals” is to have his voice heard on more mainstream platforms on the fete circuit.
“We have had significant growth in the brand and the name GI is now a household name. We have had numerous calls from mainstream fetes.”
As for the rest of 2023, he says, his personal mandate and challenge is to raise the bar on the quality of music he produces in his Oneness Studios, and by extension helping to lift the overall standard of the industry.
“In this studio, we will continuously strive to bring everyone, from all walks of music, together as one. This will allow us to truly fuse the passion for music which forms the culture of Trinidad and Tobago.”
