[dropcap]S[/dropcap]aint Lucia’s Ambroise Joseph, also known as Ambi is amongst twevle artists moving on to the finals of the Trinidad held, International Soca Monarch. The young, Saint Lucian talent was one of thirty-five semi-finalists on January 25, who vied for a coveted spot at February 9’s event where TT$300,000 will be up for grabs. Congratulatory messages were sent out to the artist from all corners of social media after it was revealed that his energized performance of his local and international soca hit, Suck it Already had earned him a shot at the grand prize and title of 2018’s International Soca Monarch.
Minister for Local Government and Culture, Senator, the Hon. Fortuna Belrose also, on behalf of the ministry, congratulated Ambi on his achievement on Monday January 29 at a pre-cabinet press briefing. She said, “One of our young soca [artists], Ambi, has now qualified for the finals so, we really want to congratulate him,” she then added, “… the dennery segment, I think we’ve been making waves with that music across the region and across the globe,” giving a much deserved shout out to the Dennery born musical genre sweeping the Caribbean diaspora worldwide.
As a result of the success of the music genre and artists like Ambi, the Saint Lucia government is now planning to establish community studios throughout the island. Minister Belrose explained, “We are actually working on some community studios, two of which will be established before, hopefully, the end of this financial year.” Immediate plans include opening said studios in the east and north of the island as well as in the south and west at later dates. Belrose also added, “in addition to ofcourse the central area, because the prime minister has spoken before about the development of the studios at Radio Saint Lucia to ensure that we expand our music and ofcouse the arts for young people who are interested in other aspects of music development.”
While we await the staging of the upcoming International Soca Monarch finals where Ambi is expected to light up the stage, congratulations are also in order to four other Saint Lucian artists who had successfully made it to the semi finals of the competition. Soca fans here and abroad continue to look forward to the work and continued progress of Mighty, Surbance, Motto and Hollywood HP as they maintain their presence in the dynamic spheres of music and carnival.
