AARON "Voice" St Louis has teamed up with Grenadian duo Lil Natty and Thunda (also called Wuss Ways) once again to officially enter the 2023 Road March race with My Stage Now.
It is the first time he has entered the competition.
While it was a "new experience" for him to create a song to cross the stage, he said it was an enjoyable one.
It was written by the three featured artistes and produced by Xpert Productions (Jason James) of Carriacou and NMG Music (Nikholai Greene) of Trinidad and Tobago. It was released on January 30.
Voice told Newsday the song was actually written in 2021, "but we wanted to wait until Carnival was back to release it."
It is the second time these artistes collaborated, with the first time being for 2019 with their hit song Pandemonium.
Once again, his soothing tenor voice is complemented by the powerful, energetic voices of Lil Natty and Thunda as they sing about having absolutely no behaviour for Carnival.
Voice sings:
"We go tear down everything, fencin' anything, whole road wreck when we out dey
Barriers anything, pavement everything, whole road shell when we out dey
Yuh doh see we crazy? Destruction when we perform!"
[caption id="attachment_999639" align="alignnone" width="700"] My Stage Now cover art. -[/caption]
The Grenadian duo then joins him in warning,
Hold on, if they think we done, they eh see nothing yet!
James told Newsday he met Voice backstage after a show in Grenada years ago. He (James) approached him and introduced myself.
"He liked my vibe because he heard a couple of my productions before, then time went by and we decided, let's get something done."
They then worked on and release Woman – a groovy soca tune – in 2021.
James has produced other local soca tunes such as Gyal Owner by the late Dexter "Blaxx" Stewart, Dive by Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez and One Minute Xtra by Bunji Garlin (Dust Raiser Riddim).
But some time later, "He sent me a voice note of something and then I started composing the music for it, did a lot of back and forth with it.
"He was saving it for the right time to put out."
The "something" was what is now My Stage Now.
On the track, the artistes prepare for the stampede of crossing the stage, singing:
Security, just clear the way, the band ready. Mash up the damn stage now! Stamp it, shake it, crush it, shell it, wreck it!"
[caption id="attachment_999640" align="alignnone" width="768"] Jason "Xpert Productions" James -[/caption]
Voice speaks of the beauty of soca music and the energy it fuels him with.
"Once the soca inside ah meh brain, Lord, it's like that thing does drive me insane, Lord, I want to play mas again and again, whether rain, whether hail..."
James said Lil Natty and Thunda were brought on the track after Voice "heard the vibe of the beat and thought it would have suited them best.
"He sent me back the vocals and I was like, 'Yeah! The energy (was) there and the mix is nice and it was flowing well."
Voice said it was not originally meant to be a Road March contender, but when the Gre
