Bunji Garlin's 'Differentology' Receives Global Attention

The “Essential Summer Jam” (The Guardian) Features Major Lazer Remix, New Video and Nearly 1 Million YouTube Song Views.

The Soca Star is Recording New Album on VP Records and Touring This Summer Soca sensation Bunji Garlin has already established “Differentology” as the biggest hit of the 2013 Caribbean Carnival season. Now with a stellar video, a blazing Major Lazer remix and nearly a million YouTube song views later, it is evident that “Differentology” is likely to become a global hit for the Trinidadian artist, who is currently recording his new studio album on VP Records.

“Differentology,” which is featured on Soca Gold 2013 (VP) and available now on iTunes, has been picking up momentum on YouTube. The track alone has garnered an accumulation of nearly a million views, since it was unleashed in February 2013 at the beginning of the Carnival season. In addition, the song’s colorful eye-popping music video, directed by Nigel Thompson, has been circulating the blogosphere and causing quite the frenzy.  

The Guardian (UK) is already calling it 2013’s “essential summer jam,” raving that “Differentology is a carnival, a street party, a beach rave: it's every one of your perfect summers distilled into four minutes and 20 seconds." The genre-bending song also caught the attention of Major Lazer, who immediately jumped on the remix. The song (which is featured on Major Lazer’s SoundCloud) is currently the DJ supergroup’s go-to track to open all their live shows and has helped fuel the buzz to a crossover audience. 

Born Ian Anthony Alvarez, Bunji Garlin is a Trinidadian artist and international soca royalty known for his high-energy stage shows and lyrical confidence and eloquence. He is both a composer and performer of soca and ragga soca. The latter is a blend of soca with dancehall music that he made his own during the start of his career in the late ‘90s. He has won the “Ragga Soca Monarch” competition in both 2000 and 2001, the Young King title in 2001, the coveted title of International Soca Monarch in 2002 and then reclaimed this title for three more years. 

Bunji Garlin is currently in the studio working on his new album, set to be released on VP Records. The upcoming release will be his first full-length album on the label since 2007’s Global. Throughout July and August, Bunji Garlin will perform at select cities across the Caribbean, Canada and United States. See full tour schedule below. 


Tour Dates:
Fri Jul 12^th @ Gatey in St. Lucia
Sat Jul 14^th @ Celebration Square in Mississauga (Irie Music Festival)
Sat Jul 20^th @ Antigua Recreation Ground in Antigua
Sun Jul 21^st @ Farley Hill in Barbados
Sat Jul 27^th @ Russell Auditorium in Boston, MA
Fri Aug 2^nd @ Tiger Bay in Bermuda
Sat Aug 3^rd @ Wild Water Kingdom in Toronto, Canada
Sun Aug 4^th @ Sound Academy in Toronto, Canada
Fri Aug 9^th @ Vinyl Dance Lounge in Calgary, Canada
Sat Aug 10^th @ Encore in Edmonton, Canada
Sun Aug 11^th @ Six Flags in Jackson, New Jersey
Fri Aug 16^th @ Sports Dock in Cayman Islands

Vybz Kartel New CD Puts The Jamaican Justice System On Trial

As the Dancehall genre enters its biggest battle to date against politicians, bourgeoisie journalists and a seemingly well-established system determined to see to its demise, it has gotten timely reinforcement from a most unlikely source – the incarcerated but definitely not silenced Vybz Kartel.

As the Jamaican government seeks to criminalize elements of Dancehall music it is fitting that it’s most notorious personality takes center stage to defend the genre even whilst incarcerated for nearly two years.

Ironically, if there is any validity to the claim that Jamaican politicians and the Broadcast Commisions want positive music for youngsters, then they will endorse this CD from Kartel.  

Vybz Kartel latest CD compilation Voice of the Jamaican Ghetto will serve to curtail all efforts by the powers that be to dismiss the genre as merely a perpetuator of violence as this shows that the genre at its best is simply an artistic expression of life in the ghettos of Jamaica. As Kartel co-author Michael Dawson explained about their book that the CD is based on: “Jamaican Ghetto life is not a pretty story so I don’t understand why certain people want Dancehall artistes to sing about niceties. Doing that would be hypocritical and I think we should leave hypocrisy to the politicians. 

This CD is straight reality, as real as you can get about Jamaica’s true roots and its modern day culture.” Kartel shows that he is still one of Dancehall’s leading innovators as this is the first popular Dancehall album that will have independent commentary before each song in a series of interludes. This is certain to do well in Europe, Asia and other areas where listeners are challenged by the dialect as the Commentator clearly explains Kartel’s thought process in making each song. 

Certainly this is expected to be short-listed on the Grammys and all Reggae award shows in the coming year but this CD just maybe the piece that will bring Dancehall to new heights. The world embraced Reggae because it was protest music and preached against injustice. This album does the same on very catchy dance beats so it will figure prominently on main stream charts. 

Many will be shocked by the versatility of Kartel but it is his revolutionary stand that is most impressive in this CD – a man behind bars, facing murder charges attacks the very system that can determine his fate and he attacks that system in the best way he knows – with his music. Why throw caution to the wind and be this brave on the eve of one’s trial? Listen to Voice of the Jamaican Ghetto and you may find out.