For the first time within the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival landscape, disc jockeys (DJs) will be given an avenue to showcase their craft and skills through the International Soca DJ Competition. Full Moon Ltd. has partnered with Andrew Bailey and Andre Jeffers from Perception Management with an aim to revolutionize this phenomenon of disc jockeying. The competition albeit open to DJs from around the world will specifically focus on the genre of Soca music; where twenty finalists will vie for the crown and perform on the night of Saturday 30th January 2016 at the Queen’s Park Savannah. This event will kick off the first annual competition and seek to develop and establish the art form that honours and brings recognition to DJs within the Soca arena. Harandé Elie, Managing Director of Full Moon Ltd. describes the competition as, “the natural progression of an art form that currently jostles for miniscule Carnival gigs cramped into one time of the year that does not fully display the DJ’s skillset.”



Trinidad and Tobago has a wealth of talent with many young and aspiring DJs, however there is an absence of an existing structure that celebrates not only the young and aspiring DJ but the established DJ as well. Carnival is not Carnival without music and the way in which it is played and mixed by a DJ or “selecta”, is one of the most instrumental vehicles for having a good time.It determines the momentum of the celebration – sets our pace, guides our movement, determines if we choose a partner or make it our own, how fast to “chip” or if to “wine”. It is a catalyst for personal expression that is not officially recognized within Carnival. Masqueraders have “The Big Stage”, soca artistes have Soca Monarch, designers have Parade of the Bands and the panman has Panorama. Having worked as the Operations Manager for Caribbean Prestige Foundation, Elie expressed that similar to the founder of International Soca Monarch – Mr. William Munro – he wants to, ‘take the DJ art form in a similar direction to where Soca Monarch took Soca music before it became accepted as “The Carnival Music”.’ Thus using the Competition as a tool for not only cultural branding but also for destination branding.

On the international scene, pop culture has been taken over by DJs like Major Lazer, David Guetta and DJ Khaled - to name a few. These DJs have exploded into the music industry and ingeniously used the pop culture platform to express their craft and establish credibility. It is time for our local industry to take ownership of this DJ-ing art form within our culture. It is time for us to embrace and experience DJ-ing as a part of the “Greatest Show on Earth”.

It will consist of a panel discussion with key industry players as well as an opportunity for interaction with one of guest DJs.

For all DJs interested in partaking in the Competition, there is a registrationfee of $200 (USD35), which can be paid to any Scotiabank, account number:36045-11. You are encouraged to keep your deposit slip number, as it is required for your online registration. To complete your online registration you need to submit a YouTube link of a five-minute video displaying your DJ skillset to the International Soca DJ Competition Event Page:
https://bit.ly/ISDJTT-2016

All entries must be submitted by Friday January 8th 2016. For further details interested registrants can email the committee at isdj@gmail.com or contact the office on 222.1523 or 391-0176.