Bunji Garlin
Government Name: Ian Alvarez
Born: Sangre Grande, Trinidad
Age: 28
Genre: Ragga-Soca
Bunji Garlin’s warrior cry recognizes no borders.
Trinidadian Bunji Garlin is the undisputed monarch of Ragga-Soca--no idle boast but an actual title, won the hard way and defended like a heavyweight’s championship belt. But he can hardly be lumped into the same genre category as Rupee or Kevin Lyttle, his gravelly voice and raw energy a million miles away from their Bajan style of auto-croon. Better to say that Garlinism is a movement all it’s own, a Trini art-form based in calypso but incorporating strong doses of hiphop—an influence that’s been present at least since Bunji transformed Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody” into the backbone of the 1998 soca hit “Send Them Riddim Crazy”--and dancehall. The constant that ties these elements together is Bunji’s breathless flow, a raspy baritone that matches the manic pace of soca with a freestyle approach more in synch with Jamaican chat or stateside rap. Instead of an awkward hybrid, the result is a vocal signature which allows Bunji to stand head and shoulders above the carnival crowd and gives credibility to his ventures outside soca. And any ragga-soca challenger who wants to test that hypothesis need look no further than the current dancehall 45 “Brrrt,”--Bunji’s unstoppable version of Bobby Konders’ “March Out Riddim.”
