Rikki Jai- Chutney Soca Monarch Winner
Trinidad Carnival 2011
The winner of this year’s Chutney Soca Monarch competition was none other than the five time title holder Rikki Jai. Jai came out dressed in a white suit and from beginning to end commanded the audience with his performance. His song “White Oak and Water” was a hit with the fans, but it was Jai’s precision dance moves that really won the crowd over.
Rikki Jai has been in the Chutney Soca industry since 1998 when he released his first song, “Sumintra.” Since then he has had a successful career releasing hit songs such as, “Mor Tor,” “Scorpion,” and “Show me Your Motion.” Today he is the lead singer of the popular Chutney Soca band Karma and continues to make his mark on the Chutney Soca circuit.
Rikki Jai at Chutney Soca Monarch
Boxing? There are a lot of great boxers turned musicians.
I was a boxer.
Berry Gordy and James Brown started out boxing. Then they all realized it's better to make music than get beat up.
Yep! I got one on the button and that convinced me, I think I better stick with something else.
How old were you?
I used to box in school. I never paid attention much to the school work, I was just waiting for the recess to go outside and start boxing with my friends. The first time I really got to put gloves on was when we went to Kingston. So we did it with bare knuckles. But I still love sports. I have a football team that I support in my village in Somerton.
Do you have a favorite food or meal?
I'm not a great food person. I like to eat healthy, so now I'm really into juice. Pure, fresh juice. I put in carrots. I put in any fruit and vegetables and I mix them in. I travel all the time with my juice extractor.
When you were young, you used to point to the different places on the world map and say, "I'm going to go there one day." Are you still a great world traveler? I love it. I love to still do that. One place I have not explored enough yet is Asia. That's my next target.
What's your dream destination?
China is becoming really interesting place. I've always kind of admired those people. I'd like to perform there. And I wrote a song about Vietnam at the time the war was going on. I'd like to go there. I love their medicine - acupuncture, the herbs. I grew up with herbs. I want to go dive into that and see the origin of those things.
Do you take care of your chakras?
Absolutely. That's an ancient part of the human development from this planet that we've kind of put aside. But that's our essence. We did those things in Africa, too. There were people with spiritual knowledge that could see to those things. And we've lost a lot of that knowledge today.
When you're not in Jamaica, what do you miss the most?
[Pointing to the beach] That!
The sound of the ocean?
The sound of the ocean, going into the ocean, the river - I grew up on the river - the forest. Me, I'm a country boy. I miss the country; I miss nature and being in touch with nature. I never grew up with running water. I went to the spring where water was busting out of the earth. And it was water that tastes like it was coming out of a refrigerator - pure and clean. I miss those things.
When people think about Jamaica, they think about the music and the beaches. What do you want them to know about Jamaica?
I think there has been a lot of bad publicity about Jamaica in terms of violence and that kind of thing. I want people to know that we are still very friendly, hospitable people, regardless of what they've read. Even in Kingston. It is a very important thing for me for people to know that. I don't want people to stop coming here.
What's next for Jimmy Cliff?
Movies were my first love. So I'm really focusing on movies. I still want to do more acting. And I'm writing screenplays. I'm working on a few right now.
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