Bunji Garlin

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Bunji Garlin and Fay-Ann Lyons 2014

Bunji Garlin (actually Ian Antonio Alvarez , born July 14, 1978 in Cumuto ) is a Trinidadian Soca singer and composer.

Early years

Alvarez was born on July 14, 1978 in Cumuto on the edge of the densely populated East-West Corridor . Alvarez got his first contact with singing while still at school at the Arima Comprehensive School . After leaving school, he initially worked as a dancehall singer under the name Little Bounty .

Career

Bunji Garlin's career began in 1998 with a third place in the Ragga Soca Competition. Garlin has won the International Soca Monarch competition four times in his career . His song "Brrt" is featured in the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV . In 2014, his album Differentology reached number 6 on the Billboard Reggae Album Charts; In 2017 Turn Up placed 3rd. Bunji Garlin usually performs with his backing band "The Asylum Band".

Musically, Garlin Soca mixes elements from reggae and hip-hop. He also serves the genre ragga soca, a mixture of soca and dancehall. In terms of content, Garlin's texts cover a broad spectrum. In addition to the popular topics of “party” and “women” in Soca, Garlin also allows himself socially critical and even political texts and touches on topics such as the high crime rate in Trinidad, discrimination, prejudice, poverty, sexual exploitation and political banter.

At times Garlin ran a clothing line for T-shirts called "Asylum 4 Life".

Private

On December 23, 2006, Bunji Garlin married the Soca musicians Fay-Ann Lyons , daughter of the successful Soca musician Superblue and the Soca musician Lady Gypsy . Since 2009 both parents of a girl. Bunji Garlin is a cousin of Soca musician Patrice Roberts .

Awards

competition Victories
Ragga Soca Competition 2000, 2001
International Soca Monarch 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008
International Soca Awards 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
Soul Train Award 2013

Discography

Albums

  • 2000: The Chronicles (JW Productions)
  • 2002: Revelation (VP Records)
  • 2003: Black Spaniard
  • 2006: Next Direction (no label)
  • 2007: Global (VP Records)
  • 2014: Differentology (VP Records)
  • 2017: Turn Up (VP Records)

EPs

  • Carnival Tabanca (2014, VP Records)

Singles

  • Differentology (2012, VP Records)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mark Fraser: Harriet Alvarez The Fire Mom . In: Trinidad Express . February 24, 2011.
  2. ^ Billboard.com: Bunji Garlin: Chart History. Retrieved May 30, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Bunji Garlin on TriniJungleJuice
  4. ↑ Mark Fraser: Bunji starts clothing line . In: Trinidad Express . August 23, 2010.
  5. ^ Ragga Soca Hall of Fame
  6. ↑ Victories in individual categories, see e.g. B. here
personal data
SURNAME Garlin, Bunji
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alvarez, Ian Anthony (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Trinidadian soca singer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 14, 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH Cumuto , Trinidad