Dis da di Bling Soljahs! The newest reggaeton/hip hop music band to hit the island debut their driving drum-machine tracks this Tuesday on the Reef Radio’s early morning show, getting rave reviews from radio listeners for their music. The tracks, including the hits “Dueña de mi Corazon” and “Esposa Mia” will soon be recorded for the Bling Soljahs’ new CD, which will be hitting the Belizean market very soon.
Making up the new group on the island are four young and talented music enthusiasts who have been involved in the business for many years. Alfonso Graniel a.k.a. DJ Psycho, Severiano Garcia a.k.a. DJ Lucky, and singers Henry Darwin Gomez a.k.a. Latin King and Carlos Enrique Castillo a.k.a. MC Loco, pulled together their musical talents a little over a month ago to form the Bling Soljahs.
“All of us had the same dream and decided to pull our talents together to form the group,” DJ Psycho told Ambergris Today. “Our songs include mostly the reggaeton and hip hop genre, but we also include reggae in our tracks because these are the three music influences which are most prevalent on the Belizean scene right now.”
Reggaeton blends Jamaican music influences of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as bomba and plena, as well as that of hip hop. The music is also combined with rapping (generally) in Spanish. Reggaeton has empowered the Hispanic Caribbean youth, specifically those of Puerto Rico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico as well as the Latin American audience and the Latino communities in the United States, with a musical genre as a voice. The genre’s most notably unique feature is a driving drum-machine track, almost identical across different songs, derived from Trinidadian soca music and Jamaican dancehall rhythms. This beat is called “Dem Bow” after the beat in a Shabba Ranks song of the same name. It has been heavily influenced by other forms of electronic dance music, such as techno, house, and genres such as the merengue hip hop (also called merenhouse) of groups such as Proyecto Uno and Zona 7.
The Bling Soljahs are tapping into this very popular music market and have set their goals to produce a CD before the grand Costa Maya event which takes place in August. “We are looking forward to live performances in San Pedro and other places in Belize to hype up our new songs and CD before trying to hit the stage at Costa Maya,” said DJ Psycho. “We will be hitting the clubs and festivals on the island heading up to Costa Maya. By then, our goal is to be very well recognized around Belize.”
Sponsors and business interested in live performances by Bling Soljahs can contact telephones 226-3537 or 620-1060. Lookout for these new Belizean artists at your favorite local nightclubs, festivals, and other areas of Belize.
Photo Caption:
Carlos Enrique Castillo (MC Loco), Alfonso Graniel (DJ Psycho), Severiano Garcia (DJ Lucky), and Henry Darwin Gomez (Latin King) come together as Bling Soljahs
