““When she cock back, she cock back to the bass!””
Any real socaholic will read that and immediately start rocking that waistline. It is the first line of the hit single “Bass." Although the tune was released in 2014, soca fetes worldwide still turn up once this one drops. While you can find this song on YouTube when you search for Young Voice, note that you will miss out on his upcoming music if you enter those words in the search bar. Young Voice has officially rebranded as One Voice.
Kevin “One Voice” James is dropping the prefix young from his title. The singer/songwriter wants his name to reflect his musical evolution since appearing on the scene in 2009. After seven years with the name, he wants to reflect his maturity as well as the evolution of his music.
The new name also reflects his philosophy that soca artistes will need to move from a competitive mindset to one of unity; hence, One Voice. As someone who grew up on roots music where artistes like Queen Ifrica and Bob Marley preach unity as strength, One Voice believes that this is what soca needs in order to go beyond the Caribbean. However, as some artistes have decided to branch out from the genre in order to increase their fan base, he has no intention of releasing anything other than soca.
So what can we expect from One Voice going forward?
If you were at the GBM Showcase on March 6th, 2016 you got a glimpse of the future. Many of us may not know that he... wait for it… is a dancer. In his youth, One Voice demonstrated his skills at Flex-N-Brooklyn dance battles and plans to incorporate a dance routine in upcoming performances. I asked if he was nervous about changing up his routine and he responded, “Nervousness? I don’t own that trait.”
One Voice anticipates future collaborations with fellow Brooklynite GBM Nutron, as well as Trinidadian hit makers Shaft Vibes and 1st Klase. Ideally, he would like to bring his music to Africa and perform in Ghana among local Afrobeat artistes. For now though, he is focused on taking touring around North America and the Caribbean. Some stops on the Bashment Tour include Virginia on April 9th and Phoenix Carnival on April 25th.
Stay connected with One Voice on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for other updates. Check out his music on YouTube, Soundcloud and coming soon to iTunes and Amazon.
Extra credit: See if you can name another one of Brooklyn’s own soca artistes in One Voice’s official “Jumper Cable” video.
