Island Wave is a platform dedicated to bringing the music of the Caribbean to the forefront of the international scene. Island Wave provides funding for Caribbean artists to showcase their music internationally and creates spaces on stages for a line-up of talented, emerging Caribbean musicians.
Island Wave co-founder Kalpee, who has just spent 3 months in the MW Top 20 Black Chart, peaking at #4 and sandwiched by Beyonce, closed the Music Matters Live Stage this past weekend as part of the Grand Prix Singapore season celebrations in Clarke Quay. As he lit the stage on fire with fellow Caribbean musicians Rhys Thompson on drums and Kwami Morrison on guitar, they blew the crowd away with their “New Calypso” sound, a genre pioneered by Kalpee and fellow Trinbagonian musicians as a way to identify their musical heritage and proudly carry it forward.
Attending the All That Matters conference that followed (considered to be Asia’s leading entertainment industry event including speakers from top industry names such as TikTok, AEG, Universal Music, TuneCore, Apple, Spotify and YouTube), Island Wave had one mission, to target DSP’s and pose the very important question, “How can we work together to add Caribbean Music as a standalone genre on DSP’s, so that Caribbean artists who can’t currently identify their musical heritage will be able to label their music correctly?”
The question was met with enthusiasm by leading music industry figures including Sulinna Ong, Global Head of Editorial at Spotify and Chief Executive Officer Andreea Gleeson and her team at TuneCore.
Island Wave founders further tackled other important topics such as bridging the gap between Caribbean diaspora and the international music scene with Paul Smith, Managing Director of YouTube Music APAC Google on how to bring YouTube Music to the Caribbean, which is currently inaccessible.
Island Wave continues to expand as they push “Sounds of the Caribbean ” across the globe. In next year’s 2023 SXSW, Island Wave will return as the Official Caribbean Stage in Austin, Texas, where they will present a stage of over 30 Caribbean Nationals from across the West Indies. They will also host the first Official Caribbean Stage at Music Matters Singapore in 2023.
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ABOUT KALPEE
Kalpee Is a rising artist from Trinidad & Tobago and part of a new generation of Caribbean musicians pushing a fresh tropical sound aptly named “New Calypso”. Having just spent 3 weeks in the UK MusicWeek Black Chart Top 20 after peaking at #4, Kalpee continues to build on the explosive success of this year’s music releases which saw coverage from all sides of the globe. Radio support came from the likes of Capital Xtra, BBC 1xtra, Amazing Radio, BBC London and Slam, while in press Kalpee gained accolades from Notion, Wonderland, Clash and Wordplay Magazine, praising his spellbinding soulful melodies and modern fusion of Calypso, dancehall, and reggae rhythms.
Kalpee has previously worked with platinum recording superstar Stefflon Don on his sun-soaked single “Gimme De Ting”,’ & Jamaican “Lightening” singer Mortimer on their “Lessons”release. He has also worked with an elite line up of Grammy Award winning producers & writers including: Carla Marie Williams (Beyonce, Sean Paul), Yei Gonzales (Diplo, Dj Khaled) & The Anmls (The Weeknd, Future, BANKS, Belly, French Montana).
“Kalpee is a force of positivity & blends Caribbean spice with some international pop flavours.” – Clash
KALPEE online: INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TWITTER
ISLAND WAVE online: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER
