Reported By Coral Sherman
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Dec. 18, 2020: Trinidad and Tobago soca stars, Umi Marcano and Irwin “Scrunter” Reyes Johnson, are putting the spotlight on COVID-19, parang style, this Christmas.
“We Parangin,” recently released reiterated the message of sanitizing, mask wearing, social distancing and staying safe as the two sings: “Sanatize dem one by one, before dey come an drink yuh rum!”
“It is our social responsibility as artists to ensure Paranderos adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines, as this is a Christmas like none before it,” Marcano explained.
The song fuses Soca Parang with dancehall without diluting the genre. It is available on all platforms: iTunes, Tunecore, Spotify, etc). Follow @umimarcano on Instagram. For bookings and interviews for both Umi & Scrunter email: [email protected]
In Trinidad and Tobago, traditional parang music is largely performed around Christmastime, when – pre-pandemic – singers and instrumentalists – collectively known as the parranderos – travel from house to house in the community, often joined by friends and neighbors family etc. using whatever instruments are at hand.
Popular parang instruments include the cuatro, a small, four-string guitar; and maracas, locally known as chac-chacs. Other instruments often used are violin, guitar, claves, locally known as toc-toc; box bass, an indigenous instrument, tambourine, mandolin, bandol, caja, a percussive box instrument, and marimbula, an Afro-Venezuelan instrument. In exchange for the entertainment, parranderos are traditionally given food and drink: pasteles, pastelle, sorrel, rum and Ponche Crema, a form of alcoholic eggnog. A new type of parang has emerged in recent years called Soca Parang.
