Features
Vishanna Phagoo
As the carnival approaches, people are packing up and getting ready to take part in all the events to come. Imran “GI” Beharry is and has been ready to provide that boost and excitement to those who get into the carnival groove. Beharry kicked off the season by performing at Soka in Moka last Sunday after his international tour.
He told Sunday Newsday, “I just got back from seven weeks of touring where I finished my last tour of 2022. I came home on December 31 and it was just in time for Sokka in Mocha.”
Beharry said the crowd and the reaction to his performance was amazing and he plans to take everything they had to offer – “the energy, the atmosphere and the way people embraced me and I’m going to run with it for the rest of the season.” .
By 2022, Beharry was on 91 flights sharing TT culture with people in places like Suriname, Guyana and Miami. He also won the Chutney Soca Monarch that year and the two years before that. But his music career began much earlier with the encouragement of his mother Ann-Marie Beharry.
“I was between singing and cricket and chose singing. I started at Mastana Bahar at the age of eight and my mother is really the one who pushed me into it.”
Because singing and cricket did not go hand in hand, Beharry said he would spend half his time in music class and the other half captaining the Barrackpore High School cricket team. He said he still loves cricket and will play at any opportunity.
Beharry is confident about the choice she made and said that singing professionally for nearly 20 years helped mitigate the challenges she would have faced establishing herself as a solo artist.
“I sang with two very popular groups in TT. At one point in time I was the front line singer of Karma, and I spent about four years with them before joining Dil-e-Nadan, with whom I spent seven years. So I have a lot of experience being around bands. And after those 11 years, I decided to branch out on my own and be my own product and not a product of a product.”
Beharry said after taking this decision, he was reassigned by General Imran to GI about eight years ago to mark his solo journey. He said that even though it bears the GI name, he sees it as representative of his ten-person team.
“I always say GI is a brand and I’m just the ship that gets the brand. All of us are made up of GIs including Newsday, radio stations, various media houses and everyone who plays a role because they are doing something for the brand.”
Beharry said the international crowds also contribute to that as they all bring a different experience to it.
“People show love differently in every part of the world and everywhere I go, I have great experiences, promoters and fans. People are naturally open-handed, warm and welcoming. The way they react to the music and I mean, you have to find a Trini in the crowd or a Guyanese.
Beharry said that now that the chutney soca genre is growing, he plans to expand into different territories, especially those that other artists have not yet ventured into. He said that only when he has the confirmation, then more information will be released.
“We have support from every different island now and in different countries as people are gravitating towards the music.”
Despite being a three-time Chutney Soca Monarch winner (2020-2022), Beharry said he is not sure if he will defend his title this time around. He said it’s usually a team decision, but whatever decision is made, he’ll go with it.
“If I decide to defend my title in 2023, we’d obviously go for the best, and I mean, four in a row sounds good, doesn’t it?”
But he said he appreciates what the competition does for artists as it helps them showcase their talent and gain traction. Beharry also urged new and upcoming artists to familiarize themselves with new technology and the daily changes that come with the field.
“Educate yourself to have a clearer picture and understand what you’re doing even more, so when someone sends you something like a mix or master, you’ll know immediately how to react and what frequencies to use. During the downtime with Covid19, I educated myself, not to a certificate level, but I continue to strive for improvement and this is something the future should do.”
With Beharry constantly on the go, he said he tries to keep himself active by jogging and regularly gets health checkups since his throat and vocal cords are at risk.
Beharry recently released a new song with Bunji Garlin called Raining Rum which he said his and his manager’s phone keeps ringing off the hook. In keeping with his motive to bring the carnival spirit to everyone, Beharry also performed at several venues while celebrating his 36th birthday on Sunday.
