By Michael Mondezie
By now, Mical Teja Williams must have been a household name throughout the Caribbean.
As you read this, Teja is the man with the hottest pen in soca music. He has written monster hits for Machel Montano (Happy Papi), Patrice Roberts (Drink Water and Mind Yuh Business) and Viking Ding Dong (We Outside and Hornin’ First), among others.
Teja has certainly been releasing his own high quality soca music in the form of the inspirational and aspirational ‘Self Approval’ in 2018 and most recently Shadow’s (Winston Bailey) remake ‘Dingolay’ with Nailah Blackman.
So why is his name not mentioned among the elite of the genre? Why is he still popular with fans? Teja says stepping up starts with a better personal understanding of himself as an artist.
“The transition for me has been a long journey, full of ups and downs, I feel like now I understand myself as an artist as well”, said Teja about her. Kitcharee on friday morning.
Currently in Tobago to perform for the sister island’s debut carnival, he feels it’s only a matter of time before he makes a significant breakthrough once he continues to trust the process.
“I’m a big believer in trusting the process,” he echoed.
‘And also doing things differently. That’s why I release different genres of music while still representing the Trinbagonian culture,’ he continued.
There is no secret formula for writing a hit song, says Teja. Humility and hard work go a long way in getting a polished product, he added.
Honestly, there is no secret! I say my prayers, stay determined and work hard,” he said.
Collaborations Create Hits
Making music is a joint effort, says Teja. Realizing that creativity cannot be mastered by any one person is a liberating concept, he added.
While many music creators are eccentric at best and sometimes superstitious with their creative processes, Teja says he goes the opposite route and lets the creative bird out of the cage.
“I’m not protective of something that isn’t really mine. Creative energy is something universal, it is meant to be shared and experienced together with others. That’s why most hits in any genre of music are a collaborative effort,” he nodded convincingly.
His latest solo project, “Hall of Fame”, is already making waves. Teja pays tribute to the soca stars of yesteryear on the self-produced track. He sings: Search for us madness David Rudder say Search for us Straight to the land of the people Search for us Gyal Real and it’s only bel Search for us Until the end we’ll go put us in the Hall of Fame “For me, it’s a cultural piece that also shares how passionate I am about the culture and the art form, as well as paying homage to those who came before,” he said thoughtfully.
The song is also a teaching and educational piece of music that young fans can learn from as he wants ‘listeners to feel how rich our culture is both musically and visually, which I think is happening with the amazing reactions to the song and the video clip’.
Teja plans to debut the song this weekend at the Tobago Carnival and says being a part of the sister island’s first official historic carnival is ‘truly a blessing’.
“I have been given the opportunity to perform at several events for the Tobago Carnival 2022 and it is truly a blessing to be on the sister island representing our culture,” he concluded.
What about his Carnival 2023 plans? Teja says the mission remains the same: ‘make fantastic music’.
“My plans for the carnival are to make great music. As cliché as it sounds. I want people to feel the music in their soul, to feel the spirit of carnival not only from the point of view of enjoyment, but also to have an understanding of what it represents, which is to have the freedom to be”, he concluded.
