By NAN ET Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 3, 2018: On Sunday night, July 29, 2018, a new soca monarch was crowned on the Caribbean island of Barbados, which wrapped up its annual Crop Over Festival or carnival this week. Here are 10 things you should know about the new soca star:
1: He is Ricky Lil Rick Reid who won the crown at the MQI/98.1 Soca Royale with his Sweet Soca performance of ‘Breakfast In Bed.’
2: With 100 points, Lil Rick, aka Board Face, aka Hypa Dawg, took home the title of the 2018 Sweet Soca Monarch as well as a fully loaded Mazda 3 estimated at $79, 900, a $10, 000 cheque, full comprehensive car insurance compliments Massy United Insurance, a trip for two to New York or Fort Lauderdale from JetBlue and other prizes.
3: His Sweet Soca win means that the Pic-O-De-Crop crown is the only competition title he has not won.
4: Lil Rick, born Ricky Reid, has been in the music business for the past 31 years, but this year celebrates 20 plus years on the soca scene.
5: He started out as a deejay, following in the footsteps of his uncle, who was a deejay. “When I was about 14 I used to follow my uncle to dancehall sessions. I was real small and short, a little head behind a big sound system. So people called me DJ Little Ricky. As I got older I cut both names down to Lil Rick,” he told the Barbados Nation recently.
6: Lil Rick said he always loved calypso but never thought of getting involved until he gave it a try in 1996 and never looked back.
7: Lil Rick blasted onto the Barbadian soca scene with mega hits “Hard Wine” and “Bumper Inspector” and in that time he has revolutionized audience participation, audience expectations and most recently, the perception of local artistes as a brand.
8: Lil Rick says his method of writing is to do a four-line hook to get over the story. He has had hit after hit since the 1988 Party Monarch song Down Behind The Truck, and the 2002 and 2003 Hypa Dawg and Mash Up And Buy Back, respectively as well as the 2007 Caan Wait and the 2012 I like Muh Myself as well as the patriotic Iz A Bajan and Wine Tief or Get Thru?
9: With the launch of the Hypa Dawg clothing line, Rick has added another dimension to the Hypa Dawg product and continues to gain respectability and break into non-traditional sponsorship and audience markets. He has been the official face and voice of Guinness for over 5 years and is the host of its massively popular radio show-the Guinness Rush Hour, every Saturday on HOTT 95.3 FM.
10: Lil Rick is married to his long-time love Caragh Smith. He has two children.
