By NAN ET Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Oct. 22, 2021: An independent UK ad agency is taking soca music to another level there by collaborating with top brands.
Socaholic, a unique lifestyle agency found by the husband-and-wife team of Nadia Socaholic and DJ Chris Vee, focuses on everything Soca. This includes events, costumes carnival, communications strategy and music curation and brand sponsorship.
Their passion is to bring Caribbean arts and culture to the world, with a special focus on Soca and the Notting Hill Carnival.
Some of their successes have included collaborations with the iconic whisky brand Johnnie Walker, British fashion designer Paul Smith, contemporary art gallery Sadie Coles HQ and emerging international artist Alvaro Barrington.
They also work regularly with UK promotion company Shabba Party, to deliver hugely popular nights in London.
Nadia was born to a Trinidadian mother and after an early introduction to Notting Hill Carnival, came her rite of passage and initiation to the Trinidad carnival, according to their website.
Experiencing the high intensity of carnival in the streets of Port of Spain, sparked a fascination and curiosity in her.
She recognised that the carnival community needed to be the agents of change or they would become the victims of change and channelled her passion for the art, history and culture of carnival into informing and educating people.
She made it her duty to actively encourage the media and press to gain first-hand insights into what makes Notting Hill Carnival a national treasure and world class event that the whole nation should be proud of.
This has led to interviews on BBC Radio 1Xtra; features in fashion, music, art and youth culture magazine i-D; carnival coverage gracing the front pages of The Independent and The Guardian newspapers; a collaboration with TfL on a carnival travel campaign featured as a double page spread in the Metro newspaper; coverage on ITV News taking a look behind the scenes at carnival preparations. Engagement with sponsors, stakeholders and many others has helped to push the boundaries and create exciting new opportunities.
DJ Chris Vee has blazed a trail for over two decades as one third of the award-winning DJ trio Firin’ Squad.
His list of credentials includes presenting primetime shows on some of the UK’s most influential radio stations – Kiss FM, Choice FM and Capital Xtra. He was instrumental in curating, producing and presenting a ground-breaking podcast showcasing up and coming UK talent, many of whom went on to become international superstars.
That online project received the broadcast industry’s most coveted accolade – Gold at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.
His ear for music and technical skills enabled him to play a pivotal role in the release of a series of chart-topping, platinum and gold certified compilation albums. He has enjoyed a long and successful career that has allowed him to travel the world, playing to the biggest crowds and supporting some of the industry’s biggest artists.
An introduction to Notting Hill Carnival came early on, playing on Rampage Sound’s legendary Colville Terrace stage in 1993 and it was the late DJ Psycho that ignited in him an interest in Soca music.
With an eclectic taste in music, DJ Chris Vee has carved out a niche for himself. He set out to expose a broader audience to Soca music with a hybrid approach and created a signature style that mixes and blends Soca with a fusion of other sounds.
Socaholic’s next event is the Brixton Winter Carnival on November 12, 2021.
