Global Highlights: A View From The Caribbean Diaspora

An Exclusive Interview With A SOCA Icon

Scorcher whose official name is Cyril Thomas grew up in Sion Hill, Saint Vincent and Grenadines. He is an accomplished diplomat, army veteran, educator, sportsman and holds a Masters degree in Political Science. He is also an acclaimed SOCA artist who broke the ceiling in Trinidad and Tobago and has since become a household name in SVG and the Diaspora with Party Fever, Fork Up Dem Beaches and Sweetness Is My Weakness, to name a few.

In this interview, Scorcher reflects on his struggle to break the SOCA ceiling. He talks about his youthful resistance to his mother trying to discourage him from pursuing his interest in calypso and his dream to raise the profile of calypso. He is equally candid about his inspiration for the rendition Sweetness Is My Weakness when he discloses it has come from his medical diagnosis of Diabetes. Moreover, he talks about the policy that Fork Up Dem Beaches brought about.

For his achievement, he credits his mother’s unconditional love and support from friends such Alston ‘Becket’ Cyrus (another SOCA icon), and radio proprietor Douglas ‘Dougie’ Defreitas of NICE Radio who believed in him even after a near disastrous debut with Wilma Wuk Obea On Me. The humorous side of this unassuming artist allows him to joke about this experience.

Another of Scorcher’s qualities is generosity which he hardly addresses in this interview despite prompting but is evident in the way his nephew Franklyn Dexter Richards’ (aka Supadex) praises his Uncle: “God has blessed me to put Scorcher in my life, and I hope what he did for me I can do for other people.”