Bands and Artists...............

Rupee

Rupert "Rupee" Clarke - Barbados, Boston, Miami and New York’s Labour Day Road March King

THE LATEST: After a year of hectic touring as a result of his success with “Jump” – the track that set him on a road to soca fame and fortune, Barbadian entertainer Rupee is set to release his debut CD for the Barbados Cropover 2001 celebrations.

Self-titled, the CD has a variety of slamming new tracks embraing difference musical genres including new wave Soca, Hip-Hop, Rhythm and Blues and Reggae. New tracks that created instant impact are ““Thanks”, “Wipe Dem” and “Blame It On The Music” ”. Others that have become favourites include a duet with Allison Hinds “Hipnosis”, “Cake” and “I Will Be There” . Fans can also reminisce with bonus tracks such as “Ice Cream”, “Thundah”, “Woman”, “Insomnia” and of course “Jump” .

All tracks have been written by the multi-talented Rupee and recorded at a number of top Bajan recording studios including Peter Coppin’s “MonstaPiece Studios”, Nicholas Brancker’s “Chambers Studios” and Michael Agard/Darron Grant’s “UnDaGround Music Studios”.

And now, meet Rupee:

This young, dynamic entertainer, born in Germany on September 10, 1975, to a black Barbadian father and white German mother, first gained recognition after winning the Richard Stoute Teen Talent Competion in 1993.

After this early achievement, he became one of three lead singers in the Barbadian Coalishun with whom in 1995 he released their first ragga soca hit single "Thundah" , written by Edwin Yearwood.

This paved the way for the following year 1996 which saw the release of the mega ragga-soca hit "Ice Cream" , whose sweet melodic rhythms praising and acknowledging how sweet women are, sparked great regional and international recognition. This resulted in overseas bookings for Coalishun which toured England, Canada, Bermuda, New York, Trinidad, Grenada and throughout the Caribbean on the strength of the single. Today, “Ice Cream” remains a favourite, especially with the women.

Some of Rupee’s other hits over the years include: "Girlfriend", "Peppa", "Titanic", "Rugged Style", "Not Me" and "Stop" " which placed third in the Bajan Party Monarch competition in 1999. But whatever genre of music he performs: Ragga Soca, Reggae or uptempo, Rupee's music always has a positive uplifting feeling of empowerment.

However the year 2000 was the moment when the young Bajan would break all the rules. After winning the Bajan Road March title with “Jump”, he went on to capture similar titles in New York’s Labour Day, Miami and Boston.

On its way to winning the Road March title in Barbados, “Jump’s” infectious melody and irresistible hook reached phenomenal heights in Barbados Crop Over 2000 being the most played and requested song for the season. It was loved by young and old, and was even adopted as an anthem by the Barbados Volleyball Team, who won the Caribbean Championships placing first in both the Men’s and Women’s finals “jumping” all the way to victory. “Jump” also had the distinction of holding the #1 spot for the final three weeks of the festival on both of Barbados’ most popular, rival, radio stations!

As it continued its path to fame for Rupee, “Jump” copped the Road March Song title in the Boston 2000 Carnival and in New York for Labour Day 2000, one of the largest festivals in the world with an estimated 3 million people attending. And then a fourth title was added to the list - Miami Carnival 2000!

And then came Trinidad and Tobago where Rupee exploded into star status, performing throughout the country to various audiences from young to mature, upscale to urban crowds who all embraced him and his welcomed his warm nature. At children calypso shows and during school tours, Rupee has been virtually mobbed by adoring fans, having to spend hours autographing flyers and posters.

In addition to “Jump”, Rupee also released another smash hit titled “Insomnia” which is on heavy rotation on the Trinidad charts. Audiences demand that Rupee include this song in his performances on the twin-island state as the song relates to the observation of J’Ouvert at pre-dawn on Carnival Monday morning.

Meanwhile when Rupee is not "jumping" or serving musical "ice cream" he enjoys songwriting, learning to play the piano and guitar and is an admitted movie "freak". He also enjoys playing Sony Playstation and generally likes to relax with his close friends.

• JUMP and INSOMNIA can be found on the album “CROSSROADS" from MonstaPiece Studios in Barbados. The CD was produced by Peter Coppin and Terry Arthur and also features Edwin Yearwood, Allison Hinds, Ramases Brown, Bunji Garlin and more.

STOP PRESS: Following his star acclaim in Trinidad in 2001, Rupee continued his winning ways in 2002. He can now be certified as reaching cult status in TNT and is in demand from audiences ranging from infants and children to young and mature adults.

With a hit album, Rupee is back on tour on the international circuit moving from a base in New York to Carnivals and events throughout the Soca/World Beat music calendar