Iaryn "Marvelous" Williams, also known as Swanks, is a top USVI music producer spreading his wings far and wide.
Featuring global Soca artists such as Patrice Roberts and Skinny Fabulous, U.S. Virgin Islands producer Marvelus, whose given name is Iaryn Williams, on Friday dropped a hard-hitting "jumpy" Soca beat that appears to be primed to take the entertainment scene and Soca lovers around the world by storm.
The beat, titled "GOT RIDDIM" has "Game of Thrones" themes in its art design. The production, which also features USVI artists BugZBugs and Adam O, was released as jurisdictions far and wide are moving away from Covid-induced restrictions that had become the norm during the two-year-old global emergency. But things are changing in many parts of the world, with U.S. states that once had the strictest of restrictions easing them as signs become clearer that the world may well be in the waning days of the pandemic.
It makes sense, then, that Mr. Williams would release the hit production at this time. He is not the only one: a multitude of other producers and artists in a variety of genres are starting to release music long held back because of Covid-19. Dancehall sensation Shenseea is set to release her long-awaited album on March 11; Reggae and Dancehall star Koffee is releasing her album on March 25; Soca King Machel Montano and Soca artist Viking Ding Dong today dropped a song titled "Bad Chargie". Other Soca artists have been releasing songs throughout the pandemic, including Patrice Roberts's hit single "Mind My Business" on the "Happy Papi Riddim".
The GOT RIDDIM is reminiscent of the JabJab Soca sounds such as Problem Child's "Crazy People", and other similar hits. But it sets itself apart as Mr. Williams, one of the USVI's top producers, seamlessly fuses the USVI style of music into the beat, making for a production that captures a wide pool of Soca music lovers. Additionally, with features such as Skinny Fabulous and Patrice Roberts, the production has the potential to reach millions of people and aid Mr. Williams in his quest to continue extending his creativity beyond the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Indeed, Mr. Williams has seemingly achieved all that he could in the USVI as a music producer; he is regarded among the greats in the territory. The Consortium's Quarantine Jam in April 2020, organized in collaboration with Mr. Williams who led the group "Big Band", has the record for the most concurrent people watching a stream in the territory to date at near 10,000, and the most comments, 163,000. The event went on to be viewed 338,000 times and reached 626,000 people.
Other artists on the GOT RIDDIM include D. Mennis (Monkey Know) and Lil Natty & Thunder (Road New Road), the latter with a 2018 hit titled Top Striker that was widely played at events.
But by far one of the hardest hitting tracks on the beat is Ricardo Drue's Tornado. Fitting its title, the song speaks to the synergy that forms when people come together, set aside worries and allow themselves to be carried away by the euphoria of the moment while moving to the beat of the rhythm.
Drue sets up the plot well, too, especially in the first verse, which says, "It's Drue reporting live from the weather scene on the ground, things starting to get wild, you could see they having their rum. Unpredictable like the weather, but they dangerous like the wind, then the DJ let go a riddim, and the whole place start to sing. And they shouting aye aye, aye aye, aye aye, everybody hold on, gather around, hold on, gather around, hold on, gathering around — spinning 'round... like a tornado, tornado, tornado." The song from Drue is almost sure to be amongst the most played during fetes in 2022 and years to come.
Mr. Williams has come a long way from his days with Stylee Band, which he founded. Back then, he shook the local music scene along with Kylo, the ubiquitous VI vocalist who died in a plane crash in Dec. 2017, and whose memory Mr. Williams regularly invokes.
Earlier this week he published a short clip on Instagram of one of the songs that defined Kylo and the Stylee Band, titled "Pick it Up". On the description, Mr. Williams wrote, "Years ago me and my dawg @kylofresh made a classic! This was the birth of a whole new era. I just wish you were here to be on this journey with me right now bro, real talk, this shit ain’t been easy without you but I already know you proud of yo boy and I just want you to know that I’ve been proud of you since day one."
The entire playlist of GOT RIDDIM is here. The songs will soon be available on your favorite streaming platforms.
