Our island churns out and nurtures talent in a variety of industries. However, for this feature, we will concentrate on the Creative Industry, specifically music.
Meet Josiah William a.k.a. Big Vybe. A native of Saint Lucia and the islandâs latest Dancehall sensation. Big Vybe started writing and performing music at a very young age, and officially launched his career which catapulted on to the international stage in 2012. His unique sound has been described as Modern Dancehall fused with Soca, Afrobeats and RnB.
He released his debut EP “LANES” in 2020 and has collaborated with various artists and producers from the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. His most recent projects have included working with Nessa Preppy, Precision Productions, Smiddy Smith, DancehallRulerz, Diddi Emah, Ayzed, Grey C and more. Vybe’s mission is to be an ambassador for his homeland as well as for the Caribbean diaspora, while inspiring the next generation in a positive manner.
We were able to chat with the artiste about his latest single and his plans for the upcoming Carnival season. His new single âBack It Upâ is the artistic, international fusion of Dancehall, Soca, and Afrobeats genres from Big Vybe. Produced by Smiddy Smith with the remix featuring Trinidadian Soca artiste Nessa Preppy and Nigerian Artiste Greyc.
How did the link between you and Nessa Preppy happen?
Nessa and I have people in common such as my producer/manager Smiddy Smith who connected us a few years back and have been in the works of putting together a collaboration, it has just always been about timing. And he also made the connection with GreyC as well.
What are your plans for the upcoming Carnival season?
I have plenty of dope music in my portfolio. I spent the past 2 years in the studio during the pandemic, so my plans for the carnival season is to release tracks back-to-back and hopefully can come home for carnival this year.
What other future collaborations can we expect from you?
My dream collab has always been Popcaan. I’m also interested in a collab with Patrice, Lyro, Nailah, etc.
Who are a few of the Saint Lucian producers you would like to work with?
I’ve worked with Ransom Recordz a couple of times, I’m also currently working with a young Lucian producer by the name of Island (Audio Lab Records), he is my go-to producer and engineer, so the upcoming season lookout for some music coming from Island and myself, itsâ gonna be lit.