Last year JW and Blaze coined a new word for the wotless (worthless, obscene, mama-don’t-like) behavior West Indian people often display in the streets and inside fetes. They called it Palancin.

But this year Kes stripped us of our inhibitions and gave the world a free pass to be “Wotless,” which is also the title of the song that won them the distinction of Groovy Soca Monarch 2011. Kes was just on the heels of Machel Montano who took the overall prize for his explosive tune “Advantage”.

Now, the world cannot be more proud to say “i’m wotless” and Kes could not be more in demand.

Lead singer Kes Dieffenthaler told Caribyhype following his “Wotless” concert at Calder Racetrack in Miami  last month, which was hosted by Party People, that he and his band don’t approach the music to simply win awards. However, Kes conceded that winning titles does seem to jumpstart a band in the Caribbean market. Here is his exclusive interview with Caribhype.com.

Caribhype.com

What is it like winning your first title at Soca Monarch?

KES

“We approach the music not only for titles, i’ll tell you that straight up. But winning the title definitely puts you in a different category; in fact in the West Indian market, in the Caribbean market, in the Carnival market, when you win a title it’s something different.”

Caribhype.com

How does it feel sharing a title with Machel Montano?

KES

“As with every soca artist you have to look up to Machel in a sense that he has done it for so many years and has always been pushing the envelope and we approach our music the same away; so he is an inspiration. For him to endorse the whole movement and to be a part of it together with him, is amazing.”

Caribhype.com

How do you feel about the big-up Machel gave you in Zen as being the future in the industry?

KES

“Well I love that. The future should be a collective, that is really representing what the future should be. It shouldn’t be single file, it should be a collective.

“All artist need to come together because everyone has strengths and  weaknesses and everyone has insight and I think we all need to come together, as Machel and I came together in that time, all artists need to come together and forget about this fighting and warring and all that kind of stupidness.”

Caribhype.com

What about breaking into different industries, not just the soca?

KES

“Well we have always been doing that and i’m just glad that the two worlds are coming together because Carnival is Carnival and after Carnival is after Carnival. But, for right now everything is coming together with tracks like ‘Cup Gyal,’ ‘Where Ya From,’ and ‘Lil Pop Tinge’ and stuff, it creates a good bridge in our set where we do our Pop stuff and we can do our Soca stuff and it will still be relevant and it can still be applicable, so i’m looking forward to just no boundaries and bridging the gap.”

Caribhype.com

How you feel about ‘Wotless’ being as big as it is?

KES

“It’s always a blessing and I’m glad it’s a blessing and a surprise. You grow to love the song even more to when people feel it and it really was a blessing and foot in the door. A lot of people say well you reach; well now the work starts and the work has just begun for us in a lot of ways; so it’s to really to press the reset button and start again.”

Caribhype.com

What about the rest of the year? Are you booked for the rest of the year?

KES

“We hadda catch a flight to New York to play  tonight at a solo party again in Manhattan and that’s how it goes every weekend.”

Caribhype.com

What about the plans for next year? What is the future for KES?

KES

“This year we dealing with now, so we are just trying to bridge the gap – do the Carnivals but also bridge the gap around the world and let people know what the Caribbean and Trinidad is all about. And outside of the carnival circuit is what we are interested in as well.”

Caribhype.com

What about collaborations?

KES

“Well we are looking for collaborations and collaborations is vibe, but it hadda make sense and we have a few people we are looking at but I don’t like to goat-mouth nothing so when it happens it happens.”

Caribhype.com

What about the Chutney Soca?

KES

“We always do a lil’ dabble in the Chutney world. For me… once the song is great. A vibe is a vibe you know.”

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