OECS Media Statement

Thursday, July 25, 2019 — Roseau, Dominica – The OECS Competitive Business Unit (CBU) continued its Music Mentorship and Artiste Development Programme in the Spice Isle, Grenada, with the second installment of the OECS Music Talk series, on Wednesday 24 July, at the Grenada Trade Center.

Music Talk is a programme targeting emerging musical talents in the OECS, connecting musicians 30 years and under with established and experienced professionals in a series of discussions across OECS Member States.

Each Music Talk programme highlights the contributions and celebrates the achievements of some of the region’s leading musicians, who will serve as mentors to the young musicians. The programme is primarily aimed at providing young musicians with the opportunity to learn from these experienced and seasoned music professionals, create an avenue to discuss critical issues facing the music industry, help to build a platform for mentorship and coaching of emerging musical talents and to identify and build a cadre of young musicians for the work of the CBU in the music sub-sector.

The Music Talk programme in Grenada featured prominent local musical icons in the persons ofElwin McQuilkin, the Black Wizard, a veteran in the business with over 50 years of dedicated service to calypso music and a multiple calypso monarch winner. Wizard, a stalwart in the calypso arena in Grenada, is also a prolific songwriter and music and cultural visionary; David “Peck” Edwards is a pan maestro who has led and arranged multiple panorama champions with the New Dimensions. He has dedicated his life to steel pan music, sharing his love for the art in communities around Grenada, assisting with pan tuning and maintenance and helping to promote and take Grenadian pan music to the global stage; and Hollice Jonah Mapp, “Mr. Killa”, a multi-talented singer, songwriter, dancer and producer. Mr. Killa has won multiple soca monarch competitions and boasts hits like “Rolly Polly” and “Fever” – known across the region and in the international arena. He most recently became the first non-native of Trinidad and Tobago to win the International Power Soca Monarch competition for his 2019 hit song “Run wid It”.  

The three featured icons delivered presentations which were followed by a question and answer session. Each musical icon engaged the group of 30 mentees on a range of topics and experiences.

OECS Music Talk is part of the OECS CBU’s overall programme to enhance the competitiveness of the creative industries sector and to provide support to MSMEs in the sector to increase their exports of creative goods and services to global markets.

Grenada’s Music Talk was coordinated by the island’s Division of Culture of the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and the Arts using the template developed and provided by the OECS CBU.  

About OECS Music Talk:

The OECS Music Talk is the first of a three-phased Mentorship and Artiste Development programme being undertaken by the CBU in an effort to help inspire a new generation of musicians to realise their dreams to become music professionals.  The programme hopes to stimulate emerging musicians to pursue careers in the music business and to find pathways to success through mentorship and artistic development. Phase two of the programme will focus on a more structured mentorship programme with mentees in each member states being offered with critical advice, guidelines to building their music careers and new knowledge to encourage them to develop proper habits and professional approaches to becoming successful musicians.  The third phase will involve a coaching programme for a select group of mentees drawn from across Member States where they would receive coaching and artistic training from skilled music professionals. The third phase will also attempt to develop the necessary skills in these emerging musical talents to prepare them for the regional and global music markets.