September 16, 2024 • 22 mins
Cheers to a great summer! Sharing my last few events of an unforgettable summer. After seeing Buju Banton in concert, I kept the fire blazing at Sizzla's concert in Hartford, Connecticut. Then jetted with friend for my first Barbados Crop Over experience. Meticulously planned adventure with the help of Sha of Tingz Nice, Global Carnivalist, and Bahamianista. Join me as I recount the vibrant parade, playing mas with Krave band, and the unforgettable events, all while soaking in the rich culture and beauty of Barbados.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Silent
Vibes podcast with yours trulyMakayla.
If you are new here, welcome tothe family.
If you are returning, welcomeback family.
And it's kind of like a bigreturn because I kind of took an
impromptu time off for a littlebit in the summertime.
(00:23):
So I know we have been droppingsome re-released episodes all
summer because, you know, kindof wanted to enjoy the summer a
little bit.
As you guys know, I've been outand about and you know the rest
of the summer was no differentin the sense that I also got to
see Sizzla in concert as well asexperience Barbados Crop Over
(00:48):
Festival for the first time.
So this episode is a soloepisode.
It is talking about those twoevents.
So I think let's jump right in.
So I'm going to start inchronological order, because I
did boo-joo you guys heard theepisode on that one already and
Sizzler was also here in theStates.
(01:09):
He got back his visa so he wasable to perform here in the
States.
So I got to see him in my homestate of Connecticut.
I am very close to New York, soI tend to be in New York a lot.
However, I did see him here inConnecticut, in Hartford, at the
West Indian Social Club.
So that was, of course, areally great experience.
(01:32):
They have an inside ballroom, ifyou will like, they have a
whole inside setup, but this wasactually outside.
So the feel of the concert wasvery nostalgic, of like the
outdoor stage show, and we gotthere a little early because,
you know, when it's a standingonly venue you got to kind of
(01:53):
pick your right spot, and so wepicked a spot close to the stage
, but not right directly infront, but kind of to the right.
You know me as a girl more.
I know when we exit there justin case something pop off, more
I make sure me know mysurroundings.
So we were close to the bar.
(02:14):
The bar was set up on theleft-hand side and it was such a
simple setup it was literallyan open dirt pierced, like a
real old school party festival,you know and they had the fence
for the VIP section and so theywere right in front of the stage
with some tables.
(02:34):
You actually could purchase atable.
So we ended up getting a tablebecause it was fairly
inexpensive and it was easier tokind of rally behind a table,
you know.
So at least you can rest yourdrinks and, you know, just kind
of surround the table and secureyour spot within the crowd.
(02:55):
So that was nice.
Of course it's like outdoorbathroom somewhere.
You know didn't like that toomuch.
However, you know I am someonewho enjoyed the entire vibes of
the scenery.
So, to start off, since we gotthere early, there were a couple
of DJs that played.
I was really surprised at howmany DJs they had, because they
(03:17):
had like maybe six.
So I got there maybe aroundlike 7, 30 ish, eight o'clock,
um, and sizzling came on around11, um and had one hour of
opening acts.
We'll get to that later.
But I was surprised that theamount of djs that played I mean
, if you're thinking about it,that's like maybe a two hour
(03:38):
time span of spinning.
So it was maybe about four orfive djs that played in that
time span and then some of themwere playing repeat songs.
But I love the early warmsegment of any kind of event.
For me that's my favoritebecause you get to hear some of
the classics, some of the newstuff and it really does kind of
(04:08):
warm up the crowd a bit.
So the DJs did a pretty goodjob at entertaining the crowd
until we got to the performancesection.
So I think this was one of thefirst longstanding concert
events that I have been to,probably since COVID, I can't
really recall.
So you know, like standing fora long time you're like I need a
(04:28):
seat, you know.
So that was pretty interestingand you could have brought in
your chairs.
So I didn't really think aboutthat.
But I also, when it's astanding crowd and then you're
sitting and people are standingaround you, it feels a little
claustrophobic and weird.
So I really don't like that setup either.
So I definitely wore mysneakers so that, you know, I
(04:50):
make sure my cast done up aslong as possible.
But because I was dancing, Iwas fine for most of the time.
But then when the opening actsreally came on, that's when I
kind of was like all right, Imight have wanted to sit down at
that point just to kind of takein those artists.
And not that they were not good, they were actually really,
(05:10):
really good.
I think it was just hard to gofrom a party vibe setting to
opening acts of songs thatyou've never heard, and there
were about four or five of them,and I love hearing new artists,
but it was just late at night.
We were anxious to see Sizzla.
So I think, coupled with thatenergy, had it been that they
(05:30):
came on a little bit earlier andeven intertwined them with the
changing of the the selectorsthat were playing, they would
have been sprinkled inthroughout the evening, versus
just having this high energyparty set and then going to
opening acts which most hadnever heard of.
They were really good, so itdid a disservice to their talent
(05:54):
as well, because there were acouple that I wrote down, um, in
terms of just knowing who theyare, because and then they had
like a good number of songs.
So most times if you're openingan act, you do maybe like one
or two songs.
I think all of the artists didat least three, if not five or
six.
So that's a lot to hear fromnew artists whom you've never
(06:16):
heard from.
However, I did appreciate thatthe selection of artists were
really good.
If I can remember their names,I will most definitely link them
.
I think I wrote some of themdown or I have it in a video.
So I'm going to put togetherlike a little video clip to take
you guys along with me for theexperience we had such a good
(06:36):
time, so you guys can kind ofcheck out some of those artists
as well.
I haven't seen Sizzlin' in areally, really, really long time
and Sizzle is one of thoseartists that have such a really
great catalog of songs that hedoesn't really need to release
anything too new, but he does ona consistent basis.
(06:58):
I was so excited coming off ofthe Buju concert to see Sizzla
but I was excited to see Sizzlabefore anyway but his energy
level, oh my gosh, was sounmatched.
It was so good.
He performed with suchconviction and he didn't have a
band, so he was really goodwithout a band and he was super
(07:23):
energetic.
Clarity, oh my gosh, theclarity of his delivery of all
of his songs and he dideverything.
He he did not rinse anything,he played each song and he pull
it up and rewind.
I'll come again for some ofthem because we got so many big
forwards for that night.
(07:44):
The crowd was really into it andI got to hear some of my
favorite Sizzlers tunes BlackWoman and Child Oman, I Need you
.
You know all of the songs thatwe know and love.
And then, of course, he had hisdance off segment with Pum Pum,
pum.
So we got all aspects of Sizzlathat night and he really seemed
(08:08):
to enjoy the crowd.
He was enjoying himself and wewere enjoying him as he was
performing.
So I thought it was such agreat, great show.
So if Sizzla is performing in acity near you, make sure you
check him out.
By the time that this release,the concert will have already
(08:31):
happened with a full band.
If I thought this through, Iprobably should have went to go
see that show too, because theshow was so good that I would
see it twice, like it was thatgood, he's just that good.
So big up Sizzla Kalanji.
I'm so glad that I went.
If he is in your area, pleasego see him.
And I'm trying to like think Ienjoyed both.
But Sizzla was just, you know,such a vibe and I don't know if
(08:52):
it was because it was outdoor,the entire setting, the scenery,
a little bit more than my Bujaconcert.
But the Buja concert wasactually really good.
The Buja concert was actuallyreally good.
So if you can get to see thosetwo artists, make sure you do
that, because, one, they'reveterans, legends.
Two, you don't know when thenext time they're going to be
here.
And three, you know it's a goodvibe if you know the catalog.
(09:18):
So on to my experience atBarbados Crop Over.
No, I did not see Rihanna.
That was probably the numberone question that I got from a
lot of people as I was sharing,you know, stories during my trip
on my personal page.
However, I did not see Rihanna.
I did enjoy her home country,though, like it was a good time.
(09:40):
It was my first time inBarbados, first time playing um
mass at crop over um in acostume, so it was such a great
experience.
I went for a week and I reallyhave to shout out um Sha from
Ting's Nice um GlobalCarnivalist and bohemianista,
(10:01):
because, for one, sha has acarnival planning document that
came in so handy if you're goingto any carnival.
It's a great way to keeporganized, because there's a lot
of planning that goes intogoing to do carnivals
specifically in any country.
Um and and crop over lore wasno different.
(10:24):
You guys know I played intrinidad um a few years back, so
I wanted to experience cropover and it did not disappoint.
So, sha, thank you so much.
I purchased her planner, whichis digital, which you can also
use to plan, and then GlobalCarnivalist and Bahamianista had
such great reviews of theirpast experiences as well as
(10:50):
recommendations that reallyhelped in the planning process
with my friends.
I planned this with my friends,it was a collective, we all took
part in the planning.
So you know, having all ofthose resources well researched
from where to stay, where, thearea, the distance, how long,
(11:12):
what to bring All of thosethings are something that are
things that you can take intoconsideration if you are playing
mass in a city or in a countrythat isn't your own.
So they had some amazing,amazing resources for Crop Over
and I took them to heart becausea lot of the places and the
bands that they kind of talkedabout and the parties and the
(11:35):
events I did research them tosee what was happening before we
bought tickets and got intobands was happening before we
bought tickets and got intobands.
So, speaking of bands, weplayed with Crave and they are
one of the major bands that docrop over as a festival.
So what you get is your costumeon the day of, as well as
(11:55):
there's a drink truck andsecurity on the road and so
you're kind of in the parade andit's a beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful costume.
So we had a lot of fun.
So big up to to crave, thecrave band for the experience
From a party's perspective.
We didn't do too much of likeofficial parties.
(12:16):
I really wanted to leave spaceto do some exploration of other
things.
So I didn't pack our schedulewith too many events and I'm so
glad I didn't, because itallowed us to really just relax,
enjoy some of the otherelements of Barbados outside of
(12:38):
Crap Over.
So we went to Lush, which wasat a private venue Beautiful,
beautiful venue.
I think.
It was like a private home intheir backyard.
The setup was amazing.
It was in the evening,overlooking like these hills,
and what I really enjoyed isthat you drove to this parking
(12:58):
lot and they had like a miniparty.
It's like an open bus thattakes you to the actual venue,
so like the vibe starts as soonas you get on the bus and then
you get off and you get your cupand you go to the bar.
It wasn't all inclusive, so wedid buy drinks but you did get
the memorabilia of the cup andthen they had this headband of
(13:20):
something with lights.
So it was really nice, thecrowd was really nice, it was
fun and we had a really reallygood time as a group.
And you know that's always hard.
You know, collectively Everyonehas different boundaries and
things like that that you haveto kind of consider, and we all
had a really, really, reallygood time.
(13:41):
The other event that weofficially went to was Dutty
Mess, which is a juve party.
It was raining, so I'm notopposed to the rain and I
thought that it was fine and itwas really a Dutty Mess, so I
think that that kind of added tothe element of the theme of the
(14:03):
party.
However, I feel like I was alittle too old to be there.
It might just be me and I enjoyjuve, but I enjoy juve on the
road, not necessarily in anenclosed party setting.
I like that road experience.
So if I were to do it again anddo that differently, I think I
(14:26):
would either stick to some ofthe parties or just do they have
a four day, they call it fourday morning.
So we didn't want to do both,and so I would do four day
morning instead of a juve party.
But that's just me.
The other thing that I reallymentioned is really enjoying
(14:51):
Barbados as a whole, and wereally got to do that.
We went to the beach, we wentto different restaurants, we
went to this boatyard, so allthe beaches in Barbados are
accessible to everyone so youdon't have to pay to go onto the
beach or get access to thebeach.
So I love that, because thenthere wasn't any crowding or
(15:13):
anything like that.
But boatyard they had a servicewhere you could rent umbrellas
and you can go out snorkelingand we did snorkeling so that
was fun.
And as we went out and we wentinto the water, I look under the
water and there's like ashipwreck there.
(15:34):
They talked about it on theboat ride out in the water.
So I thought that that waspretty cool.
I didn't dive to go and doenough, but it had a very Little
Mermaid Ariel moment, becausewhen the day and other people in
water and I see the shipwreckand to eat, and it was
definitely at a good price Ihighly recommend.
(16:03):
We actually went back thereagain just to hang out because
the food, the bar, was reallygood, the environment of the
people that were there as wellas the staff, it was really
really nice.
So we actually went to BoatYard twice.
We also went to Oyston's FishFry.
So every Friday in thisparticular area they have what
(16:27):
is called Oyston's Fish Fry andso we got food, we ate.
It's like an outdoor marketvenue eating music, all kinds of
music.
So there were two sections.
So we got there, we gotsomething to eat and then we
kind of went to this area wherethere was open area and people
(16:47):
were dancing.
There was a lot of countrymusic line dancing happening.
And then we go to the otherside where they have this stage
and they were playing a lot oflike hip hop and reggaegae and
dancehall.
I was really surprised theamount of reggae and dancehall
that I heard.
I think in my mind, going for acrop over, I was prepared to
(17:09):
hear a lot of soca, bashmentsoca and soca um that was native
to Barbados, um but they reallyplayed a lot, a really huge mix
, and even on the road theydidn't just play new songs, they
played older songs and theyplayed stuff from Trinidad and
stuff from Grenada and stufffrom other islands.
So I thought that that wasreally nice.
(17:30):
But in my mind, preparing tohear Bashment Soka the most, and
because we were doing otherthings, hearing a lot of other
music and a lot, a lot of reggae, and so we enjoyed Oisin's Fish
Fry on the Friday.
I would definitely highlyrecommend that if you go back,
and I think Global Carnivalistrecommended that.
(17:53):
So I was like, okay, well, Ithink we should do this.
So that's, I took your, I tookyour recommendation.
I took your recommendation.
We also went to this placecalled Surfers Bay, which was
almost like a bar, so in StLawrence Gap.
So St Lawrence Gap is like thisarea, where there are a lot of
restaurants, bars, even somehotels in that area.
(18:13):
So if you stay in a hotel inthat area it's actually walkable
to the different bars andrestaurants.
So I really enjoyed that.
The Wicked Dancehall set, likeit had early 2000s and late 90s
dancehall set.
It was good.
The DJ I felt like the DJ wasplaying just for me because I
was just having such a good time.
(18:36):
We also went back to the divethat's where that was called.
We went back there twice andthen Surfers Bay was actually
not in st lauren's gap.
I I apologize, it was somewhereelse and I can't remember where
, but it was on this beautifulbeach setting.
It was like this whole openoutdoor um venue and you can
(19:00):
literally look out and see thewater.
You could go sit.
They had some picnic tables,chairs, they had area where you
could listen to the band thatwas playing or the DJ that was
playing.
They had a band and a DJ andyou could eat, you know, have a
drink.
It was like so chill, like itwas such a really, really,
(19:21):
really good experience.
From the beginning to the end.
We stayed in an Airbnb becausewe had a bigger group, so that
would work out if you have a biggroup.
If not, you can stay in a hoteltoo.
But I really had a good time inBarbados.
I definitely want to go back.
It was the perfect girls tripgetaway.
(19:41):
We enjoyed, you know, thefestivities of Crop Over the
excitement.
We enjoyed going out to thedifferent places and exploring
and just relaxing on the beach.
The beaches were absolutelybeautiful.
Everywhere we went, the waterwas gorgeous.
It was definitely hot.
It rained during KadumetKadumet is the day that they do
(20:06):
their parade but it felt goodLike you were just kept it
moving because, yeah, it was hot.
It was really, really hot.
So make sure you prepare forthat.
Bring a fan.
I forgot my fan and Iregrettedted it.
Those are some of the things tokeep in mind, but I highly
recommend, if you haven't beento Barbados, definitely go.
(20:27):
I think the cultural vibe thereis really enjoyable.
Like I felt comfortable, likewalking around, going from place
to place and they really hadsuch a variety of different
things to do for you and a groupof girlfriends, or if you're
going with significant other, oreven family friendly.
(20:49):
There was so much that wedidn't get to do.
We didn't really do like anysort of other touristy areas.
We really just wanted to kindof go enjoy the vibes, catch a
lick of wine and then come backover yad, and that's exactly
what we did.
So if you have not done cropover, make sure you add it to
your bucket list.
I highly recommend.
I think you'd have a good time,build up your stamina figure.
(21:12):
But, um, there's also plenty todo if you don't want to do all
of the different festivities.
There's so much to do, so makesure you guys check that out.
Well, that is it for me.
Thank you guys, so much fortuning in.
I appreciate you all.
I hope you guys had as aneventful summer as I had and if
(21:34):
not, you can do it all overagain very soon, god willing.
And I want to hear from you Didyou get to go to any of the
concerts, festivals?
What did you do?
Make sure you guys arefollowing us on our socials at
Stylen Vibes and until next timelater, my peeps.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the
Stylen Vibes podcast.
If you like what you hear and Iknow you do share it with your
friends and family.
If you want more, make sure youvisit styleandvibescom and
follow us on our social channels, twitter and Instagram.
At Style and Vibes.
Until next time, leah Tommypeeps.
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Silent
Vibes podcast with yours trulyMakayla.
If you are new here, welcome tothe family.
If you are returning, welcomeback family.
And it's kind of like a bigreturn because I kind of took an
impromptu time off for a littlebit in the summertime.
(00:23):
So I know we have been droppingsome re-released episodes all
summer because, you know, kindof wanted to enjoy the summer a
little bit.
As you guys know, I've been outand about and you know the rest
of the summer was no differentin the sense that I also got to
see Sizzla in concert as well asexperience Barbados Crop Over
(00:48):
Festival for the first time.
So this episode is a soloepisode.
It is talking about those twoevents.
So I think let's jump right in.
So I'm going to start inchronological order, because I
did boo-joo you guys heard theepisode on that one already and
Sizzler was also here in theStates.
(01:09):
He got back his visa so he wasable to perform here in the
States.
So I got to see him in my homestate of Connecticut.
I am very close to New York, soI tend to be in New York a lot.
However, I did see him here inConnecticut, in Hartford, at the
West Indian Social Club.
So that was, of course, areally great experience.
(01:32):
They have an inside ballroom, ifyou will like, they have a
whole inside setup, but this wasactually outside.
So the feel of the concert wasvery nostalgic, of like the
outdoor stage show, and we gotthere a little early because,
you know, when it's a standingonly venue you got to kind of
(01:53):
pick your right spot, and so wepicked a spot close to the stage
, but not right directly infront, but kind of to the right.
You know me as a girl more.
I know when we exit there justin case something pop off, more
I make sure me know mysurroundings.
So we were close to the bar.
(02:14):
The bar was set up on theleft-hand side and it was such a
simple setup it was literallyan open dirt pierced, like a
real old school party festival,you know and they had the fence
for the VIP section and so theywere right in front of the stage
with some tables.
(02:34):
You actually could purchase atable.
So we ended up getting a tablebecause it was fairly
inexpensive and it was easier tokind of rally behind a table,
you know.
So at least you can rest yourdrinks and, you know, just kind
of surround the table and secureyour spot within the crowd.
(02:55):
So that was nice.
Of course it's like outdoorbathroom somewhere.
You know didn't like that toomuch.
However, you know I am someonewho enjoyed the entire vibes of
the scenery.
So, to start off, since we gotthere early, there were a couple
of DJs that played.
I was really surprised at howmany DJs they had, because they
(03:17):
had like maybe six.
So I got there maybe aroundlike 7, 30 ish, eight o'clock,
um, and sizzling came on around11, um and had one hour of
opening acts.
We'll get to that later.
But I was surprised that theamount of djs that played I mean
, if you're thinking about it,that's like maybe a two hour
(03:38):
time span of spinning.
So it was maybe about four orfive djs that played in that
time span and then some of themwere playing repeat songs.
But I love the early warmsegment of any kind of event.
For me that's my favoritebecause you get to hear some of
the classics, some of the newstuff and it really does kind of
(04:08):
warm up the crowd a bit.
So the DJs did a pretty goodjob at entertaining the crowd
until we got to the performancesection.
So I think this was one of thefirst longstanding concert
events that I have been to,probably since COVID, I can't
really recall.
So you know, like standing fora long time you're like I need a
(04:28):
seat, you know.
So that was pretty interestingand you could have brought in
your chairs.
So I didn't really think aboutthat.
But I also, when it's astanding crowd and then you're
sitting and people are standingaround you, it feels a little
claustrophobic and weird.
So I really don't like that setup either.
So I definitely wore mysneakers so that, you know, I
(04:50):
make sure my cast done up aslong as possible.
But because I was dancing, Iwas fine for most of the time.
But then when the opening actsreally came on, that's when I
kind of was like all right, Imight have wanted to sit down at
that point just to kind of takein those artists.
And not that they were not good, they were actually really,
(05:10):
really good.
I think it was just hard to gofrom a party vibe setting to
opening acts of songs thatyou've never heard, and there
were about four or five of them,and I love hearing new artists,
but it was just late at night.
We were anxious to see Sizzla.
So I think, coupled with thatenergy, had it been that they
(05:30):
came on a little bit earlier andeven intertwined them with the
changing of the the selectorsthat were playing, they would
have been sprinkled inthroughout the evening, versus
just having this high energyparty set and then going to
opening acts which most hadnever heard of.
They were really good, so itdid a disservice to their talent
(05:54):
as well, because there were acouple that I wrote down, um, in
terms of just knowing who theyare, because and then they had
like a good number of songs.
So most times if you're openingan act, you do maybe like one
or two songs.
I think all of the artists didat least three, if not five or
six.
So that's a lot to hear fromnew artists whom you've never
(06:16):
heard from.
However, I did appreciate thatthe selection of artists were
really good.
If I can remember their names,I will most definitely link them
.
I think I wrote some of themdown or I have it in a video.
So I'm going to put togetherlike a little video clip to take
you guys along with me for theexperience we had such a good
(06:36):
time, so you guys can kind ofcheck out some of those artists
as well.
I haven't seen Sizzlin' in areally, really, really long time
and Sizzle is one of thoseartists that have such a really
great catalog of songs that hedoesn't really need to release
anything too new, but he does ona consistent basis.
(06:58):
I was so excited coming off ofthe Buju concert to see Sizzla
but I was excited to see Sizzlabefore anyway but his energy
level, oh my gosh, was sounmatched.
It was so good.
He performed with suchconviction and he didn't have a
band, so he was really goodwithout a band and he was super
(07:23):
energetic.
Clarity, oh my gosh, theclarity of his delivery of all
of his songs and he dideverything.
He he did not rinse anything,he played each song and he pull
it up and rewind.
I'll come again for some ofthem because we got so many big
forwards for that night.
(07:44):
The crowd was really into it andI got to hear some of my
favorite Sizzlers tunes BlackWoman and Child Oman, I Need you
.
You know all of the songs thatwe know and love.
And then, of course, he had hisdance off segment with Pum Pum,
pum.
So we got all aspects of Sizzlathat night and he really seemed
(08:08):
to enjoy the crowd.
He was enjoying himself and wewere enjoying him as he was
performing.
So I thought it was such agreat, great show.
So if Sizzla is performing in acity near you, make sure you
check him out.
By the time that this release,the concert will have already
(08:31):
happened with a full band.
If I thought this through, Iprobably should have went to go
see that show too, because theshow was so good that I would
see it twice, like it was thatgood, he's just that good.
So big up Sizzla Kalanji.
I'm so glad that I went.
If he is in your area, pleasego see him.
And I'm trying to like think Ienjoyed both.
But Sizzla was just, you know,such a vibe and I don't know if
(08:52):
it was because it was outdoor,the entire setting, the scenery,
a little bit more than my Bujaconcert.
But the Buja concert wasactually really good.
The Buja concert was actuallyreally good.
So if you can get to see thosetwo artists, make sure you do
that, because, one, they'reveterans, legends.
Two, you don't know when thenext time they're going to be
here.
And three, you know it's a goodvibe if you know the catalog.
(09:18):
So on to my experience atBarbados Crop Over.
No, I did not see Rihanna.
That was probably the numberone question that I got from a
lot of people as I was sharing,you know, stories during my trip
on my personal page.
However, I did not see Rihanna.
I did enjoy her home country,though, like it was a good time.
(09:40):
It was my first time inBarbados, first time playing um
mass at crop over um in acostume, so it was such a great
experience.
I went for a week and I reallyhave to shout out um Sha from
Ting's Nice um GlobalCarnivalist and bohemianista,
(10:01):
because, for one, sha has acarnival planning document that
came in so handy if you're goingto any carnival.
It's a great way to keeporganized, because there's a lot
of planning that goes intogoing to do carnivals
specifically in any country.
Um and and crop over lore wasno different.
(10:24):
You guys know I played intrinidad um a few years back, so
I wanted to experience cropover and it did not disappoint.
So, sha, thank you so much.
I purchased her planner, whichis digital, which you can also
use to plan, and then GlobalCarnivalist and Bahamianista had
such great reviews of theirpast experiences as well as
(10:50):
recommendations that reallyhelped in the planning process
with my friends.
I planned this with my friends,it was a collective, we all took
part in the planning.
So you know, having all ofthose resources well researched
from where to stay, where, thearea, the distance, how long,
(11:12):
what to bring All of thosethings are something that are
things that you can take intoconsideration if you are playing
mass in a city or in a countrythat isn't your own.
So they had some amazing,amazing resources for Crop Over
and I took them to heart becausea lot of the places and the
bands that they kind of talkedabout and the parties and the
(11:35):
events I did research them tosee what was happening before we
bought tickets and got intobands was happening before we
bought tickets and got intobands.
So, speaking of bands, weplayed with Crave and they are
one of the major bands that docrop over as a festival.
So what you get is your costumeon the day of, as well as
(11:55):
there's a drink truck andsecurity on the road and so
you're kind of in the parade andit's a beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful costume.
So we had a lot of fun.
So big up to to crave, thecrave band for the experience
From a party's perspective.
We didn't do too much of likeofficial parties.
(12:16):
I really wanted to leave spaceto do some exploration of other
things.
So I didn't pack our schedulewith too many events and I'm so
glad I didn't, because itallowed us to really just relax,
enjoy some of the otherelements of Barbados outside of
(12:38):
Crap Over.
So we went to Lush, which wasat a private venue Beautiful,
beautiful venue.
I think.
It was like a private home intheir backyard.
The setup was amazing.
It was in the evening,overlooking like these hills,
and what I really enjoyed isthat you drove to this parking
(12:58):
lot and they had like a miniparty.
It's like an open bus thattakes you to the actual venue,
so like the vibe starts as soonas you get on the bus and then
you get off and you get your cupand you go to the bar.
It wasn't all inclusive, so wedid buy drinks but you did get
the memorabilia of the cup andthen they had this headband of
(13:20):
something with lights.
So it was really nice, thecrowd was really nice, it was
fun and we had a really reallygood time as a group.
And you know that's always hard.
You know, collectively Everyonehas different boundaries and
things like that that you haveto kind of consider, and we all
had a really, really, reallygood time.
(13:41):
The other event that weofficially went to was Dutty
Mess, which is a juve party.
It was raining, so I'm notopposed to the rain and I
thought that it was fine and itwas really a Dutty Mess, so I
think that that kind of added tothe element of the theme of the
(14:03):
party.
However, I feel like I was alittle too old to be there.
It might just be me and I enjoyjuve, but I enjoy juve on the
road, not necessarily in anenclosed party setting.
I like that road experience.
So if I were to do it again anddo that differently, I think I
(14:26):
would either stick to some ofthe parties or just do they have
a four day, they call it fourday morning.
So we didn't want to do both,and so I would do four day
morning instead of a juve party.
But that's just me.
The other thing that I reallymentioned is really enjoying
(14:51):
Barbados as a whole, and wereally got to do that.
We went to the beach, we wentto different restaurants, we
went to this boatyard, so allthe beaches in Barbados are
accessible to everyone so youdon't have to pay to go onto the
beach or get access to thebeach.
So I love that, because thenthere wasn't any crowding or
(15:13):
anything like that.
But boatyard they had a servicewhere you could rent umbrellas
and you can go out snorkelingand we did snorkeling so that
was fun.
And as we went out and we wentinto the water, I look under the
water and there's like ashipwreck there.
(15:34):
They talked about it on theboat ride out in the water.
So I thought that that waspretty cool.
I didn't dive to go and doenough, but it had a very Little
Mermaid Ariel moment, becausewhen the day and other people in
water and I see the shipwreckand to eat, and it was
definitely at a good price Ihighly recommend.
(16:03):
We actually went back thereagain just to hang out because
the food, the bar, was reallygood, the environment of the
people that were there as wellas the staff, it was really
really nice.
So we actually went to BoatYard twice.
We also went to Oyston's FishFry.
So every Friday in thisparticular area they have what
(16:27):
is called Oyston's Fish Fry andso we got food, we ate.
It's like an outdoor marketvenue eating music, all kinds of
music.
So there were two sections.
So we got there, we gotsomething to eat and then we
kind of went to this area wherethere was open area and people
(16:47):
were dancing.
There was a lot of countrymusic line dancing happening.
And then we go to the otherside where they have this stage
and they were playing a lot oflike hip hop and reggaegae and
dancehall.
I was really surprised theamount of reggae and dancehall
that I heard.
I think in my mind, going for acrop over, I was prepared to
(17:09):
hear a lot of soca, bashmentsoca and soca um that was native
to Barbados, um but they reallyplayed a lot, a really huge mix
, and even on the road theydidn't just play new songs, they
played older songs and theyplayed stuff from Trinidad and
stuff from Grenada and stufffrom other islands.
So I thought that that wasreally nice.
(17:30):
But in my mind, preparing tohear Bashment Soka the most, and
because we were doing otherthings, hearing a lot of other
music and a lot, a lot of reggae, and so we enjoyed Oisin's Fish
Fry on the Friday.
I would definitely highlyrecommend that if you go back,
and I think Global Carnivalistrecommended that.
(17:53):
So I was like, okay, well, Ithink we should do this.
So that's, I took your, I tookyour recommendation.
I took your recommendation.
We also went to this placecalled Surfers Bay, which was
almost like a bar, so in StLawrence Gap.
So St Lawrence Gap is like thisarea, where there are a lot of
restaurants, bars, even somehotels in that area.
(18:13):
So if you stay in a hotel inthat area it's actually walkable
to the different bars andrestaurants.
So I really enjoyed that.
The Wicked Dancehall set, likeit had early 2000s and late 90s
dancehall set.
It was good.
The DJ I felt like the DJ wasplaying just for me because I
was just having such a good time.
(18:36):
We also went back to the divethat's where that was called.
We went back there twice andthen Surfers Bay was actually
not in st lauren's gap.
I I apologize, it was somewhereelse and I can't remember where
, but it was on this beautifulbeach setting.
It was like this whole openoutdoor um venue and you can
(19:00):
literally look out and see thewater.
You could go sit.
They had some picnic tables,chairs, they had area where you
could listen to the band thatwas playing or the DJ that was
playing.
They had a band and a DJ andyou could eat, you know, have a
drink.
It was like so chill, like itwas such a really, really,
(19:21):
really good experience.
From the beginning to the end.
We stayed in an Airbnb becausewe had a bigger group, so that
would work out if you have a biggroup.
If not, you can stay in a hoteltoo.
But I really had a good time inBarbados.
I definitely want to go back.
It was the perfect girls tripgetaway.
(19:41):
We enjoyed, you know, thefestivities of Crop Over the
excitement.
We enjoyed going out to thedifferent places and exploring
and just relaxing on the beach.
The beaches were absolutelybeautiful.
Everywhere we went, the waterwas gorgeous.
It was definitely hot.
It rained during KadumetKadumet is the day that they do
(20:06):
their parade but it felt goodLike you were just kept it
moving because, yeah, it was hot.
It was really, really hot.
So make sure you prepare forthat.
Bring a fan.
I forgot my fan and Iregrettedted it.
Those are some of the things tokeep in mind, but I highly
recommend, if you haven't beento Barbados, definitely go.
(20:27):
I think the cultural vibe thereis really enjoyable.
Like I felt comfortable, likewalking around, going from place
to place and they really hadsuch a variety of different
things to do for you and a groupof girlfriends, or if you're
going with significant other, oreven family friendly.
(20:49):
There was so much that wedidn't get to do.
We didn't really do like anysort of other touristy areas.
We really just wanted to kindof go enjoy the vibes, catch a
lick of wine and then come backover yad, and that's exactly
what we did.
So if you have not done cropover, make sure you add it to
your bucket list.
I highly recommend.
I think you'd have a good time,build up your stamina figure.
(21:12):
But, um, there's also plenty todo if you don't want to do all
of the different festivities.
There's so much to do, so makesure you guys check that out.
Well, that is it for me.
Thank you guys, so much fortuning in.
I appreciate you all.
I hope you guys had as aneventful summer as I had and if
(21:34):
not, you can do it all overagain very soon, god willing.
And I want to hear from you Didyou get to go to any of the
concerts, festivals?
What did you do?
Make sure you guys arefollowing us on our socials at
Stylen Vibes and until next timelater, my peeps.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the
Stylen Vibes podcast.
If you like what you hear and Iknow you do share it with your
friends and family.
If you want more, make sure youvisit styleandvibescom and
follow us on our social channels, twitter and Instagram.
At Style and Vibes.
Until next time, leah Tommypeeps.
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