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Mistah Shak hails from the modest but culturally vibrant southern Borough of Siparia, in Trinidad & Tobago. He is undoubtedly one of the most authentic, dominant, revolutionary, modern voices & representations of T&T's indigenous calypso art-form, with his own unique, energetic blend & flavour, which he describes as “KaiSoca”. Regarded by many as the quintessential “Kaiso Rebel”, he has been professionally involved in music & performing arts since 1997, however, his involvement on a semi-professional level began from almost a decade prior, having joined his first band in 1990 at age 12 as a guitarist, then moved to being the band’s bass-player. He has been a versatile composer & recording artiste since 2001, composing every song he has recorded to date, (which also span different genres & flavors), while also co-producing & arranging most of them.
In the “kaiso-gayelle”, Mistah Shak has been a 10-time National Calypso Monarch Semi-Finalist, and a 5-time Dimanche Gras Calypso Monarch Finalist. Among a few of the titles he has thus far earned in the arena are, the South/Central Calypso History Month Monarch 2011, Categories Political Monarch 2014, as well as the San Fernando Calypso Monarch on four (4) occasions. The NACC nominated & listed his kaiso compositions "Rogue" & "Bois" among the Top 20 Calypsoes of 2010 & 2014 respectively, and another of his songs, “Generation Next” as one of the 40 best calypsoes of 2016. The lyrics of some of his calypso works have already been referenced & directly quoted, in academic theses, writings & studies locally and abroad. He has worked alongside many aspiring, as well as seasoned calypso performers in T&T, and also in territories such as St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Grenada & the U.S. helping them to craft their kaiso compositions for competitions and recordings. Mistah Shak also provides tutelage & workshops in Calypso Composition and Stage Performance & Presentation, at Primary & Secondary School levels.
He is the co-founder of “Trinfinity A.R.T.S.”, an alliance of practitioners from different artistic realms, through which they produce and promote events, combining & utilizing their various artistic disciplines to address socially prevalent and relevant issues.