Tonight, Trinidad and Tobago radio personality, Kwesi Lee, who’s best known as SupaHype, debuts his reformatted ‘Out Dey TV’. It’s an online entertainment series that Lee started in mid 2020. Tonight, at 9pm, SupaHype airs a tell-all interview with well known Trinidad dancehall artist, Trinidad Killa. They speak on sensitive topics, inclusive of homelessness and allegations of homosexuality.
SupaHype, a BoomChampions on-air personality told BOOM E-News Digital that he has reformatted the programme somewhat, having faced some backlash since it first aired two years ago. The aim however, remains clear; ‘Out Dey TV’ is all about youth empowerment.
“It’s a youth driven programme based on uplifting, or bringing to light, the talented youths that we have here in Trinidad and Tobago. The platform was created to showcase the different genres of music that youths here in Trinidad and Tobago participate in and promote on their own,” SupaHype explained. He however lamented that since its initial debut, some key figures in the Trinidad dancehall movement, often dubbed, ‘TriniBad’, have been brutally killed.
“Initially, we got phenomenal support and managed to open doors that previously were seen as impossible to open. I was able to meet with people from VP records, NY’s Hot 93FM and now, I’m in talks with people from 300 Records, which is a US based record company, said Hype. He however admitted that there was a downside to it all. “With that came a lot of negativity though. Within Trinidad, a number of the artistes got themselves in legal trouble and crime. Some of the artistes were murdered and arrested, among them, Rebel Sixx, Verse and Brad. A lot of negative things started to cloud what the movement was about,” he said.
SupaHype said initially the TriniBad movement was an alliance of friends who shared in the excitement of the music they all proved capable of delivering, however, things eventually changed. He said there are now some artistes, who, having realized the effects of the negative narrative that was being promoted, have revamped their ambitions, promoting what they now call, ‘TriniGood’ music. Social Media a major part of promotion and marketing, SupaHype said despite his effort to shift focus to more positive content in the recent past, the views and shares across social media platforms proved that people prefer content that is, as he put it, “the most bad, the most sad, and the most mad.”
The interview with Trinidad Killa airs on Out Dey TV on YouTube at 9pm.
“This time around, I am not showcasing the music so much, but the artistes in the movement,” said SupaHype. He also made it clear that the interviews will not be restricted to Trinidad and Tobago’s artistes only.
