In the culmination towards another successful year experienced in the London soca scene, this past weekend welcomed another award ceremony, recognising the hard work that has been put in by the soca fraternity at large.

Held at the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury, a location that has become synonymous with prestigious UK soca events, Matthew ‘The Baldhead Grenadian’ and Paulette Ross held the 8th year annual black tie and full formal evening wear award ceremony, an event that was both successful and memorable in attendance and experience. With regality in abundance, attendees and nominees were draped in the finest material and treated to a sumptuous meal, entertainment from various artists and music provided by the Soca Prince Martin Jay.

The Calabash Awards is a ceremony that celebrates and awards UK based personalities in the categories of Soca, Calypso, Radio, Events and DJ and is impartial in its nomination system, with votes cast by the public at large, recognising the efforts put in by varied personalities within the UK soca scene. It is the event to be seen at, attracting the Who is Who of the Caribbean music/media industry with past notable attendees such as Rudolph Walker, the Trinidadian actor awarded an order of chivalry by her Majesty, the Queen.

The winners of the 2012 Calabash Awards are:

Calabash Best Young Soca DJ Award:
Dj-Soca Ratty

Calabash Best Calypso Artist Award:
Brown Sugar

Calabash Best Soca Artist Award:
Muzik lil Muzik

Calabash Best Club/Party DJ Award:
Tate Ubik

Calabash Best Radio DJ Award:
Shaker Hd

Calabash Best Soca Promotion Award:
ReleaseDRiddim

Whilst there has been feigned criticism veiled at the organisers’ overall support of the scene throughout the year and the constant winners who seem to scoop the same coveted awards, there has been a rotation of new nominees most noticeably in the Best Young Soca DJ and Best Soca Promotion awards and with the growing successful, talent pool in the UK, the coming years can hope to see a change and new names on the winning list.

The UKSS team, reached out to a few of the winners who had this to say about their recent win:

Shaker Hd – Calabash Best Radio DJ Award

I honestly didn’t expect it. I went to the calabash awards to support and party. When I heard my name I was surprised.

With this award I clearly can see people appreciate and support my weekly Soca Show on a Thursday on www.socafrenzyradio.com, and I just hope to get the continuous support, and keep on bringing Soca to the World.

So thank you everyone that voted. Respect to all the other DJs in the category because I know they all work hard… oh yea and subscribe to my podcast. Follow me on Twitter: DJ_Shaker_HD, Soundcloud: shakerhd

Muzik lil Muzik – Calabash Best Soca Artist Award

Thanks for the love, we appreciate it.

We would just like to say:

“We were always appreciative of being nominated for the award, and was happy that UK Soca artists were given an opportunity to be recognised. Having so many great UK artists we never anticipated the win. However, actually winning the award has been humbling and a great honour. We are grateful to have received this title, and have all our hard work from the beginning of our journey appreciated. Coming this far in just over two years, achieving a number of titles and awards, has shown us that limits are made to be challenged. Therefore we shall continue to challenge these limitations as we work hard, positively promoting Soca music and pushing our caribbean culture to higher heights.

We are excited about the future of UK Soca!”

The UKSS team would like to congratulate all those who were nominated and to the recipients of the 2012 awards.

CHEERS to another great year and successful years to come.