Soca star Kevin Lyttle of St. Vincent goes chart hunting with ‘Island Ting’, a song on which he collaborates with Jamaican dancehall deejay Charly Black. He produced the track which was released in July.
Best known for the 2003 mega hit “Turn me on” (with Spragga Benz), Lyttle reached out to Charly Black for another soca/dancehall combo he believes has the goods to get fans jamming.
Charly Black is best known for the 2018 dancehall song, “Gyal You a Party Animal”, which was popular in South America. In a recent interview with The Fix Podcast, Lyttle spoke about his willingness to work with artists from different genres. He said his colleagues from St. Vincent have similar beliefs.
Lytle pointed to songs like “Teaser” by Beckett and “Problem Child” by Skinny Fabulous as examples. “The songs of St. Vincent have always been very crossed between soca, reggae and dancehall. St. Vincent is the place where soca was slowed down,” he noted.
“Turn me on” was initially released as a soca ballad in 2001. Two years later, the remix with Spragga Benz entered the Top 10 of the British national chart and peaked at number four on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It was also a massive seller in Europe where Lyttle recently toured. In 2023, “Turn me on” was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 1.2 million in the United Kingdom.