NATION NEWS (Barbados ) – IT’S BT versus GT.
And, the battle is being fought on the airwaves and on stage at Crop-Over tents.

First there was GT Advice.Now there is Keep Yuh Guyanese Wine.

And both songs couldn’t have been penned at a better time when there is tension between Guyana and Barbados following the announcement by Prime Minister David Thompson of an amnesty which requires all illegal Guyanese in Barbados to have their status regularised between June 1 and December.

Guyanese Nalini Sukhram, the voice behind GT Advice

GT Advice, written, arranged and produced by Eric Lewis of Madd Entertainment and sung by Nalini Sukhram has already mashed some corns, particularly of Bajan women. The song highlights the things they do that “run the Bajan men”. The Guyanese singer gives advice on how to keep the Bajan men coming back for more.

That song prompted a swift response in the song Keep Yuh Guyanese Wine by Shontelle Cummins, also known as Thickey Sweets.

Quick to point out she has never been horned by a Guyanese woman, this first-timer to the calypso stage came out with a bang last Friday and even got an encore when she performed her song at Celebration Time tent.

Witty, with some biting lyrics, mixed with some serious and saucy dance moves, Thicky Sweets said even though she wasn’t necessarily “ruffled” by the GT song, she had to come out and represent the Bajan women.

Her song, though, she insists, is not a personal attack on Guyanese ladies.

“My song comes from a different angle. It doesn’t pinpoint or respond to everything that she said in her song because that would have been more like a personal attack at her and the Guyanese ladies. That’s why I chose not to mention the cooking and the parachute panties [lyrics in the GT song].

“I know Bajan women can cook. We know we can cook and we know we have it going on so the song didn’t really ruffle my feathers. I decided to take the high road and just do a party song, something that incorporated dancing just to put a lighter perspective to the whole issue.”

Shontelle Cummins, also known as Thickey Sweets leading the Bajan response to the GT Advice.

Thicky Sweets says she isn’t taking the GT song personally, nor is she offended by it.

“When you first hear the song you can probably get offended by it, but when you understand the history of the song and how it came about then you don’t take it so personal. To me a lot of people are getting really ruffled by the song and I don’t know why they should because a lot of us have never been in a position like that,” she said.

Still, Thicky Sweets offers up a slamming “sling shot”, and a steamy “hot wuk” as she tells the Guyanese to keep their wine.

“I can’t give away too much when it comes to the sling shot because the Guyanese women would take note and use it on us,” she said with a laugh.

“The sling shot is copyrighted. It’s a dance move I created because I wanted to keep the Bajan public wondering. I wanted people to come to the tent to see what the sling shot really was,” she said.

And why the Jamaican dance “hot wuk”?

“I put that in purposely to show it is not Bajan-Guyanese rivalry because I don’t want it to be a personal attack. She’s [the Guyanese singer] is poking fun and I’m poking fun,” she said.

The original song took Thicky Sweets five minutes to write because the words simply flowed. It was written the same day she heard GT Advice.

Then, the 30-year-old who writes poetry, had to work with song writer Shawney to tweak the song for airplay.

After a lot of editing the two settled on this version of the song. (See accompanying lyrics).

Thicky Sweets, however, boasted that all the tent verses were all penned by her, and in her words “they are hot and steamy”.

In the tent last week, she got a chance to test the audience with one of the verses.

When she first hit the stage she said she was nervous and didn’t know what to expect.

“For all I knew I could have been going before a full Guyanese crowd, but when I got on stage, people were clapping and you can see the anticipation of what I will come with. I started to feel the song, and got into it, and put down the dance moves,” she said, noting too that she was comfortable knowing her family was there to support her.

She said the feedback she has received so far is encouraging, especially since she plans to come back next year with a serious commentary and something funny.

Thicky Sweets, who also works at Digicel, is ready for the long haul of the season and says she will be bumping up on her intake of vitamins to help her keep up with the late nights at the tents. She said keeping up with her six-year-old daughter Mikaila Mason will also help her energy levels up.

So far, there has been no negative responses to her song, and she says she doesn’t expect any.

Thickey Sweets doesn’t even subscribe to the view that Guyanese women are taking away Bajan men.

“It’s not automatic that you go to Guyana to find a partner. It’s not your first reaction to say I want a woman from Guyana. It just is where you are at that time in your life. Everyone is entitled to their point of view,” said this newcomer with a smile.

Keep Yuh Guyanese Wine
Lyrics
1st Verse:
Dis one fuh dat Guyanese
Who really tink she could please
Say how she got advice fuh we
She like she drunk or crazy

She say how dem got we men
Cause we can’t satisfy dem
But tek a leaf out we book
We know how to get de men hook

Chorus
So keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Hot Wuk”
He come back all de time

Keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Sling Shot”
It surely gine blow he mind

2nd Verse:
GT don’t move so fast
We Bajan women got class
One thing you cud guarantee
We does choose we men wisely
Cause when its time fuh action
Love making wid a passion
So step up yuh game honey
Position is de art of gunnery

Chorus
So keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Hot Wuk”
He come back all de time

Keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Sling Shot”
It surely gine blow he mind

Just move de waistline slow
Dem tings she don’t know
Pooch back pun he so
Dem tings she don’t know
Bend down and touch yuh toe
Dem tings she don’t know
Bounce pun it like so
Dem tings she don’t know

So keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Hot Wuk”
He come back all de time

So keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Sling Shot”
It surely gine blow he mind

3rd Verse:
I must get dis off me chest
GT gal there is no contest
When we step out and looking cute
De men give we gun salute
We got de hips and lips and de men at we fingertips
So if you don’t tink it’s true
Ask my man and he will tell you

Chorus
So keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Hot Wuk”
He come back all de time

So keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Sling Shot”
It surely gine blow he mind

Just move de waistline slow
Dem tings she don’t know
Pooch back pun it so
Dem tings she don’t know
Bend down and touch yuh toe
Dem tings she don’t know
Bounce pun it like so
Dem tings she don’t know

So keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Hot Wuk”
He come back all de time

So keep yuh guyanese wine
Keep yuh guyanese wine
When I give he de “Sling Shot”
It surely gine blow he mind