WHAT WOULD have seemed like an unrealistic dream for a group of boys growing in the village of Hopetown on the West Coast of Berbice, is now more than a reality, but an opportunity for greatness in the music industry, not only in Guyana but abroad.

Calipack is a group of young boys exploring their talent in hip-pop and rap music and working hard with little financing and sponsorship to materialise their first album which is slated for release in May. The two main rappers in the group are Fonsie James AKA Calipackcuban and Kevin Kowlessar AKA Caliprince. The backup singers and dancers are Terrol Mcfarlane AKA Calipackgunny, Clifton Mars AKA Fitzy, Hakeem Fisher AKA Calipackkeem, Sherland Gillis and AKA 5Gillie

In an interview with the Buzz, James related that the group was officially formed in 2011 but its realisation dates back to when the young aspiring rappers were in secondary school in Hopetown village. “I remember years back going to the Sapodilla Learning Centre with Kevin Kowlessar as kids and lunchtime all the boys would be at the lunch table beating on desks with our hands and slinging it. It was then and there I realised I wanted to do music, the togetherness and laughter it brought us was amazing,” James related.

Knowing that the village is very close-knit and the support would be real, the boys were inspired to push their music further and in 2011, got their first session with a studio called Rhythm of Life. It was there that James recorded his first song, ‘Make Money’ which was a dancehall reggaeton track. The track received favourable reception from the villagers and also other neighbouring villages and the boys’ popularity began to spiral, but something was still keeping them back from breaking out of the little box of their village.

More exposure
Rather than to be known as a random group of boys, James said that a strategic plan was needed and the first thing on the agenda was to get a “dope” name, according to them. “The same night I was watching a documentary on Pablo Escobar and came across one of the world’s most notorious drug cartels syndicate called cali cartel, it wasn’t what they did that inspired me but it was their loyalty to each other and that is where I coined the term ‘Calipack’ for loyalty and pack because we are a group with collective talent,” he said.

Official writing and recording of Hip Hop songs commenced and after a year at Rhythm of Life, the group started recording at Sykamoh Records in New Amsterdam. “We got our first popular song ‘Adorn’ followed by ‘Swagging Everyday’. At that time we were searching for our voice and in 2015 this girl who kept hip-hop shows and open mic nights contacted us to perform. We drove to Georgetown to perform and then we started gaining an audience out of Berbice. We created a buzz and a spark of interest in our music,” he said.

The group started performing at shows held at the National Park next to the likes of Shelly G, Kwaci Ace and Lisa Punch after they started recording at the Georgetown studio Q5 where manager Franale Holder really pushed them for greatness.

Greatness in the U.S.A
After two members of the group migrated to the U.S, they encouraged the others to travel in 2017 since they had already bought studio equipment and had it set up in the room they stayed in. The group started their first mixtape called Swavy but continued to drop singles in between.

“We hooked up with a producer from Master T Records, both Master T and Q5 records are helping us to make this tape a reality. We dropped our first single in the U.S called ‘Look we Do’.” The official album is slated for release in May. This is the biggest gig from the group thus far; to magnify from their little village in West Coast Berbice to a studio in New Jersey, USA.

According to James, the group sometimes becomes emotional as the members reminisce about all the struggles they would have experienced, the stagnation, the lack of finance and support amongst other things.

One of the biggest challenges he said is the belief that Guyana is not a hip-hop country but they are on the verge of changing that rationale. “We refer to our music as ‘swavy’, it’s just cool, chilled, trapped, ‘trancy’, emotional music and now we are targeting a larger market and we are working up the ladder to burst out in NJ, since we have a lot of support rather than in our own country,” James said.

He is encouraging the Guyanese audiences to give the hip-hop genre a chance and to provide support to the young and upcoming artiste in the local industry.