Guyanese have been showing time and again their talent and love for the arts, especially in music and entertainment. Several of our local content producers have gone on to make themselves household names both locally and regionally and this is the same vision that is shared by upcoming soca artiste and party promoter, Pahjo Joseph.

Joseph, who runs the Duck and Drake Promotion company, gave the Buzz a brief insight into his journey from party promoter to Soca artiste. He stated that he has always been into music from a young age and had always had a love and appreciation for soca music.

Joseph said that he migrated from Guyana to the United Kingdom at the age of 19 and shortly after, he started promoting shows and parties. He said that although he always had this love for the art form, he never had the chance to pursue that career until he received a push sometime last year.

“Last year I had a close friend who passed away, and one of the things he would always say is if you love something do; it if you love music do it, it’s now or never and I thought about those words after his passing and I said to myself ‘why am I not doing what I love, I write music, why not do it?’ So I hit up a producer friend of mine, Joel Brown and we started my first single ‘Ah mas’ and some of the other stuff that I’ve got coming up,” the artiste shared.

Joseph along with Brown who runs the Joey2Cool Production Company worked together on his first single and several other projects. Joseph explained that through his company Duck and Drake Promotion, he has been exposed to several soca artistes and producers and he feels that this gave him a greater understanding into how he wants to go forward with his music. Further, he stated that following his dream was a decision he had to make and had to be committed to seeing through. He stated that he has ensured that although he wants to get his music out, it is also important that he only creates quality music.

He added that he would have noticed that Guyana is an “overflowing pot of talent” and that he is proud to be Guyanese and to represent Guyana and its diverse culture and experiences through his music, and says he would encourage any young Guyanese artiste to do the same if given the platform.

Joseph stated that the COVID -19 pandemic has slowed the rate at which he can reach people through his music, and even had to cancel what was supposed to be his debut performance of his song ‘Ah Mas’, which was supposed to be performed along with several of his other songs, at the 2020 Guyana Carnival.

“When I released ‘Ah Mas’ in February/March, Trinidad carnival was done and Guyana was meant to be the next carnival that I could have been at. I mean it is being played on the radio and these online parties and stuff but in terms of getting it out there there’s nothing better than getting that experience in person; people see your energy, feeling your energy and they are more engaged with that feeling. There’s none of that happening at the moment,” he said.

He stated that while the COVID pandemic has pushed back his opportunities to perform live, he has taken advantage of the free time and has been writing and composing more and more songs with this producer. He stated that just this weekend he has wrapped up production on a dancehall music video which he will be dropping on his son’s birthday on August 10.

Joseph told the Buzz that he is happy to have had the opportunity to be a part of the art form that he is so passionate about, not just promoting music and events, but he feels blessed to have the opportunity to work on his music and his craft to be able to share it with lovers and supporters of music and soca.