CHROMATICS

Although not well known outside of T&T, Chromatics has long been the most visible face of the country’s homegrown rap scene. His latest release, a Skillz-style “rap up” of T&T’s 2012 Carnival (above), has caused some controversy recently. - Okay Player/ Large Up.com

Well, the Carnival is over and post-mortems are presently being carried out by the various entities involved in the festival. Of these reviews on C2K12 the most interesting to date is in the form of hip-hop produced by local rap artiste, Chromatics whose musings on the just concluded festival are both humorous and harsh.
The song is titled, “Carnival Rap Up” and revisits certain events and some of the controversy that reared during the season. Chromatics voiced a lot of sentiments shared by others who, for various reasons, would not raise their voices. The Express spoke with Chromatics on March 2 asking him what inspired him to create the song.
“There was a lack of inspiration to create during the Carnival. I was trying to work on my next album and nothing was coming to me. Then all of a sudden the idea to write a song about what I saw taking place in the Carnival came to me. That was in February and every time something of interest happened or I heard something interesting, I wrote it down. Then after the Soca Monarch, I started to put it together over Carnival weekend and finished on the Thursday after Carnival,” Chromatics said.
Chromatics held no punches and went for the jugular through his lyrics. He opens saying that Ash Wednesday is like New Year’s for artistes such as himself who are not in the soca arena. Chromatics goes on to address issues such as the feud between Bunji Garlin his wife, Fay-Ann Lyons and Machel Montano; how some artistes are ignored by the media when the so-called big guns are around and the crazy things people do when drunk or get caught up in the madness at the Carnival fetes.
“I just expressed what I feel and spoke about what I have been seeing taking place. I don’t have any fear about who will take offence. I never intended for the song to be played on radio, but when a radio DJ approached me and asked for an edited version, I did one and now it is playing on all the urban radio stations, except the two 96’s of course. The song was recorded and mixed by DJ Pun.
“I am very happy that it is creating a buzz in a space when traditionally radio slumps back into the Jamaican music, pushing out the local artistes. So I am hoping this will lead to more local music getting a fair share. I even heard that Prophet Benjamin is doing a reponse to my song, which I am looking forward to hearing,” Chromatics said.
Chromatics was born, Richard Raj-Kumar in 1982 in St Joseph to a British mother and Trinidadian father of East Indian descent. He was introduced to hip-hop by a cousin in 1990, and this marked the beginning of his career. He first started writing his own songs in1994 and is among the top hip-hop artistes on the island. His unique style blends Trinidadian dialect with the North American hip-hop music with hits of various local music forms included.
To hear “Carnival Wrap Up” and contact Chromatics you can go to youtube.com/matics868

—Wayne Bowman - The Trinidad Express Newspaper

Well, the Carnival is over and post-mortems are presently being carried out by the various entities involved in the festival. Of these reviews on C2K12 the most interesting to date is in the form of hip-hop produced by local rap artiste, Chromatics whose musings on the just concluded festival are both humorous and harsh.
The song is titled, “Carnival Rap Up” and revisits certain events and some of the controversy that reared during the season. Chromatics voiced a lot of sentiments shared by others who, for various reasons, would not raise their voices. The Express spoke with Chromatics on March 2 asking him what inspired him to create the song.
“There was a lack of inspiration to create during the Carnival. I was trying to work on my next album and nothing was coming to me. Then all of a sudden the idea to write a song about what I saw taking place in the Carnival came to me. That was in February and every time something of interest happened or I heard something interesting, I wrote it down. Then after the Soca Monarch, I started to put it together over Carnival weekend and finished on the Thursday after Carnival,” Chromatics said.
Chromatics held no punches and went for the jugular through his lyrics. He opens saying that Ash Wednesday is like New Year’s for artistes such as himself who are not in the soca arena. Chromatics goes on to address issues such as the feud between Bunji Garlin his wife, Fay-Ann Lyons and Machel Montano; how some artistes are ignored by the media when the so-called big guns are around and the crazy things people do when drunk or get caught up in the madness at the Carnival fetes.
“I just expressed what I feel and spoke about what I have been seeing taking place. I don’t have any fear about who will take offence. I never intended for the song to be played on radio, but when a radio DJ approached me and asked for an edited version, I did one and now it is playing on all the urban radio stations, except the two 96’s of course. The song was recorded and mixed by DJ Pun.
“I am very happy that it is creating a buzz in a space when traditionally radio slumps back into the Jamaican music, pushing out the local artistes. So I am hoping this will lead to more local music getting a fair share. I even heard that Prophet Benjamin is doing a reponse to my song, which I am looking forward to hearing,” Chromatics said.
Chromatics was born, Richard Raj-Kumar in 1982 in St Joseph to a British mother and Trinidadian father of East Indian descent. He was introduced to hip-hop by a cousin in 1990, and this marked the beginning of his career. He first started writing his own songs in1994 and is among the top hip-hop artistes on the island. His unique style blends Trinidadian dialect with the North American hip-hop music with hits of various local music forms included.
To hear “Carnival Wrap Up” and contact Chromatics you can go to youtube.com/matics868

—Wayne Bowman - The Trinidad Express Newspaper

Acceptance of some of the major faux pas of the music industry may be good enough for some members of the fraternity, but for Chromatics and MX Prime, better known as Maximus Dan, settling is just not their MO. The duo have had issues with recent developments in the industry, whereby they believe some radio DJs have entered and desecrated the realm of the music industry sanctum. Their reaction—a collaborated hip hop single entitled Extreme. “So they say it takes two hands to clap. But it only takes one to buss a slap.

“And they say that Trinis shouldn’t rap. And some find that announcers shouldn’t sing. “But every man...trying to get in the ring. Trying to crown themselves king...” the song says. “It really depicts the fact that we are not willing to bow, or be taken for granted by the industry, us being full time artistes and all,” explained Chromatics, whose real name is Richard Raj-Kumar. “When you do this for a living, and matters like this crop up, sometimes you have to take your protests to the extreme,” he said.

The “controversial” song was released almost two months ago, and is already receiving heavy rotation on the air waves. “Everybody loves it! We haven’t gotten one bad review yet, and I hope that doesn’t change,” Raj-Kumar disclosed. But why hip hop and not soca? According to owner of Highway Records, both he and Maximus felt it was the genre through which the message could be most effectively delivered. “My heart wasn’t in the soca, and I couldn’t say what I had to say through it.

“Its sad to say, but unless you’re singing about ‘D road’ and partying, its difficult to a the message across with soca,” he lamented. Raj-Kumar admitted he had always wanted to do a collaboration with Maximus, but was waiting for the right opportunity. “We have similar interests within the industry, so when this issue came up we decided that instead of just complaining about it, like so many others, we would do something about it.”

They co-wrote the song, which he said with a chuckle, had about four choruses before they finally settled on one. It was produced by the San Fernando based Quake D Mic. Extreme will make it’s live debut tomorrow at the Boom Champion’s WETA in Arima. “Although we’ve been promoting it on radio and TV, its the first time we will be performing the song live,” Raj-Kumar said, adding that a video was in the making. “Expect revolutionary images, aggressive images. Expect to see the lyrics expressed visually,” he said.
- The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper

Acceptance of some of the major faux pas of the music industry may be good enough for some members of the fraternity, but for Chromatics and MX Prime, better known as Maximus Dan, settling is just not their MO. The duo have had issues with recent developments in the industry, whereby they believe some radio DJs have entered and desecrated the realm of the music industry sanctum. Their reaction—a collaborated hip hop single entitled Extreme. “So they say it takes two hands to clap. But it only takes one to buss a slap.

“And they say that Trinis shouldn’t rap. And some find that announcers shouldn’t sing. “But every man...trying to get in the ring. Trying to crown themselves king...” the song says. “It really depicts the fact that we are not willing to bow, or be taken for granted by the industry, us being full time artistes and all,” explained Chromatics, whose real name is Richard Raj-Kumar. “When you do this for a living, and matters like this crop up, sometimes you have to take your protests to the extreme,” he said.

The “controversial” song was released almost two months ago, and is already receiving heavy rotation on the air waves. “Everybody loves it! We haven’t gotten one bad review yet, and I hope that doesn’t change,” Raj-Kumar disclosed. But why hip hop and not soca? According to owner of Highway Records, both he and Maximus felt it was the genre through which the message could be most effectively delivered. “My heart wasn’t in the soca, and I couldn’t say what I had to say through it.

“Its sad to say, but unless you’re singing about ‘D road’ and partying, its difficult to a the message across with soca,” he lamented. Raj-Kumar admitted he had always wanted to do a collaboration with Maximus, but was waiting for the right opportunity. “We have similar interests within the industry, so when this issue came up we decided that instead of just complaining about it, like so many others, we would do something about it.”

They co-wrote the song, which he said with a chuckle, had about four choruses before they finally settled on one. It was produced by the San Fernando based Quake D Mic. Extreme will make it’s live debut tomorrow at the Boom Champion’s WETA in Arima. “Although we’ve been promoting it on radio and TV, its the first time we will be performing the song live,” Raj-Kumar said, adding that a video was in the making. “Expect revolutionary images, aggressive images. Expect to see the lyrics expressed visually,” he said.
- The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper

Chromatics says he wouldn’t usually buss anything from his upcoming mix tape until a month after Carnival to let everyone get the soca out of their system, but the subject matter of this certain song made it right to bring it one time. Which is how Carnival Wrap Up found itself live on YouTube.com last Sunday morning.

Then the video started clocking views. Twelve thousand of them by the end of that day. For T&T standards that has it stepping with the viralists of viral videos, Santana and all jealous out there. Then radio stations began contacting him for a version to play on air. Something he didn’t expect at a time when the flood of foreign non-soca comes down.

It’s not like Chromatics is new; he’s a staple on the hip hop scene in T&T, he’s had radio airplay before, he might be best remembered for being one third of Spotrushaz, but a hit like this surprised lots of people, including him. In fact, the video continues to gain popularity despite the recent YouTube imposed age restriction. That might have something to do with the thumbnail photo. It’s the pic of an alleged stripped down army fete attendee (but is actually of a man in Ghana). To see it now you have to sign in to your YouTube account. Chromatics says there is a tab on his Facebook page allowing you to view it if you have any problems with YouTube.

An informal survey of university students who viewed the video said that they liked it, and would share it with friends because, as one girl put it, “Daiz the truth, daiz what me and my friends sayin’ whole season.” And Chromatics admits that the content of the song shouldn’t be taken as a personal vendetta necessarily. He says he took the vibe from the street and put together the comments he heard again and again, well, the ones that stood out for him anyway.
He says he hopes those mentioned in the song will take it in the same vein as calypso picong.



He did dare to picong some heavy hitters though: Destra, Anthony Chow Lin On, Iwer, Swappi and Machel all got a jab. Practically the only compliment in it went out to Benjai, oh, and KI. He may claim to not be malicious, but that didn’t stop YouTube commentators from going hard. Practically all of the over 110 comments are giving support to either Chromatics or a specific statement. Comments like, “This (expletive removed) win”, “Old time kaiso evolved, that is social commentary”, and “rated CT, for Classic Tune”. Four days after upload the video had 42,950 views and 442 likes. As for the dislikes, here’s another viewer comment, “I guess the six people who disliked it was probably mentioned, lol”.

Indeed, soca artistes have been known to tote, so we shall see if any of them respond to his sentiments, by statement or a musical reply. Okay, an artiste reply might be too much to hope for, but imitators are guaranteed. In fact, it’s already begun with other wrap-ups popping up. Chromatics may have well started a new post-Carnival tradition. As a matter of fact, come the Sunday after Ash Wednesday we will be WAITING.
- METRO MAGAZINE

Chromatics says he wouldn’t usually buss anything from his upcoming mix tape until a month after Carnival to let everyone get the soca out of their system, but the subject matter of this certain song made it right to bring it one time. Which is how Carnival Wrap Up found itself live on YouTube.com last Sunday morning.

Then the video started clocking views. Twelve thousand of them by the end of that day. For T&T standards that has it stepping with the viralists of viral videos, Santana and all jealous out there. Then radio stations began contacting him for a version to play on air. Something he didn’t expect at a time when the flood of foreign non-soca comes down.

It’s not like Chromatics is new; he’s a staple on the hip hop scene in T&T, he’s had radio airplay before, he might be best remembered for being one third of Spotrushaz, but a hit like this surprised lots of people, including him. In fact, the video continues to gain popularity despite the recent YouTube imposed age restriction. That might have something to do with the thumbnail photo. It’s the pic of an alleged stripped down army fete attendee (but is actually of a man in Ghana). To see it now you have to sign in to your YouTube account. Chromatics says there is a tab on his Facebook page allowing you to view it if you have any problems with YouTube.

An informal survey of university students who viewed the video said that they liked it, and would share it with friends because, as one girl put it, “Daiz the truth, daiz what me and my friends sayin’ whole season.” And Chromatics admits that the content of the song shouldn’t be taken as a personal vendetta necessarily. He says he took the vibe from the street and put together the comments he heard again and again, well, the ones that stood out for him anyway.
He says he hopes those mentioned in the song will take it in the same vein as calypso picong.



He did dare to picong some heavy hitters though: Destra, Anthony Chow Lin On, Iwer, Swappi and Machel all got a jab. Practically the only compliment in it went out to Benjai, oh, and KI. He may claim to not be malicious, but that didn’t stop YouTube commentators from going hard. Practically all of the over 110 comments are giving support to either Chromatics or a specific statement. Comments like, “This (expletive removed) win”, “Old time kaiso evolved, that is social commentary”, and “rated CT, for Classic Tune”. Four days after upload the video had 42,950 views and 442 likes. As for the dislikes, here’s another viewer comment, “I guess the six people who disliked it was probably mentioned, lol”.

Indeed, soca artistes have been known to tote, so we shall see if any of them respond to his sentiments, by statement or a musical reply. Okay, an artiste reply might be too much to hope for, but imitators are guaranteed. In fact, it’s already begun with other wrap-ups popping up. Chromatics may have well started a new post-Carnival tradition. As a matter of fact, come the Sunday after Ash Wednesday we will be WAITING.
- METRO MAGAZINE

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Chromatics dishes it out in post Carnival rap up
No fear of backlash
Published:
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Aba A Luke

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Richard “Chromatics” Raj Kumar is the voice and lyricist behind Carnival Rap Up.

“For people like me, Ash Wednesday come like New Year’s so prepare your ears, here’s Mr Doh Care. First I went Ladies First, special section upstairs—Laundry watch me like ‘this my dance, who let he in here?” Have you heard those lyrics somewhere before? In the past week, there’s no doubt that you may have stumbled upon a track either on You Tube or on one of the urban frequencies here in T&T, where this refrain is belted out by none other than Richard “Chromatics” Raj Kumar. It’s a lethal dose of post-Carnival reality, wrapped up, or as he put it, “rapped” up and distributed to undoubtedly invoke some level of discussion and thought on a number of things that took place within C2K12. The Trini born rapper, who has been at the fore of the local rap fraternity for many years, said the song which was released around 7 am on February 25 has been making the rounds and is generating quite a bit of interest within both the radio and DJ circles and in the public domain as well.

“I got the idea during the Carnival season. I was kind of lacking a lot of inspiration because you know Carnival season isn’t really our time. When I say our time, I mean hip hop artistes, reggae artistes and dancehall artistes from Trinidad. “During the Carnival lines started to pop in my head and around Carnival weekend I wrote the first verse and on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, I finished it off and recorded it,” said Chromatics. He noted that after hearing the finished product he told himself that he needed to put the track out into the public domain quickly. He proceeded to upload the raw version of the song, with a video onto YouTube and within ten minutes of posting, the video had received 300 views. “A radio announcer was one of the first persons to comment on the track. He said, ‘yo, I want a clean version,’” explained the rapper. He said he had never intended to release the track on radio so distributing an edited version meant that he would have to head back to the studio. “I went to sleep and woke up two hours later to see the video had been viewed 5,000 times,” said ‘Matics, revealing that he subsequently went to the studio at Highway Records and the team was able to deliver an edited version of Carnival Rap Up to the radio stations.

When asked whether he was concerned of a possible backlash from the strong lyrics and messages the song projects, Chromatics said, “I’m not afraid because I think people understand what the song is about. “I think people understand that it’s more comedic that serious. It’s more picong than a diss to any one artiste and I also think that right now the buzz that it’s creating is actually good for the local industry because it’s keeping our local artistes current in a time when all the foreign artistes are being re-introduced on radio.” Explaining that the dynamic of the track was based on things he’d been seeing on social networking sites that had been taking place with the artistes and other people in the industry, Chromatics said he had even gotten a bit of the lyrics from the Blackberry Messenger status of one of his friends. He said he hoped artistes would have a sense of humor about it all.

“I represent for all artistes outside of the Carnival season and nobody should take it as an intentional diss. If Jamie Fox were to talk about Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston in a comedy show—those are great artistes and nobody can deny that and everybody loves them and respects them, but when you hear Jamie Foxx or Eddie Griffin talking smack about them, you can’t help but laugh,” he highlighted. Chromatics is never one to shy away from any situation. In the weeks and months ahead, he said the public could expect a number of new tracks from the members of Highway Records. He also took the opportunity to invite music lovers to check out his team’s online page at http://www.facebook.com/maticstt, follow him on Twitter @chromatics1 and check out his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/matics868
- The Trinidad guardian Newspaper

Trinidad’s top artist Chromatics released his highly anticipated video for his single “Never Satisfied” off of his mixtape “The Science of Colors Vol. 3” today and let me tell you it was definitely well worth the wait. The Never Satisfied video was directed by Akino Williams for Red Beam Evolution productions.

“The video was shot on location in Trinidad off the west coast of the island where there are numerous smaller islands all in Trinidadian waters (fondly called "Down D Islands") and at Las Cuevas beach” - Chromatics

As one could expect after hearing a statement like that from an artist, the video is proven to be full of all the most beautiful eye candy one’s mind can absorb in less than 4 minutes. The setting begins in your average joe’s typical day in a traffic jam, where Chromatics plays the main character who falls asleep at the wheel and quickly begins dreaming about where he’d like to be. Now even i have been guilty of day dreaming in traffic, but Chromatics daydream makes me want to trade mine in for a better one.The look, the feel, the clothes, the yachts, the exotic women and breath taking island background is exactly what every rapper in the industry dreams of having in their video.The breathtaking scenery is just the beginning though.

The camera work for Never Satisfied is impressively crisp and complements the setting. To my great surprise, Chromatics is donning a sharp white suit in this one and is looking quite dapper in it as well. Way to go Matics, I surely didn’t see that one coming, I’m use to seeing him in his Carnival Rap Up mode. Throughout the video, the Trinidad rapper appears to be in his element as he spits one fly verse right after the other. Surrounded by some of the most exotic looking perfectly shaped women one has ever seen, the props definitely match the high quality of the song.

Rumor has it that Chromatics is a contender for an upcoming #16orbetter with Jack Thriller, after seeing the new video and listening to The Science of Colors, my money says matics is gonna kill it dead. Don’t take my word for it though, check out the Never Satisfied video and see for yourself what Chromatics is working with. Highway records also announced in their press release on September 24th, 2014 that the 3rd installment of The Color of Science mixtape series will be the artist’s last installment for this series. Taking that into consideration, what better way for Matics to take the series out with a bang than in a video on a Yacht surrounded by exotic money, good drink and the islands? I know quite a few men who wouldn’t mind going out like that, but Chromatics seems to just be getting started.

leave us your comment below to share your thoughts on Chromatics’ Never Satisfied.

Listeners interested in copin' the single can do so by visiting Chromatics Bandcamp page https://chromatics.bandcamp.com/track/never-satisfied. - www.examiner.com

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A "PNM murder" is how National Security minister Jack Warner has described toda_

You are here
Home
Chromatics dishes it out in post Carnival rap up
No fear of backlash
Published:
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Aba A Luke

Text Size:
Richard “Chromatics” Raj Kumar is the voice and lyricist behind Carnival Rap Up.

“For people like me, Ash Wednesday come like New Year’s so prepare your ears, here’s Mr Doh Care. First I went Ladies First, special section upstairs—Laundry watch me like ‘this my dance, who let he in here?” Have you heard those lyrics somewhere before? In the past week, there’s no doubt that you may have stumbled upon a track either on You Tube or on one of the urban frequencies here in T&T, where this refrain is belted out by none other than Richard “Chromatics” Raj Kumar. It’s a lethal dose of post-Carnival reality, wrapped up, or as he put it, “rapped” up and distributed to undoubtedly invoke some level of discussion and thought on a number of things that took place within C2K12. The Trini born rapper, who has been at the fore of the local rap fraternity for many years, said the song which was released around 7 am on February 25 has been making the rounds and is generating quite a bit of interest within both the radio and DJ circles and in the public domain as well.

“I got the idea during the Carnival season. I was kind of lacking a lot of inspiration because you know Carnival season isn’t really our time. When I say our time, I mean hip hop artistes, reggae artistes and dancehall artistes from Trinidad. “During the Carnival lines started to pop in my head and around Carnival weekend I wrote the first verse and on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, I finished it off and recorded it,” said Chromatics. He noted that after hearing the finished product he told himself that he needed to put the track out into the public domain quickly. He proceeded to upload the raw version of the song, with a video onto YouTube and within ten minutes of posting, the video had received 300 views. “A radio announcer was one of the first persons to comment on the track. He said, ‘yo, I want a clean version,’” explained the rapper. He said he had never intended to release the track on radio so distributing an edited version meant that he would have to head back to the studio. “I went to sleep and woke up two hours later to see the video had been viewed 5,000 times,” said ‘Matics, revealing that he subsequently went to the studio at Highway Records and the team was able to deliver an edited version of Carnival Rap Up to the radio stations.

When asked whether he was concerned of a possible backlash from the strong lyrics and messages the song projects, Chromatics said, “I’m not afraid because I think people understand what the song is about. “I think people understand that it’s more comedic that serious. It’s more picong than a diss to any one artiste and I also think that right now the buzz that it’s creating is actually good for the local industry because it’s keeping our local artistes current in a time when all the foreign artistes are being re-introduced on radio.” Explaining that the dynamic of the track was based on things he’d been seeing on social networking sites that had been taking place with the artistes and other people in the industry, Chromatics said he had even gotten a bit of the lyrics from the Blackberry Messenger status of one of his friends. He said he hoped artistes would have a sense of humor about it all.

“I represent for all artistes outside of the Carnival season and nobody should take it as an intentional diss. If Jamie Fox were to talk about Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston in a comedy show—those are great artistes and nobody can deny that and everybody loves them and respects them, but when you hear Jamie Foxx or Eddie Griffin talking smack about them, you can’t help but laugh,” he highlighted. Chromatics is never one to shy away from any situation. In the weeks and months ahead, he said the public could expect a number of new tracks from the members of Highway Records. He also took the opportunity to invite music lovers to check out his team’s online page at http://www.facebook.com/maticstt, follow him on Twitter @chromatics1 and check out his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/matics868
- The Trinidad guardian Newspaper

"The atmosphere suddenly changed when veteran Hip Hop artiste Chromatics came on. Chromatics has been performing on local and international stages to sellout audiences and this experience really came out in his showmanship and command of the large stage. His style is hard hitting and in one of his songs he waded into the local media blasting their attitude towards Hip Hop which many here say that it's not a Caribbean art form." - Native_tt

Armed with a wicked flow, understandable delivery and the tendency to drop back into a trini accent and use local slang in punchlines occasionally, Chromatics started to stand out for me on a lot of tracks. I didn't even know the name until I heard the Andre Tanker remake Basement Party on the Internet. I think the feel of this song epitomizes Chromatics style and sets the tone for the majority of this album; non-rap sample on song, US accent rapping with some trini sprinkled in and impeccable delivery.

David Hamilton
Undergound Trini Artiste Blog - http://undergroundtriniartiste.blogspot.com

"The atmosphere suddenly changed when veteran Hip Hop artiste Chromatics came on. Chromatics has been performing on local and international stages to sellout audiences and this experience really came out in his showmanship and command of the large stage. His style is hard hitting and in one of his songs he waded into the local media blasting their attitude towards Hip Hop which many here say that it's not a Caribbean art form." - Native_tt

Richard Raj-Kumar, 25, who goes by the stage name “Chromatics” honoured the legendary local musician Andre Tanker with his remake of the classic “Basement Party”. He has an impressive musical resume and released the albums Against the Grain and The Business of Art. Lanyap and Chromatics will be playing alongside acts like Hip Slinky from the UK, The Dub Pistols from the UK, The Martin Harley Band from the UK, Threads of Scarlet from New York, ADA from Canada, Nexcyx, Buggy Fully Loaded, Rubytech, Eulogy and Roadhouse all from Barbados, Soul Power from the UK with vocalist Ryan Chandler from the British band Soulfish, Limehouse Lizzy from the UK and many other sizzling Caribbean bands.

Melissa Dasrath - trinidad & Tobago Newsday

Dubbed “Trinidad’s Crown Prince of Hip-Hop”, local hip-hop artist “Chromatics,” has received much praise for his cover of the Andre Tanker classic “Basement Party” which is a tribute to one of his greatest musical influences.
Richard Raj-Kumar who goes by the stage name “Chromatics” spoke about his inspiration to honour the legendary local musician. “To me, Andre Tanker embodied the struggle to be true to yourself and keep your identity as an artist. I don’t think his music was ever fully appreciated by most Trinis, but he still managed to find his niche and create a good local fan base.” Chromatics indicated that he chose to remake the hit “Basement Party” because of the message behind the lyrics. “The song spoke about the experiences of Trinidadians and Tobagonians who leave their home country and migrate abroad to pursue their dreams. Whether it be education, or career or just to have a better life for their children, they leave because the opportunity to be successful was not afforded to them here.”

Melissa Dassrath
http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,72664.html - T&T Newsday

[GCPR] September 24, 2014 – Highway Records is pleased to announce the release of the Never Satisfied Video by Trinidad’s top hip hop artist Chromatics; this video directed by Akino Williams for Red Beam Evolution productions, is a follow up to the release of his recent free mixtape The Science of Colors Vol. 3, found exclusively on datpiff.com where fans can also download the single.

“Volume 3 will be the last installment in The Science of colors mixtape series, I’m capping off a good run like you cap off a good trilogy, this will also be my last year doing Carnival Rap Up”.

- Chromatics

The 3rd single off his mixtape, Never Satisfied is produced by Sean “Noah” Aleong and, was mixed and recorded at Highway Records Studios in El Socorro, Trinidad. Highway Records artist Chromatics is well known for his shock factor as proven with his previous controversial but truth based “Carnival Rap Ups” and never let’s the fans down when it comes to expectations.

The Never Satisfied video can be viewed by visiting Chromatics Youtube channel. Upcoming tour stops include Toronto and NYC, with more cities yet to be released. The video was shot on location in Trinidad off the west coast of the island where there are numerous smaller islands all in Trinidadian waters (fondly called “Down D Islands”) and at Las Cuevas beach. - Gigi Capone / Jack Thriller

Highway Records Music Store, the brainchild of local hip-hop artiste, Richard “Chromatics” Raj-Kumar and his manager/business partner, Stuart Fortune, wants you to make more room on your music shelf.

- T&T Newsday

Richard Raj-Kumar, 25, who goes by the stage name “Chromatics” honoured the legendary local musician Andre Tanker with his remake of the classic “Basement Party”. He has an impressive musical resume and released the albums Against the Grain and The Business of Art. Lanyap and Chromatics will be playing alongside acts like Hip Slinky from the UK, The Dub Pistols from the UK, The Martin Harley Band from the UK, Threads of Scarlet from New York, ADA from Canada, Nexcyx, Buggy Fully Loaded, Rubytech, Eulogy and Roadhouse all from Barbados, Soul Power from the UK with vocalist Ryan Chandler from the British band Soulfish, Limehouse Lizzy from the UK and many other sizzling Caribbean bands.

Melissa Dasrath - trinidad & Tobago Newsday

"There is no doubt that this artist’s popularity could blow right open. Already Chromatics has established a solid arsenal that is recognizable enough to the hip-hop crowd but at the same time unique enough to prevent him from being lost in the plethora of formulaic hip-hop that drowns the American market. Chromatics’ music doesn’t seem to know any boundaries, and because of this there is no limit to the potential that this artist has. His unique sampling choices and his blends of reggae/hip-hop allow Chromatics infinite possibilities in just how wide of an audience he would be able to reach. "
- David Pennington (www.crunkbox.com)

"There is no doubt that this artist’s popularity could blow right open. Already Chromatics has established a solid arsenal that is recognizable enough to the hip-hop crowd but at the same time unique enough to prevent him from being lost in the plethora of formulaic hip-hop that drowns the American market. Chromatics’ music doesn’t seem to know any boundaries, and because of this there is no limit to the potential that this artist has. His unique sampling choices and his blends of reggae/hip-hop allow Chromatics infinite possibilities in just how wide of an audience he would be able to reach. "
- David Pennington (www.crunkbox.com)

Trinidad’s top artist Chromatics released his highly anticipated video for his single “Never Satisfied” off of his mixtape “The Science of Colors Vol. 3” today and let me tell you it was definitely well worth the wait. The Never Satisfied video was directed by Akino Williams for Red Beam Evolution productions.

“The video was shot on location in Trinidad off the west coast of the island where there are numerous smaller islands all in Trinidadian waters (fondly called "Down D Islands") and at Las Cuevas beach” - Chromatics

As one could expect after hearing a statement like that from an artist, the video is proven to be full of all the most beautiful eye candy one’s mind can absorb in less than 4 minutes. The setting begins in your average joe’s typical day in a traffic jam, where Chromatics plays the main character who falls asleep at the wheel and quickly begins dreaming about where he’d like to be. Now even i have been guilty of day dreaming in traffic, but Chromatics daydream makes me want to trade mine in for a better one.The look, the feel, the clothes, the yachts, the exotic women and breath taking island background is exactly what every rapper in the industry dreams of having in their video.The breathtaking scenery is just the beginning though.

The camera work for Never Satisfied is impressively crisp and complements the setting. To my great surprise, Chromatics is donning a sharp white suit in this one and is looking quite dapper in it as well. Way to go Matics, I surely didn’t see that one coming, I’m use to seeing him in his Carnival Rap Up mode. Throughout the video, the Trinidad rapper appears to be in his element as he spits one fly verse right after the other. Surrounded by some of the most exotic looking perfectly shaped women one has ever seen, the props definitely match the high quality of the song.

Rumor has it that Chromatics is a contender for an upcoming #16orbetter with Jack Thriller, after seeing the new video and listening to The Science of Colors, my money says matics is gonna kill it dead. Don’t take my word for it though, check out the Never Satisfied video and see for yourself what Chromatics is working with. Highway records also announced in their press release on September 24th, 2014 that the 3rd installment of The Color of Science mixtape series will be the artist’s last installment for this series. Taking that into consideration, what better way for Matics to take the series out with a bang than in a video on a Yacht surrounded by exotic money, good drink and the islands? I know quite a few men who wouldn’t mind going out like that, but Chromatics seems to just be getting started.

leave us your comment below to share your thoughts on Chromatics’ Never Satisfied.

Listeners interested in copin' the single can do so by visiting Chromatics Bandcamp page https://chromatics.bandcamp.com/track/never-satisfied. - www.examiner.com