Iwer George

Who he is

Iwer George is one of soca's great crowd-movers, a veteran who was already a Soca Monarch champion back in 2002. The Recording Academy calls him a "soca veteran", and younger stars still measure themselves against him: Skinny Fabulous's "Dr Mashup" was aimed squarely at Iwer.¹

His style is simple and devastatingly effective: big, chantable hooks, clear instructions to the crowd and songs designed for jumping, waving and wining in a packed fete or behind a music truck.

Signature sound and key songs

Iwer makes power soca for the people. His catalogue on the streaming services is full of party instructions and Carnival celebrations, from "Ah Home" and "Jab Jab Life" to "Iwer Dance (Do the Iwer)" and "Mashing Up".²

For first-timers, this is power soca at its most direct. The songs tell the crowd exactly what to do: jump, wave a rag or flag, get on bad, go home only when the music stops. You do not need to know the words beforehand, because by the second chorus the whole crowd is shouting them with you.

Carnival legacy

In 2002 Iwer shared the International Soca Monarch crown with Bunji Garlin, the competition ending in a tie.³ Almost two decades later he struck again on the road: "Stage Gone Bad", his collaboration with Kes, won the Road March for Carnival 2020.¹

That pairing summed up something special about soca, a veteran of the power-soca generation and one of the genre's most melodic modern acts sharing one huge, sing-along chorus.

Start here

• "Stage Gone Bad" (with Kes, 2020): the Road March winner.
• "Ah Home": a classic Iwer party anthem.
• "Jab Jab Life": for J'ouvert and devil mas energy.
• "Iwer Dance (Do the Iwer)": pure jump-up instructions.

Sources

1. GRAMMY.com: 5 Artists Essential to Contemporary Soca (2023) (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩²

2. Spotify: Iwer George (opens in a new tab) ↩

3. Trinidad Guardian: Bunji and Fay-Ann, power in their DNA (2023) (opens in a new tab) ↩