Words by Natalie Weiner
It’s Carnival Week in New York, and pretty much everyone has already gotten the party started, including BET’s eternal 106 & Park—or, as it was titled today, “106 & Carnival,” complete with slightly uncomfortable-looking hosts in mas band costumes. The episode featured a mix of up-and-coming and veteran dancehall, reggae, and soca artists in front of an audience repping just about every part of the Caribbean.
Soca Viking Bunji Garlin and his Vi-Queen Fay-Ann Lyons started things off with Fay-Ann’s “Catch Me” and Bunji’s “Truck On D Road,” with an appearance from Harlem’s favorite Trini rapper A$AP Ferg on the latter (Ferg appears on the track’s official remix). Representing Jamaica, Wayne Marshall, Gyptian, QQ and Kranium all brought their most recognizable hits. But it’s worth watching the whole show just to check the appearance by Elephant Man, who sums up the carnival spirit pretty well: “No work, full enjoyment.”