Trinidad's PengCo Music Leans on Jamaican Music Powerhouse to Complete Planet X Riddim
PengCo Music in Trinidad and Tobago is determined to make the sound of music out of the twin island nation, stand firmly beside that of large countries such as the US and Europe. So bent are they on making this happen that the team, manned by Randal Alexander has upped their game, recently completing work on a new state of the art studio where they’re currently installing the best hardware money can buy, with one goal in mind. Yesterday, June 8, PengCo Music premiered a brand new riddim and according to the music production experts, the sound emanating from this one, is word class.
Squeezy Rankin, Buffy and Chucky are three of the big names on the Planet X riddim. It’s just in time for what’s commonly referred to as the summer period worldwide and according to Alexander the difference heard in this riddim, as compared to any other that’s been released out of PengCo Music, lies in the belly of the all -round sound. “I always aim to avoid being redundant so I work with a lot of different people to get their influence because after a while a person’s sound starts sounding the same,” explained Alexander. He said this time around he sought out the help of a young drummer who is known to strike up big soca beats. “ This is a young guy by the name of AG. This is actually the first production he’s worked on. He plays drums with a soca band,” he said, adding that what AG was able to do, was offer some soca elements to the Planet X riddim. Alexander said the nice thing about this particular riddim is the fusion of dancehall and soca, which as he explained, will certainly work well for the upcoming Crop Over carnival festival in Barbados. Assuring that most if not all of the tracks on the riddim, which also features newcomers Kazee and Tuff among others, will seamlessly mix with dancehall and soca tracks, Alexander is confident that DJs across the board will love playing around with the singles on the Planet X riddim.
PengCo Music has been delivering ‘A’ class productions for a number of years. This time around, the team formed a unique alliance with Jamaica’s Anju Blax of UIM Records. Alexander made it known that the Jamaican music unit is well respected for its great work, having been responsible for some of the best music mixes out of Jamaica in recent years. He explained that Blax is responsible for the post production of the Planet X riddim and while in the real world most producers and music engineers who mix the music after pre-production are left without credit, he feels credit is due to the UIM team in Jamaica for the amazing final product.
As PengCo Music continues its journey to making the Trinidad and Tobago music market better equipped to stand alongside its international counterparts in terms of sound and quality, the Planet X riddim has been released. It’s just the first in a number of projects in the pipeline at the moment. In the weeks ahead, Alexander and his team at PengCo Music will be forging relationships with some very big names in Caribbean music and subsequent to that, the world will feel the impact of the team’s musical genius. For now, PengCo Music invites the world at large to enjoy what they assure are some hit singles on the Planet X riddim, sung by some very hard working, young artistes.
