kristy.ramnarine@cnc3.co.tt
His hit single The Greatest Bend Over continues to dominate Apple Music’s top songs from T&T. The song has earned him a semi-finalist position in the Ultimate Soca Champions scheduled to take place at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) today.
Yung Bredda (Akhenaton Lewis) will be making his calypso debut at D’Kaiso Dynasty, formerly Kaiso House, for Carnival 2025.
“I believe in foundation; I want to be a great person,” he said.
“In order to be a great person, you must know your foundation. If you don’t know your foundation, you cannot build.”
He credited his manager, Optimus Production, for being the brain behind the release of We Rise.
“Every time I have a song written, I try for it to be written around me,” he said. “The song is a message not just to Trinidad alone but to all people. Most importantly, people of colour, we need to unite and come together as people and realise that no matter what, we could be something in life.
“Stop the robbing and the killing and doing evil stuff. Come together and form a football side; don’t come together and form a gang, that’s not the right thing.”
From steam to soca to calypso to chutney, Yung Bredda is all about expanding his repertoire.
“Being so versatile is like a challenge for myself. I believe the first competition in life, the first test you have to pass, is yourself,” he said. “You must be able to know yourself, know what you can do, and know what you can’t do. Yet still there is nothing you can’t do; if you learn and practise you will be able to do it.”
Yung Bredda’s journey to the spotlight started from very humble beginnings.
“My deceased grandmother, may her soul rest in peace, is the first person who realised I had a musical talent,” he explained.
“She was the first person to buy a musical instrument for me, which was a drum because I used to burst all the buckets in the yard.
“She used to hustle on the dump, which is the labasse (Beetham Landfill); she used to get rags, which are old clothes, come home and wash them and sell clothes in the community. The bucket I used to be beating, that’s what she used to wash the clothes. She used to collect bottles too, to sell.”
Yung Bredda was also steered in the direction of spirituality by his family. “My aunt, who is deceased, my father’s sister owned a Baptist church. Now my cousin Aunty Pinky is running it,” he added.
“I started beating drums in church, then I joined the Cadet Force band. I moved from the drumline and started playing brass, which was the trombone. I started to play trombone in secondary school, and from there I just kept excelling in music.”
Singing came at a later point in life.
“I started liming with a group of friends in Sea Lots; one is Fresh King and Flow Boss, and that is how I started to develop singing,” he said.
“I couldn’t sing; I probably always had the talent, but being around them brings it out.”
While Yung Bredda continued to hone his skills and rise
He admitted that growing up in a ‘hot spot’ community was challenging.
“You have to know there is a solution for every problem,” he said.
“Coming from Sea Lots, when I came outside, I remembered I was not living in any posh community when I was growing up and seeing somebody to look up to and said I want to be a doctor, I want to be a lawyer. I saw hustlers; I saw men selling their weed, doing whatever they needed to do by any means necessary to take care of their family.”
The 24-year-old entertainer had a message for the youth in society.
“I want every ghetto youth out there to know it’s what you let affect you,” he said.
“Just because you are coming from somewhere that has a stigma does not mean you are a stigma. You can bring a difference to your life, your circle, and your community.”
Keeping it real
The artiste keeps it real and is not embarrassed to show where he comes from. Just recently he posted a selfie video showing his Sea Lots surroundings.
“That’s just me showing my followers and fans where I’m coming from,” he said.
“So when I get to the other level, the big mansion and the best car, the Rolls Royce, you would realise this is where he came from. It’s not a fly-by-night thing; it’s a process. It takes time with everything; that’s just my way of telling my story, showing them that I am still here and that I’m still humble. And actually, where the video was taken, that’s the liming zone we call New York Avenue.”
It’s also his way of driving a point forward to society. “I am a man coming from Sea Lots. I know about it. I’ve been in the middle of it,” he said.
“People say the only way out of badness is jail or death, and I prove them wrong. It have a way out, you are the way. I here to show people to believe, pray, and know that there is a creator above; you will see your way.”
While he does not attend church as often as during his childhood, Yung Bredda sets aside the month of April to fast and reconnect with God, his way of recharging his spirituality.