Soca semi finalist Jesse Astaphan aka J-Money announced Saturday that he was withdrawing from the Soca Monarch Semifinals, scheduled for December 11, 2015.
J-Money, admitted in a Freedom Fm radio interview with Sister Sensia that his power song “state of emergency” that he submitted to the carnival committee was not his performance on the CD.
He said the song was written and produced for him by a Barbadian soca artiste.
The controversy erupted on social media following last Wednesday’s announcement by Carnival Chairman Mr. Noah Mills that J-Money was among fifteen soca artists qualified for the semi finals.
The artist’s groovy track “whyning champion” was also pirated from a Trinidad artist known as Preedy. The only difference between the two songs was the music, but the lyrics and melody throughout were identical.
J-Money disclosed that on Thursday the carnival committed gave him 72 hours to provide proof that his song was not in violation of copyright laws and to get his submission notarized.
He said he informed the committee that his producers were on tour in Europe and was not in a position to comply with their demand.
He further stated that the chairman of the Soca Monarch Sub Committee informed him on Saturday that he had up until 4PM that day to submit the requested documentation. As a result, he decide to withdrew from the semi finals competition.
J-Money’s decision paves the way for one of two alternates to advance to the semi finals.
The two artists that are anxiously awaiting notification of their advancement are Tannabal and Ras Kelly.
It will be interesting to see which artist will be selected as fans and soca lovers have their pick to replace J-Money.