Ian Antonio Alvarez (born July 14, 1978), better known by his stage name Bunji Garlin, is a Trinidadian

ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Sm ...

soca artist. He is also affectionately known as the Viking of Soca. His spouse is

Fay-Ann Lyons Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez (born November 5, 1980) is a Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidadian Soca music, soca recording artist and songwriter. She is also known by the stage names Lyon Empress, Mane the Matriarch, and the Silver Surfer, a nickname which sh ...

Early life

Bunji was born on July 14, 1978 in

Arima Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of th ...

, Trinidad. He is of Saint Lucian and Venezuelan descent.

Personal life

He married fellow soca artist

on December 23, 2006, daughter of successful soca singer Superblue. He is also a second cousin of singer

Patrice Roberts It was in 2005 when Patrice Roberts shocked the entertainment industry in Trinidad and Tobago with her talent. Her introduction through a vocal collaboration was with Bunji Garlin who at that time was in the spotlight. It was her refreshingly soothi ...

, who performs alongside the popular Machel Montano.

Career

Bunji has won Trinidad's Soca Monarch/

International Soca Monarch International Soca Monarch is an annual soca music competition/fete event, the finals of which are held on every Carnival Friday (aka Fantastic Friday) in Trinidad and Tobago. Contestants in the event vie for two separate crowns or titles, the In ...

competition on several occasions: 2002 (tied with Iwer George) with "Down in the Ghetto", 2004 with "Warrior Cry", 2005 with "Blaze the Fire" Both songs were produced by then band member Shawn Noel (Da Ma$tamind) and 2008 with "Fiery" He placed second in the

2009 with "Clear De Road", while his pregnant wife Fay-Ann Lyons placed first with "Meet Super Blue". She also won the Groovy Soca Monarch title that same night with "Heavy T Bumpa". Bunji Garlin's "Brrt" is featured on the ''

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

. In 2013, Garlin won the Soul Train Award for Best International Performance for the song "Differentology", which features Nigel Rojas on guitar. An album of the same name was released by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

and

VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York (state), New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and Soca music, soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami ...

in August 2014. In 2017 he released ''Turn Up'', which gave him his highest US chart placing to date, reaching no. 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Reggae Albums chart.

Discography

Albums

*''The Chronicles'' (1999) *''Revelation'' (2002) *''Black Spaniard'' (2003) *''Graceful Vengeance'' (2004) *''Flame Storm'' (2005) *''Next Direction'' (2006) *''

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

'' (2007) *''Fiery'' (2008) *"iSpaniard" (2012) *''The Viking '' (2013) *'' Differentology'' (2014), VP/

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

- US Reggae no. 6 *''Turn Up'' (2017), VP - US Reggae no. 3

Singles

* " Differentology" (2013) * "Truck On D Road" (2014) (featuring

A$AP Ferg Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Ferg (stylized as A$AP Ferg), is an American rapper from New York City's Harlem neighborhood. Aside from his solo career, he is a member of the hip hop collec ...

) * "The Message" (2015) (featuring

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marle ...

) * "Television" (2016)

Collaborations

* "Carnival Tabanca" (featuring Tarrus Riley) 2014 * "Coofy Lie Lie" (featuring Singing Sandra) (2002) * "Rags Don't Care" (featuring Chinese Laundry and

Shurwayne Winchester Shurwayne Winchester is a Tobagonian soca musician from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, who has twice won the Road March title.Moe, Cherisse (2009)Shurwayne turns up the heat at Bois Cano, ''Trinidad & Tobago Guardian'', 18 July 2009, retr ...

) (2003) * "Soca Bhangra" (featuring Shami) (2003) * "Don’t Waste Water" (featuring

) (2005) * "The Islands" (featuring

) (2005) * "Lorraine" (featuring Explainer) (2005) * "Move With Us" (TSTT jingle also featuring

and Machel Montano) (2006) * "Get Up Stand Up" (featuring

T.O.K. T.O.K. were a dancehall reggae group from Kingston, Jamaica. The group consisted of Alistaire "Alex" McCalla, Roshaun "Bay-C" Clarke, Craig "Craigy T" Thompson, and Xavier "Flexx" Davidson.Kenner, Rob (2005)Boomshots, ''Vibe'', August 2005, ...

) (2007) * "Hardcore Loving" (featuring

Rita Jones Rita Jones is a former Welsh international lawn and indoor bowler. Bowls career In 1985 Jones won a triples bronze medal at the 1985 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Preston, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. She won the gold medal in the f ...

) (2007) * "Swing it" (featuring Chris Black) (2007) * "One Family" (featuring

Freddie McGregor Freddie McGregor (born 27 June 1956, in Clarendon, Jamaica) is a Jamaican singer, musician and record producer. His music career began when he was seven years old. Biography In 1963 he joined with Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin to form The C ...

) (2007) * "Bring It" (featuring Lalchan Babwa (Hunter)) (2008) * "Country Rum (featuring

Neeshan Prabhoo Neeshan Prabhoo, also known as "The Hitman" or "D'Hitman" is a chutney musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to des ...

) (2008) * "Bring It Superstar Mix" Lalchan Babwa(Hunter) ft.

Alison Hinds Alison Amanda Hinds (born 1 June 1970) is a British-born Bajan soca artist based in Barbados. She is one of the most popular soca singers in the world. Biography Alison Hinds was born in London on 1 June 1970 and grew up in Plaistow.Batey, A ...

, Andy Singh, Bunji Garlin & Ziggy Rankin (2008) * "That's How We Party" (featuring

Busy Signal Reanno Devon Gordon (born 24 January 1979), better known by his stage name Busy Signal, is a Jamaican dancehall reggae artist. Biography Reanno Devon Gordon p/k/a Busy Signal was born in Saint Ann Parish,Johnson, Carolyn (2006)A Very Busy Chil ...

) (2005) * "Big Blood" (featuring 3suns, Sir Skarz) 011* "Sex, Love and Reggae" (Gyptian ft. Bunji Garlin and Angela Hunt) (2013) * "All or Nothing" (Elliphant ft. Diplo and Bunji Garlin) * "Jungle Bae" (

Jack Ü Jack Ü was an American DJ duo consisting of electronic music producers Skrillex and Diplo, formed in 2013. They released their first official single, "Take Ü There", featuring vocals from Kiesza, on September 17, 2014. On February 3, 2015, the ...

ft. Bunji Garlin) (2015) * "Baddest Things" (Party Favor & Nymz ft. Bunji Garlin) (2015) * "Buss Head" (Machel Montano) (2017) * "Ride it" (Sebastian Ingrosso & Salvatore Ganacci ft. Bunji Garlin) (2017) * “Famalay” (Bunji Garlin, Machel Montano, Skinny Fabulous) (2019) * "Bomboclat (Light It Up)" (

Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known by the stage name DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. Early life Francis was born in Los AngelesAhmed, Insanul (March 13, 2012Who Is Dillon Francis?Complex. Retri ...

, Bunji Garlin) from the EP Magic Is Real (2019) * “Break a branch” (Bunji Garlin, Motto) (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garlin, Bunji 1978 births Living people Soca musicians Trinidad and Tobago people of Saint Lucian descent Trinidad and Tobago people of Venezuelan descent People from Arima 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago musicians 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago musicians VP Records artists RCA Records artists