Erphaan Alves, November 23, 1991,Chaguanas Borough Corporation, Trinidad and Tobago
Erphaan Alves is a Trinidadian soca singer and songwriter. In 2012, he qualified as a finalist in both the Groovy and International Power Soca Monarch Finals with the songs “In Your Eyes” and “Terrible”. He proved that his transition to soca megastar was complete when he performed his monster hit ‘Overdue’ in 2018.
In 2012, Erphaan won Best New Male Soca Artist at the International Soca Awards, and he was named MTV IGGY Artist of the Week. Aside from his soca career, Erphaan is also a songwriter, writing songs like “Precision Wine” by Kes the band, “Make You Rock”, “Take You Home” and “Doh Friad” by Machel Montano. His parents and brother raised him in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago, where he was born on November 23, 1991. His education began at Rosary Boys RC Primary School in Port Spain. He then attended St. George’s College, Barataria, where he participated in several competitions and was the lead male vocalist of the school’s parang group. In 2013, he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Arts at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus. With his upbeat rendition of “Carnival Time,” Erphaan won the Rosary Boys RC School Caly Competition at Calypso World in 2001. His own compositions “Soca Moving” and “Musical Journey” won consecutively in the Junior Calypso and Junior Soca Monarch Competitions in 2008 and 2009.
In Trinidad and Tobago, soca was created by Trinidadian Garfield Blackman, who felt calypso was fading away. A blend of calypso and Indian music, soca has become a massive industry that dominates the Carnival Scene and Carnival Road March Arena. Soca artists record, release, and perform continuously during carnival season in order to be eligible to win the Carnival Road March song and the Soca Monarch. A finalist in the International Soca Monarch 2014 and 2015, Erphaan consistently made waves. In 2012, his song, “On D Spot,” was featured on an MTV Real World episode. As part of the 2018 carnival festivities, the musician performed his hit single ‘Overdue’ and an energetic collaboration with soca queen Destra Garcia called ‘Waistline Pelting’.