Grenadian soca artiste Wrenroy “Blaka Dan” Ogiste says winning the first Ultimate Soca Champion competition is just the beginning of his journey.
In a post on Facebook, Blaka Dan thanked everyone for their support, including God, his family, his team, the government of Grenada, Spicemas Corporation, The National Lotteries Authority, Huggins and TT.
He said, “I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Ultimate Soca Champion competition for selecting me as the 2025 Ultimate Soca Champion. I was truly honoured to compete against such a talented group of soca artists, and to be officially recognised is an incredible achievement for myself and the team.
“The journey this competition has created for me is just about to begin, and I am excited more than ever to embrace it and grow along the way.”
The finals took place at the Queen’s Park Savannah on February 20 but the results were released over a week later on March 1.
Performing fourth in the line-up at the finals Blaka Dan beat ten other artistes with his hit Blessing, scoring 387 points and winning the grand prize of $1 million.
In second place was Akhenaton “Yung Bredda” Lewis with 376 points. He won $300,000 as well as $10,000, a mobile phone and free bmobile service for a year as the bmobile People’s Champion winner, which was based on a text-to-vote system.
Akeem "Preedy" Chance sang his way to third place to win $150,000 with Blaze Fire, and those in fourth to 11th place won $50,000. They include Ding Dong, Nailah Blackman, GI, Anika Berry, Cassell, Orlando Octave, Snakey and Dash.
Soca artiste Nkosi "Sucre" Scure was named the first ever Youth Soca Champion after he beat five other contestants in the junior category of the Ultimate Soca Champion, on February 20, for a $200,000 payday with his song, The Greatest.
The junior and Ultimate performers competed before judges Alison Hinds, Hypa Hoppa, Melissa Jimenez and Just J. The points were tallied by the judges and re-checked by officials at Ernst and Young to ensure there were no discrepancies.
Director of Ultimate Soca Champion Jerome “Rome” Precilla congratulated Blaka Dan and all of the finalists.
“He walked away with $1 million and we’re hoping this helps to craft his career and to propel soca music further on a global platform.”
He added that he was very proud of all the artistes who entered the competition.
[caption id="attachment_1141745" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Youth Soca Champion Nkosi "Sucre" Sucre performs his song The Greatest during the Youth Soca Champion finals at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain on February 20.[/caption]
“Looking back at their performances, they were spectacular. People brought their A-game. We saw theatrical performances, we saw great vocal performances, we saw some nice freestyles as well, so I’m proud of all the artistes.”
He thanked the team for their hard work in pulling off a great show in a short time frame. He appreciated the crowd and its enthusiasm and looked forward to a bigger competition next year.
“We hope that t
