WHEN Ian "Bunji Garlin" Alvarez first heard a beat sent to him by Stemz (Michael Ramroop S’obrian), he immediately felt the “raw, raw magic” that could only come from the grassroots. He told the producer: "Don’t try to imagine what this song will be. Because no matter what you imagine, that is not it.” He knew it was about to be something unexpected and impactful. And it was. And he carried it.

Carry It, his 2025 hit, features background vocals by Vernice “Trini Baby” Herreira and guitars by Kyle Peters. It was mixed and mastered by Johann Seaton.

Bunji opens by singing, “Yes, I can hear dem saying, ‘Boy, stop livin’ in d past.’ Where can I find that energy, the raw, raw magic that comes down from d grassroots? Yes, I’m from a place where soca, the resounding power, you could feel any time or hour, sunshine or shower. You will feel it any way you look and it read like a story book.”

He reminds listeners, “I come from when ground used to carry it,” before listing several areas of the country that “had it.”

The entire song speaks to the golden days of feteing where the energy of patrons and performers was paramount, parties were filled with rags and flags, and events united both the “uptown and downtown massives.”

'Your mind will be blown'

Last year, Bunji's friend and fellow artiste Shaquille “Chingee” Mark told him about a producer who wanted to submit some beats to him.

Mark told Newsday once he had heard the beat from Stemz, he knew Bunji “would definitely kill it” but found that it was not ready to present to him yet. He is also credited as one of the song's arrangers.

“I gave my input on things that I think should be added, things we should add to enhance the build of the beat, the way the beat goes to the climax and that kind of stuff. And then we were at a point where I was like, ‘Okay, I don't think we should go any further until he hears it.’”

So they sent it.

Bunji remembers liking the beat but asking for a few more tweaks because he already formulated a plan upon first listen.

“Really and truly, besides being tapped in, seeing all the discussions online every day and the constant topic of what we were before and where we were before and where we are at now, it embedded itself so deeply that subliminally, I tapped into that and didn’t realise,” Bunji told Newsday.

[caption id="attachment_1143099" align="alignnone" width="768"] Michael “Stemz” Ramroop S’obrian and Bunji Garlin -[/caption]

“It wasn’t that I was searching for a topic or anything – no. That was just what immediately came to mind and I just followed through.”

In fact, it took him all of 20 minutes.

"I just kept building," he said.

He knew it was not going to be what Mark and Stemz expected, but he urged them to trust him ahead of listening.

“I told them, ‘Your mind will be blown.’

"I purposely like to go way out of the box, so I definitely knew they were going to get shocked when they heard it.”

He said his chat became filled with the fire and mind-blown emojis when the men had finally heard it.

“I to