Bjorn Bassue sits down with SKNVibes for an exclusive interview
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AFTER winning the hearts and minds of his many fans in the Federation, SKNVibes had the opportunity to sit down with the humble individual behind this phenomenal and energetic singer.
In the first part of our exclusive interview with the Sugar Mas’ 42 Power Soca Monarch winner, the new title holder talks about his life growing up and who he was before adopting the moniker Mr. Hype.
The young man with a passion for music
SKNVibes Entertainment: ‘There are many of your fans out there who might not know much about Mr. Hype, can you explain to everyone who he is?
Mr. Hype: I am Bjorn Bassue. I entered in the St. Kitts Soca Monarch show and I eventually came up with the name Mr. Hype. It was based on something that I wanted to basically put out there for the audience to be listening and looking for and to also create a buzz that was exciting, different and refreshing; hence we came up with the idea.
SKNVibes Entertainment: Let us go back to your younger days, can you tell us where you are originally from and how was it as a child growing up there?
Mr. Hype: Well, I grew up in Boyd’s Village right here in St Kitts. Some people call it the countryside. It was fun and I had a lot of happy days. I was always around music, musicians and calypsonians. I was always a happy individual because of the music and the environment where I grew up in. I had a lot of freedom to run and just be a child. I was also introduced to work at an early age, so when it comes to the business side of things I got into that early.
SKNVibes Entertainment: Okay, so when did it start for Mr. Hype and his singing career. For most people, it started in church or the street corners for fun. But where did it start for you?
Mr. Hype: For me, it all happened about the primary school level. I was in either grade three or four at the Irish Town Primary School and we had a talent competition. One of my teachers asked me to enter because I didn’t really try to get up and be a part of it and my talent just happened to be singing. So they asked me to do something in the form of singing, and as far back as I can remember it was the first time that I ever performed in front of people in a competition.
SKNVibes Entertainment: So what was that feeling like performing onstage in front of all those people as a child?
Mr. Hype: I think one thing you can never go wrong with is that when it comes to being onstage and performing as a child, people always receive you well and they always enjoy just seeing kids being brave and going onstage and singing their hearts out, even doing something that sounds amazing.
It was a great experience and I think it was well received. I remembered a lot of people congratulating me after, so I figured it was well done because I did place in that competition. I didn’t get a crown but I came in second.
His life before Mr. Hype
SKNVibes Entertainment: Who was Mr. Hype before the Soca Monarch competition?
Mr. Hype: That’s a good question. Well, Mr. Hype was a videographer/photographer editor and that is basically what I studied in school, digital cinema photography, and that is what I used to be doing all the time.
I was always a part of music. I use to sing in a group called Da Crew and we used to always do R&B and Soul songs. But for me, growing up around calypsonians such as Mighty Monarch and Keibo, I always wanted to mix some other Soca and Calypso music with the R&B music in the group that I was a part of.
Before it all, I did my job that I had and still sang. But my main thing for a while was basically to be behind the camera pushing other artistes who are in the arts, and I guess after Mr. Hype was created I kind of took a small shift from being behind the scenes to being on camera.
I also created the music video that you see for ‘Wuk it’. I was the one who shot, produced and edited everything you saw…and that was me before Mr. Hype.
SKNVibes Entertainment: What sparked the decision to enter into last year’s competition? Was it a decision on your own or did someone encourage you take the chance?
Mr. Hype: Well, I can say for the last three or so years, I have a brother who is a musician and every year he says, ‘Man just enter one of these competitions in December.’ But I always told him no, I’m not interested in that, my thing is to be in the background or behind a camera somewhere…I don’t want to be at the forefront of things.
I always looked at the other people in the game and I was like, ‘Man there is no way I can go up against those people like Shakki, Take Over and all those others.’ I always said no and I turned it down.
You know he (brother) told me one time, ‘Maybe these people may seem like they big, they are mighty and they are winning because nobody else is there with something as good or even better.’ For the past two years I was contemplating and this year passed and he said to me, ‘You’re going to let this season pass again or we going to do it?’ That is when I decided to take the lead.
The interview does not stop here; look out for Part Two of our conversation in which Mr. Hype talks about how he thought of giving up but was encouraged by his many fans to persevere.
