Party TunUp, a locally-produced music video made it to Number 3 on the Cross Caribbean Countdown chart on Tempo during the July/ August vacation. The party hit was written and sung by Joshua Boodram, 19, of Chase Village, Chaguanas. The production of Boodram’s music video was done by Explicit Entertainment in Diego Martin.
It depicted an outdoor party with attractive young women splashing around in a pool, while chicken is on a barbecue grill and everyone dancing to the groovy soca beat of Party TunUp.
Boodram is popularly known for his several covers for local and international hits, including: Doh Tell Me Dat, Rupee’s Tempted to Touch, Passenger’s Let Her Go and Bunji Garlin’s Differentology on his acoustic guitar.
At the age of ten, Boodram got his first guitar. It was while taking up the challenge to learn to play the musical instrument on his own, that he discovered his talent and passion for singing. Three years later, Boodram began doing small gigs at family gatherings.
Using that platform to gain confidence in himself and with the support of his younger brother, Justin, his parents, Eroll and Ann Marie, Boodram moved on to performing at various restaurants throughout the country including Toppers at Grand Bazaar and Woodford Cafe at its Unplugged series.
At the age of 17, he joined the rock band Project Override and did full music sets on bigger stages performing to hundreds of fans.
With his leap of faith this year, Boodram decided to branch off into producing his first music video. Given the success of the video and the good reviews coming in—almost on a daily basis—Boodram promises many more music videos in the future, this time leaning more to the alternative rock, love song genres.
A past pupil of Couva East Secondary School, Boodram just completed Level Six and is into his final year of the Association of Business Executives studies at the School of Business and Computer Science.
The sky is the limit where his education is concerned as his goal is to achieve his MBA either in Strategic Planning or Business Management.
He explained how he is able to strike a balance between his schoolwork and his music: “It is very easy for me because I am very focused and determined. I don’t do a lot of extra things, including liming.”
“Education is everything to me. I want to be in the corporate world and also, would like to take my music throughout the world. To go on tours and have videos out there, so I will work equally hard to accomplish both.”
Boodram sent a strong message to the youths of the nation: “Try not to make a lot of excuses. The world does not owe you anything, therefore take some time and figure out what you want to do with your life. Don’t just take what is given to you. Try to prioritise your time because time will not wait on you. Look at other options. Do some research, you have all the information that you would ever need at your fingertips via the internet.”
To the upcoming artistes, like himself, Boodram urged them to put their content out there, “Do not wait on perfection. By putting your content out there, you never know who is watching. Keep pushing. If you fail, come again and keep at it. The only time you fail is when you stop trying.”
Boodram’s talent has caught the attention of local producer, Gee Woodruffe, who has already begun to pass on Boodram’s music to several other producers, including, noted producer Carl “Beaver” Henderson of the Heat of the Tropics company.
