PORT OF SPAIN – Elevation requires separation. For Richard Valentine, the entertainer known as Chynee, or to some Macoy, his earlier years in music have led him on a journey of development as an artiste. Years after winning the Synergy Soca Star competition, the East Trinidad native is back in the mix, releasing new soca music and connecting the dots as he builds a career he knows he’ll be proud of.
“In 2009, I was young. When I won the Synergy Soca Star competition, it was a whirlwind for me. I performed at major fetes . . . I actually shared the stage with Chinese Laundry and Machel Montano, but it was all happening really fast,” he admitted, explaining that he feels that despite being crowned the competition’s winner, he was not mature enough then to grow and learn the essentials of the music business.
Fast forward to 2025 and Chynee is now on the road to a potentially memorable carnival season in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Over the past few years, I’ve been working on my development, recording a lot of music and working behind the scenes with many producers. I’m in the process of completing an EP,” he said, adding, “I challenged myself to just record music with the understanding that when the time is right, each of the projects would be shared with the world as professionally packaged as possible.
“I realised that a lot of times artistes would go into the studio with what they believed were great songs, but they would fail to get the attention they hoped for because their marketing and branding just weren’t enough,” he said.
Team work
Over the years, Chynee has worked with producers such as Badjohn Republic, Zig Boi Entertainment, Backyard Studios, Klase Productions and even Richard “Charsu” Ahong – one of the country’s most prolific music producers.
These days, however, he’s hard at work with Sangre Grande’s Chainlinxxx Productions. Their latest project, Ben, has already been released and Chynee says it’s been an amazing journey working alongside Chainlinxxx. “As an artiste, I’ve come to realise the importance of teamwork. You really do go further when you’ve got a progressive team of people. I have to thank Chainlinxxx, also Unique Productions – a very talented youngster by the name of Allen Sylvester who’s doing the video and editing for Ben. I am also happy to be working with Edward Salandy of E-Video and Photography. They did my photoshoot, which I’m really satisfied with.”
With support coming from other entertainers in the industry such as Fadda Moses and rapper Vetta, Chynee says he is grateful for his team.
(PR)
