Blackest

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Blackest is the stage name of Darnelle Phillip, a soca singer who competes at the Crucian Christmas Festival on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands Consortium reported in January 2024 that he won the Jumpy Soca Monarch title there with J'Ouvert Behavior, his fourth Soca Monarch crown, and placed second in the Groovy Soca Monarch with Bumz Away. The same report notes that he holds ten road march wins. Back in 2016 the It's Your Perspective talk show introduced him and Shamall as Virgin Islands music artists. His recordings on YouTube show a steady output of carnival songs. We Shall Rise, made with Fusion Band, is posted as a 2018 Virgin Islands soca release, as is Gimme Wine on the Liberty Riddim. Ben Dover followed as a 2019 lyric video, and Buss Chest arrived as official audio for the 2020 season. Together these tracks give a fair picture of the up-tempo, road-focused style that has kept him at the front of the St. Croix soca competitions.