Luta rides with Vincy Soca Dans

Fourteen years ago he began his musical journey with the band Signal. Since then, Rondy “Luta” Mc Intosh has remained relevant – a necessary staple in Vincy Mas and 2008 is no different.

You cannot listen to an hour of soca music and not hear one of his six hits that are blazing the trial this season.{{more}} There is the Latin flavoured, groovy duet with his friend, Jamesy P, “Muevete” (Move It); the other Jamesy P collaboration, “Balance Meh”, the intoxicatingly rhythmic number “The Road is Calling’, which he did with Sponge, and the sexy number “Feeling It” with Tabia.

He also has two singles; “Wine” and “Make a Mas”.

“This has been a very successful season, I am having an excellent year,” Luta told SEARCHLIGHT.

This year’s success has however been bitter-sweet for this Calliaqua native. About a month ago, in the midst of the season’s build up, Luta’s father, Sidney McIntosh died.

“Me and my father were real close. He was always proud of what I am doing. Everything I do this season is dedicated to him,” said Luta, who is the fifth of his parents’ six children together.

Now in his thirties, Luta has been able to appeal to the more seasoned listening ears, while keeping the young crowd satisfied.

“I occasionally visit the clubs and check out the type of music the youths are gravitating to so that I could find the elements that people love and bring them together,’ he said.

Like fine wine, he plans to get sweeter with age as he “make(s) adjustments and carry on.”

While he has been traveling the music circuits over the years, and was booked for the entire year before even releasing one song, Luta, admittedly, has not been able to ride the success of his really big hits, due to work commitments.

He told SEARCHLIGHT that he chose to keep the stability and security of a regular job, which has undoubtedly taken something from his music pursuits.

Luta is an accounts manager at Cable & Wireless. He credits his employers, including his former employer, Courts St Vincent Limited, for always facilitating his music career.

“They allow me to take my vacation times around my musical commitments; I will often take two days off, travel on Friday, do shows Saturday and Sunday, get back on Monday, then it is back to work on Tuesday,” he explained.

Luta who is married to his wife of eight years, Simone, with whom he has two daughters (he has another daughter from a previous relationship), said that looking back he knows that had he been full time in the music business, he might have been better able to ride the wave of his biggest hit thus far, “Busy Tone”.

Done in 2003, it has torn up charts worldwide and was bought by VP records and included in their SOCA GOLD 2004 album.

“The song got so huge, I couldn’t follow the song. When a song goes international, you have to be out of the country three to six months, at all the stomping grounds, building the song. Because of work, I couldn’t do that,” he explained.

Luta is managed by Herric Horne of Network Promotions Incorporated and is part of the Vincy Soca Dans, a concept that was birthed two years ago and included Fire Man Hooper, DJ Tauras and Scarpyon. In 2007, Scarpyon was out of the group and songbirds Tabia and Tortolla’s Jalena were added. This year the Jamesy P has joined the fold.

The crew has attracted the cooperate sponsorship from bMobile, and are a must at most major shows this year.