Never Miss Carnival Period Again: Insights from Lil' Bitts

Lil’ Bitts

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad – She has promised herself that she will never sit out playing mas again. As an artiste, Shivonne Churche-Isaacs, the entertainer known as Lil’ Bitts, understand the ins and outs of the festival season in Trinidad and Tobago. She’s been in the business for 20 years, but never in a million years had she imagined she would feel the way she did when she made the conscious decision, one season, to sit out parading the streets on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Bitts said she literally got sick and has since vowed, she will never ignore Carnival’s call again.

All set and ready to hit the road with Yuma on Carnival Monday and Tuesday, the singer is excited about this long carnival 2025 season.

Social Media Pages

Five songs released to her credit, Bitts is enjoying the fruits of her labour and quite candidly shares moments of unbridled joy, on her social media pages.

“Many people have been looking at my social media pages. The engagement with fans has led to promoters contacting me. Social media is a key tool for artists,” she says.

She encourages her peers and new artists to use this digital resource fully.

New Music

In recent days, the artiste has been sharing a project that she feels is a necessary element that has been missing from her repertoire. “Brighter Days,” produced by Gaffa Productions, has been a long time coming.

“This project was three years in the making and it’s very special to me. It’s a song that I know is necessary, especially because of the times we’re facing. I really wanted to do a song that was meaningful and this is it,” she said.

Other notable mentions on the project are Stemz, District 6 Studios and Benje Music- musical minds from around the region.

Bitts with M1

“This is what I love and appreciate about technology – the fact that despite being in different places, we’re able to connect and get the job done,” highlighted the singer. Similarly, she recorded ‘Wetter’- a 2025 release done collaboratively with M1, separate and apart from him, eventually revealing a track that she is extremely happy to have been able to do. “I love male and female collaborations and M1 is a really incredible artiste; he is not like any other artiste in the space. We were supposed to work on a track together many years ago and it never happened, so this opportunity came along and we made it happen,” she explained.

Carnival Season

A lengthy Carnival season brings with it tremendous opportunity for artistes to explore and deliver more to their fans. This season, Bitts received a call from the Pungalunks Factory.

“I got a call and was offered the opportunity to contribute vocals to a chutney song,” she said, excited to reveal that the track, collaboratively done with Reshma Ramlal – the Warrior Princess, was a dream come true for her. “When I was a child, I loved dressing up in Indian wear and I would look at all the East Indian movies. I was always intrigued by the culture and I knew one day I wanted to do a Chutney song, but I wanted it to happen organically,” she said, and that it did.

The duo has since completed production of a video for the single, ‘Poowah Nah Ready,’ and out of the experience, Bitts says she is once again in awe of the multi-cultural beauty that exists in T&T. “Shooting the video – the overall energy of the culture made me realize just how beautiful T&T is.

We are so multicultural. I really enjoyed being around the team. They were very supportive of me and throughout the experience, I felt like we were all truly one people.”

Ramlal has since made it into the semi-finals of the Chutney Soca Monarch competition.

In 2024, Bitts collaborated with Barbados’ DJ Ky on a song called, ‘Watchin It.’ The track has since crossed over into T&T’s 2025 season and Bitts admits that she likes working with the Bajan producer.

“DJ Ky and I mesh really well. We have a special vibe. He is also responsible for the production done on ‘Wettah’ with M1,” she said.

Outside of that, the artiste has also unleashed ‘Sample,’ which was produced by Advokit Productions and co-written by Azaryah, Kit Israel and Bitts herself.

“I made an extra effort to write for myself. I think there’s a very special connection to the song’s lyrics when you pen them yourself. This isn’t to say that I won’t welcome songs written by other songwriters though.”

Lil’ Bitts

A woman who wears multiple hats, Lil’ Bitts has grown tremendously over the past 20 years. She has seen the Soca business evolve and says as much as she doesn’t like change, she understands it’s the only constant.

“When I started off in this business, we would shop our music around to DJs and the public, with CDs. I remember taking CDs to the guys with the carts on Frederick Street in Port-of-Spain. Today, everything is on social media; it’s basically your promo kit,” she reiterated.

Still on the topic of evolution, Bitts recalled that back in the day, Soca artistes weren’t reliant on stylists and make-up artistes, like they are today. “Back then nobody had stylists. You’d go down to Tent City in town, or to Arima, get your clothes, dress yourself or you might see a style in a magazine and you’d get someone to sew a replica, but nowadays it’s a full glam squad,” she highlighted, pointing out that for up-and-coming artistes, the effort to stand beside bigger artistes who can afford stylists and other professionals, can prove challenging.

“My advice to new artistes is to invest in themselves early. When this season ends, begin planning for the next season and learn how to professionally do things for yourself. When I was younger, my mother had me learn hair and makeup, and when things are tight, I can manage on my own,” she admitted.

A radio personality at urban frequency, Boom94, Lil’ Bitts is maneuvering in the business of music and media nicely. “I did radio broadcasting at the age of 17 and I’ve done television previously, but radio has proven to be more of a challenge,” she admits. No matter what comes her way though, Bitts is constantly making moves to improve and grow.

She hopes her latest release, ‘Brighter Days,’ will uplift others. She wants them to find strength to look past their challenges. Instead, she encourages them to focus on the possibilities ahead.

 

The post Never Miss Carnival Season Again: Insights from Lil’ Bitts appeared first on South Florida Caribbean News.