Trinidad and Tobago January 30, 2009 — Trinbago's music industry can evoke powerful emotions amongst its members, and every once in awhile, some of these emotions happen to be mutual respect and genuine love; which when the stars align in just the right formation, gives rise to the creation of a true Soca family.

"Shurwayne is my brother from another mother, and the other members of the band and I instantly connected." So says Shawn "Da Ma$tamind" Noel when he speaks of Shurwayne Winchester and his newly formed band, Y.O.U.

According to Shurwayne, "Shawn is family to me, and he and the other band members simply gravitated towards each other, there is a natural chemistry flowing."

Consider this the official announcement. Shurwayne and Shawn are working together again, not inside the studio where their collaborative efforts have given us hits like "Don't Stop", "Alequa" and "Open The Gate", but instead as members of the effervescent and highly entertaining frontline of Y.O.U.

For Carnival 2k9, Da Ma$tamind himself will be a frontline singer alongside Shurwayne and Prestan.

"Shawn's talent and attitude are what make it a pleasure to work with him. He comfortably gelled with the band and he is a born entertainer. So this was an easy decision to make."

Shawn "Da Ma$tamind" Noel, is a long time musician, award winning producer and composer. He has worked alongside many music industry greats like, Bunji Garlin, Rikki Jai, Tigress, Maximus Dan and Collie Buddz.

For Shawn this is a blessed season, with "Rum and Roti" his collaboration with Patch scorching the airwaves and now joining this musically gifted band is icing on his Soca cake. It solidifies that once again his wife's intuition and belief in him was well placed. He has triumphantly gone from being a composer to now being an exciting and engaging onstage performer, as she accurately predicted.

Carnival has barely begun but already this newly formed family foresees many great things in their collective future. As for the rest of us we have the pleasure of being entertained by a vibrant frontline and band, all of whom love what they do and especially enjoy making their fans happy through music.