Features
Jonathan Ramnanansingh
THE legendary Radioactive Nuclear soundsystem marks 30 pioneering years of influence in local and regional soundsystem culture, sharing the stage with some of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean’s most iconic selectors at Sound Forge, St James, on December 19.
Lead selector Hypa Hoppa (Kwesi Hopkinson) and the Radioactive team (DJ Dane/now Lord Hype, TC/now Jaiga and John Boy) commemorate three decades of soundsystem culture with a special return, intent on taking its long-standing fan-base on a dub plate-driven, musical journey down memory lane.
Over the past few weeks, Scorch Radio has been on fire with pop-up, on-air dubplate sessions from Hoppy and the Radioactive family, whose last time onstage as a soundsystem was at world-renowned Mighty Crown’s “Final Round Tour”, in June 2023.
Joining the celebrations alongside the nuclear sound, would be fellow, aimless soundsystems, and past soundclash rivals, such as Mighty Jugglers, Sel Construction and Matsimela; all homegrown TT sounds.
Additionally, Jamaican stalwarts Bass Odyssey and Renaissance, also join the heavy-hitting cast of selectors at Sound Forge.
Both Jamaican sounds have a rich history in soundclash culture internationally, are still amongst the globe’s elite when it comes to voicing some of the biggest tunes on special, from the early 80s to date.
On achieving this historic milestone, Hoppy is elated to once again grace the stage and showcase Radioactive’s musical artillery.
Reflecting on Radioactive’s beginnings, Hoppy traced the soundsystem’s roots to the mid-90s, a period when local culture was still finding its footing alongside Jamaican pioneers.
“Radioactive, established in December 1995. We officially launched then but I was deejaying maybe for around two years before that. How it really started is that we were part of a rap group called the Masters of Creativity. Then I discovered Killamanjaro and Stonelove (veteran Jamaican soundsystems) cassettes/mixtapes,” he said.
Those early influences coincided with the emergence of homegrown sounds such as Chinese Laundry and Juice Crew, who helped introduce dubplates and soundclash culture to a wider TT audience.
As the global soundsystem movement gained momentum through the 90s, Radioactive carved out its own space locally, often by necessity.
The team staged events not just to perform, but to build an ecosystem around the culture, on platforms like Full Loaded, 45 Shop Lock and 45 Shootout that became key fixtures for soundsystem growth in TT.
Hoppy likens the process to elite-level motorsport, where passion often outweighs profit.
“Dubplate business is like a professional hobby. You probably spend more than you make on it. It’s a creative art-form and expression using these songs, arguments and lyrics, styles of playing, and it’s an art from of deejaying, with rivalry,” he said.
Radioactive’s 30th anniversary is much more that a personal reflection, Hoppy told Newsday.
“We just have to look back on it and saw ‘wow’. Even when I was on the radio show last Friday (when Radioactive played a special dubplate segment), the adrenaline started to kick back in, the emotions…hearing the dubplates…all the things we’ve been through and done, tried, failures, successes..we’re a rolling stone. Radioactive gave me that foundation. When all my peers went off to university, Radioactive and 96.1 FM (local radio station) was my university. It brought a sense of belonging and I was all-around,” he said.
With multiple heavyweight selectors sharing the same space on December 19, rivalry and surprise are part of the appeal. Hoppy believes the event will resonate beyond long-time supporters, offering a vital link between generations.
“Everybody is hype. The nature of sound system is rivalry and you never know what could happen. When you have all those sounds in one place. Expect a good showcase. For the younger generation, it’s for them to get the history. We want to bridge the gap trying to let the younger ones understand what it was about.”
