AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Rupee

Artist:Rupee

Song:Tempted to Touch

Album:Classic Caribbean: The Classic Collection Vol. 2

Raise your hand if you know what soca music is. I didn't think so. Soca is an offshoot of calypso that originated in the 70s in Trinidad and Tobago. So it has a following in the Caribbean. The 2003 single Tempted to Touch by soca artist Rupert "Rupee" Clarke may be the biggest soca hit of all time. It was a big club hit in 2003 and it still gets played today especially at Carnival celebrations worldwide. The song was a bigger hit than it's chart position and also Clarke's biggest hit. He was born Sept. 10, 1975 in Germany. His mother is German and his father is from Barbados and was in the British Army. The family moved to England then settled in Barbados in 1985. Clarke won the 1993 Richard Stoute Teen Talent Competition. Clarke joined the band Coalishun in 1997. They were mostly a dancehall band. But Clarke got interested in calypso and soca and started self releasing singles. And he released three albums. He won Road March titles at Carnival parades. Tempted to Touch was first released on Clarke's 2002 album Leave a Message. It won Road March titles and started getting club play. This led to Atlantic Records signing Clarke and releasing the 2004 album 1 0n 1. Tempted to Touch was particularly successful on Billboard's Dance charts and the sound is unique enough that it still gets club play today. The song reached #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 but it was a bigger hit than that. Clarke wrote Tempted to Touch with Barbadian Darron Grant and he produced. He's a soca producer with his own studio. You can get Tempted to Touch on this Warner Bros. various artists comp. Daddy Yankee recorded a reggaeton remix of Tempted to Touch that also got club play. Clarke still releases occasional singles. But Tempted to Touch has had a long shelf life. As I said, it should have been a much bigger hit in 2003. Here's the video for Tempted to Touch by Rupee.