Kes

The members of Caribbean soca outfit Kes first came together as a pop-rock cover band called Limestone in order to enter a local talent competition. ∙ Adopting the name Kes in 2005, the group dropped their debut album, Three Baldheads and a Dread, the following year. ∙ “Wotless,” the title track of their fourth album, was Kes’ first bona fide smash, winning that year’s International Groovy Soca Monarch competition during Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. ∙ The success of “Wotless”—which earned a Soul Train Music Awards nomination in 2011—expanded Kes’ reach beyond the Caribbean. ∙ In 2014, they launched Tuesday on the Rocks, an annual event during Trinidad and Tobago Carnival that has since become one of the festival’s most highly anticipated parties. ∙ Snoop Dogg, Gyptian, and Major Lazer have collaborated with the band, and Will Smith joined them onstage at a 2017 Trinidad concert. ∙ “Stage Gone Bad,” their hit single with Iwer George, dominated Carnival in 2020, winning both the International Power Soca Monarch and Carnival Road March competitions.