After Conquering Tobago Carnival, Tam Tam Sets His Sights On Soca Monarch
The emerging star of Tobago Carnival 2026 is Brenardo Thompson, better known as Tam Tam.
Tam Tam’s “Follow Me”, an energetic, catchy jab jab tune, earned him the Tobago Carnival Road March title, along with the Soca Titans title at last week’s competitions.
The song did not stay on the stage; it went from truck to truck and band to band during J’ouvert, Night Mas and the Parade of the Bands, embedding itself in the minds of revellers, both local and international.
He said the response from revellers, particularly visitors to the island, was one of the highlights of his Carnival experience.
« Looking at the foreigners especially. Tobagonians, Tobago is a hard crowd to move on the road and to see everybody move from left to right to left as the song come one, my moving from truck to truck, and the same energy come from all the bands as the song played, and I realise everybody starts to move and everybody starts to enjoy my music. »
Hailing from Roxborough, Tam Tam has grown as an artiste with Tobago Carnival since 2022, striving to prove to Tobago and the country that quality Soca can come from the island.
« From the time that they touch the mic, they say ‘he here, he here, he here”, so I was like, yeah, they giving me the love, so I want to give them back the love from moving from truck to truck to truck, not just because of the Road March but because I love to see how the people does move when they hear a Tam Tam come on, they move like ants in the street, like all over the place. »
Tam Tam was grateful to the Tobago Festivals Commission for launching the Road March competition, which allowed Tobago’s music to reach a higher level than before.
He added that the inclusion of Soca King Machel Montano as a guest judge for the Soca Titans competition allowed artistes like himself to prove their worth.
« My time to perform, and I saw him moving, and I was like, ‘Yeah, he catch’ and so I feel proud to see that an icon in the business like that moving, jumping, moving from left to right. I feel like, yeah, I feel real proud of myself. »
Tam Tam is now looking forward to opportunities to work with artistes like Machel Montano.
In the meantime, he is reflecting positively on the 2026 Soca season, which he says fostered a strong sense of camaraderie and brotherhood among Tobago’s artistes.
« All of us, we is just one love, and I would like Tobago to support each and every one of us, continue pushing us because we push each other. Don’t try to promote bad blood against each other because we not about that. We about pushing the culture to grow as one. »
According to Tam Tam, the music is becoming one of the main attractions of Tobago Carnival, with the island’s Soca sound steadily evolving into a distinct identity of its own.
« It’s unique, wonderful. It’s more based on, I would say, a heritage-like, cultural kind of beat because when you check it out, it does be heritage, cultural, the aspects of it. »
He believes it is Groovy, it is Jab Jab, with a bit of humour.
Tam Tam showed the world that Tobago’s Soca is music to be respected and celebrated.
Up next for him is preparing to compete on the International Soca Monarch stage, as his Soca Titans win automatically qualifies him as a contestant.
He also plans to continue performing, recording and developing new music.
