Popularly known as “Shaft” within the Soca Fraternity, Jason Bishop is on a challenging career quest. His fundamental objective is to transform his love of music via fine-tuning & mastering the art of songwriting, in a local, regional and international industry. The reward is not easily attained- it demands quickly-thinking, motivated and focused individuals who understand the need to capture the range of personality and performing style of the client, and value the changing game of musical entertainment.

From the onset, Shaft’s writing services solidly commanded the attention of various Soca Artistes within Trinidad & Tobago. In 2008, his skill set was noticed by Bamboo Entertainment, who manages the Queen of Bacchanal, Destra Garcia. Subsequently, their collaborative efforts give birth to her single entitled “Saddle It”, which became the most popular song for that camp based on radio play and Fans’ feedback throughout the 2008 season. This shot to stardom as the copywriting brainchild behind this smash hit became a springboard for success for Jason, as the demand for his services quickly grew to several other musical camps within the shores of Trinidad & Tobago and throughout the Caribbean region.

One example of his island-wide success emanates from another popular tune sung by Antiguan-born artiste Tizzy called “Wuk Meh” and featured fellow songwriter and singer, Richard Trumpet. The song garnered smash-hit status throughout many Carnivals in the islands, and certifiably cemented 2008 as the emerging year of dominance for Shaft. Immediately thereafter, many different artists and managers sought after Bishop’s writing gift, after Tizzy’s success story.

In that same year, Jason explored other genres of music and tested his ability by embarking on a challenge to write a 12-song album for Addison “Shadow Man” Richardson from St. Maarten. In addition to claiming the island’s Soca Monarch Title, the overwhelming success of that album can be seen in its main single “White Line”, which earned recurring airplay on regional media giant Tempo TV, and soon led to the opportunity of becoming this artiste’s main write for several other projects.

His Caribbean popularity then spread like wildfire, and was formally introduced to Alison Hinds. A combination of skill, speed and quality resulted in a finished product entitled “Hooked” for the neighbouring-island songstress.  Written in only 2 days, it was one of the biggest releases for the Bajan Queen of Soca in 2009. Within that very Cropover Season, he went on to write for Shayne Bailey (“Sweetness”) and celebrated Barbadian performer TC (“Hot Sun and Riddum”). These singles became 2 of the most requested Groovy Soca tunes for that year, the latter of which emerged as the Barbados Soca Monarch 2009. For Jason “Shaft” Bishop, however, his biggest accolade for 2009 Carnival was being the writing mastermind behind the single “No Behaviour”- performed by reigning International Soca Monarch Double Champion 2012, Machel Montano. His creative relationship with the HD camp flourished in coming years, as he also wrote another popular Fan Favorite for Boy Boy, entitled “On D Avenue”, as well as Patrice Roberts’ “Mas”, among a sea of collaborative projects based locally and internationally.

2010 was a powerful year for Sherwin Winchester, Destra Garcia, Shal Marshal, Ravi B, Famer Nappy, Patrice Roberts, Tizzy from Antigua, Chucky, Denise Belfon, Eddie Charles, Devon Matthews, Terry Lyons and many more. The popular commonality among all of these artistes, of course, was the penned skills of Jason “Shaft” Bishop, who is responsible for a plethora of hits across the Soca board from these entertainers. Jason increased his talented momentum and continued to dominate the writing industry in 2011 with such regularly circulated hits on the airwaves as “Attitude” by Destra Garcia; “Surrender” by Famer Nappy; “Making Up” and “Intimate” by Nadia Batson; “Hard Pon” by Raymond & Nadia Batson; “No Laziness” by Megan Walrond, as well as a trio of hits for 3 Canal- “Run d Riddum,” “Over me” & “I am”.

Great music is already in the works and on the radio circuit for Shaft Vibes Entertainment & Carnival 2013. The royal dominance continues as the doting public enjoys the diverse contributions from a variety of artistes, such as the widely received Soca Ballad “Live Yuh Life” by Kees Dieffenthaller and King David Rudder; “I Never Wine” by Chucky Gordon; “No More Tabanca by Michelle Xavier; and “Minglin’” by Farmer Nappy. His love for entertainment has also married with an opportunity to delve into real estate. As of the summer of 2012, Bishop is now the proud owner of Area 18 Lounge in San Juan, Trinidad, which seeks to expose opportunities to budding artistes who simply want a viable platform by which their natural talent can be showcased to a listening audience.

Cumulatively, these ventures signal a return to the root of entertainment value for Jason “Shaft” Bishop. Always in search of a challenge, this master of the writing trade continues his fruitful journey in being a student to professional experience for 2013 and beyond.