Orion: Staying in His Lane and Following His Dreams

2023 was a comeback year for Barnes Nelson, better known as Orion – a teaser of what was to come. But in 2024, he delivered the full feature, dropping tracks like Money Never Fight and Good Day and reestablishing himself not just on the soca scene, but in competition as well. In 2009, Driven by a vision to expand soca’s appeal, Orion and Sedale introduced the Deeper than Soca (DTS) brand, aiming to infuse the genre with a hipper sound. His musical journey, however, began years before. Orion’s roots trace back to calypso, a genre he fell in love with as a child growing up in Marchand, a community alive with steelpan, carnival and vibrant music. “When I was about 12 years old, I started singing at Corinth Secondary School. I took part in my first competition there, which I won,” he recalls.  But his passion wasn’t always understood. “For a young boy at that age, it was not very common, so when I told my friends I loved calypso and wanted to go in that direction, they looked at me like I was mad.” Undeterred, Orion found inspiration in the Mighty Pep, one of his favourite Saint Lucian calypsonians....