GRAMMY Award-Winning Song Writer and Black Canadian Award winner

Music has always been the core of the Trinidad-born, Canadian singer, songwriter, and entertainer Anslem Douglas. He was born July 23, 1964, in a small village in Southern Trinidad, and was introduced to music at a very young age. Exposure to performances at his local community center, combined with his older sister's influence, who at the time was a talented young poet, served as the inspiration and foundation for his musical development.

 

Douglas's vocal talent flourished while singing at his local Pentecostal Church. At sixteen years old, he and several of his church friends formed a band called "Exodus," which quickly gained popularity and provided him with a glimpse of stardom. Douglas enlisted in the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard for six years and continued to hone his vocal skills while performing in the Coast Guard band. His diverse musical influences included Caribbean star Blakie and the Lord Kitchener and R&B vocalists Peabo Bryson and James Ingram, which led to his performing various musical styles with the band.

 

The appeal of bigger stages and brighter lights eventually led Douglas to Trinidad and Tobago's vibrant Soca and Calypso music scene. It didn't take long for him to become recognized as a leading talent, and he performed with some of the biggest bands in the region including Fire Flight and Atlantic. Audiences were drawn to Douglas' husky yet sultry sound, and it was during this time that he delivered mega-hits like "Ragga Poom Poom,” “Good Music To Dance," and his internationally acclaimed Grammy-winning hit, "Who Let the Dogs Out." 

 

Several of Douglas' other songs also rose to prominence, such as "Friend," from his Soul Island album, where he takes listeners through a range of human experiences, "Ooh Aah," a Smooth-Jazz hit off of the same record, and "Abuse" on the Sir Anslem Douglas album that speaks of social outrage relating to domestic violence. In 2013, Douglas released the powerful Soca track "Bacchanal," along with a Neo-Calypso song "Dancing with You," and "I Want To Know." The following year, he released "Boom," "Broughtrupcy," and the velvety Reggae track "It Wasn't You." In 2018, he recorded "Irie Tonight," followed by "Make It Clap" in 2019, and the single "Back It Up," which he released for Carnival that year. Douglas wrote the song "Break That Cycle" to heighten awareness surrounding the issue of domestic abuse and the need to "break the cycle." 

 

Douglas' musical accomplishments have been acknowledged outside of the Caribbean, and he was awarded Best Caribbean-Style Artist at the 2014 Black Canadian Awards, among other recognitions. For the past several years, he has continued to perform, record, and write songs while also focusing on other pursuits, including writing his first children's book, The Adventures of Spin & Scratch-The Relocation (Author House Publishing, 2019). His forthcoming music project is an R&B/Soul album recorded in New York City in 2019/2020 with one of Brazil's top producers, Sandro Albert. It is expected to be released later this year.

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