Radio de Rupee

Rupert Clarke (born September 10, 1975; in Germany), best known by his stage name Rupee, is a soca musician from Barbados. He was born in military barracks in Germany to a German mother and a Bajan father, who was serving in the British armed forces at the time. He later migrated to Barbados. He is signed to Atlantic Records. By the age of nine, Rupee had lived in three completely different cultures - German, English, and Barbadian. His parents both suffered from AIDS which has impacted his personal and musical life. Spending his first years in England, he was exposed to a genuine contrast of sounds which reflected his parents' diverse backgrounds: calypso and reggae on the side of his West Indian father, pop and rock 'n' roll from his European mother. His two older brothers would perform rap in Germany and England and he would use their influence to "scribble down my little verse or two!" He and his siblings would often perform on stage, coming up with all sorts of unique chants, rhymes and antics to tease the audience. Rupee eventually moved to Barbados in 1985. He got his first major break after winning th Richard Stoute Teen Talent Competition in 1993 back when he was a schoolboy at Harrison College, the country's most prestigious grammar school. This came as a major surprise to him, as he was coerced by friends to just "try a ting" by entering the competition. This was his big break in soca music.