2000
Big Ting
co-founder, keys, production — first Triple Kay album
KI
Triple Kay co-founder · lead keyboardist · producer
Killa
Kendel "Killa" Laurent is one of the three co-founders of Triple Kay International in 2000 in the village of Laudat, Dominica — the three "K" of the name come from his initials, Kenan Cadette's and Kurt Rolle's. He signed the keyboard signature that shaped modern post-WCK Bouyon, produces all the band's music, and remains lead keys / official producer on the 2026 line-up. Twenty-six years after his start, he still carries the sound that defined the second Dominican Bouyon wave — the one that took the genre out of carnival trucks and into regional festivals and the docuseries The Rhythms of Triple Kay.
- Role
- Triple Kay co-founder · lead keyboardist · producer
- Origin
- Laudat, Dominica
- Period
- 2000-2026
- Territories
- Dominica
Why this profile matters
In 2000, in the village of Laudat (not Roseau), three friends start rehearsing as Triple Kay International: Kenan Cadette, Kurt Rolle and Kendel Laurent. The name comes straight from their three initials — "3 K". Killa brings the keys and the production: he programs, arranges and picks the sonic palette of the young band. The same year, Triple Kay puts out its first studio album `Big Ting` (2000), then rolls out `Fanatik` (2003), `Sewo` (2004) — the regional crossover title that wins Song of the Year 2005 — `All Out` (2006), `Pressure` (2007), `Colours` (2008), `Allo` (2009), `Hush Your Mouth` (2011) and `Bubblin` (2012). Nine studio albums in thirteen years, then the band shifts to a yearly singles cycle. As Wayne "Benji" Benjamin becomes a full frontline vocalist in 2005, Triple Kay moves from the early Cadence-lypso, Compas and Zouk feel into full Bouyon — and Killa's keyboard signature shapes what fans now call "the modern sound of the genre". Podiums include the Dominica Road March titles for `Lock De Gate` (2015) and `Roll Dat Boom Boom` (2017), the world's first People's Bouyon Road March with `Heat` (2019), the Commonwealth of Dominica Meritorious Service Award (2022) and the Golden Drum Award (2022). In 2025, Cranberry TV airs `The Rhythms of Triple Kay — 25 Years of Bouyon Beats`, a six-episode docuseries launched January 22 that walks through the band and its founders' journey. On the official 2026 line-up, Killa remains lead keys and producer — the official site `triplekayinternational.com` confirms he produces all the band's music, alongside Jeoffrey "JJ Yout" Joseph (back keys), Jason "Froggy" Joseph (drums), Ordel "Zoubs" Hamilton (guitars), James "J-West" Rodney (road manager) and Daniel "Brush Head" Phillip (bass / engineering). Twenty-six years after Laudat, he is one of the very few co-founders still actively performing and producing in the whole modern Bouyon history.
Verified timeline
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Co-founds Triple Kay International in Laudat with Kenan Cadette and Kurt Rolle. The name comes from the three "K" initials. Releases the first studio album `Big Ting`.
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Triple Kay drops the `Fanatik` album — Killa handles keys and production.
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`Sewo` album — the title single becomes a regional crossover hit and wins Song of the Year 2005.
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Wayne "Benji" Benjamin steps in as frontline vocalist. Triple Kay fully switches to Bouyon, and Killa's keyboard signature becomes the band's sonic engine.
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Six-album cycle: `All Out`, `Pressure`, `Colours`, `Allo`, `Hush Your Mouth`, `Bubblin`. Nine studio albums in thirteen years, all produced by Killa.
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`Lock De Gate` wins the Dominica Road March — Triple Kay becomes a carnival reference.
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`Roll Dat Boom Boom` lands another Dominica Road March title.
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`Heat` wins the world's first People's Bouyon Road March — the first official Bouyon recognition inside an institutional Road March.
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Triple Kay receives the Commonwealth of Dominica Meritorious Service Award and the Golden Drum Award — state recognition for the band and its co-founders.
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Cranberry TV airs `The Rhythms of Triple Kay — 25 Years of Bouyon Beats`, a six-episode docuseries launched January 22, 2025, documenting Killa and the three K's path.
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Killa stays lead keys and official producer on the 2026 Triple Kay line-up — still credited on the band's 2026 Carnival releases.
Tracks / markers
2004
Sewo
keys and production on the album and the title single, Song of the Year 2005
2015
Lock De Gate
keys and production — Dominica Road March
2017
Roll Dat Boom Boom
keys and production — Dominica Road March
2019
Heat
keys and production — world's first People's Bouyon Road March
2018
Still Standing
keys and production, band anniversary anthem
2026
Take The Bus Baby
production — Triple Kay 2026 Carnival release
Related chapters
Sources
-
Triple Kay International — site officiel (about us)
Official source. Killa Laurent credited as lead keys / producer and founder from Laudat. 2000-2012 nine-album discography, awards and current line-up.
https://triplekayinternational.com/about-us/ -
la presse caribéenne — Triple Kay International, 25 years of Bouyon legacy
Anniversary article (Jan 2025) — confirms the Laudat founding, the Cranberry TV docuseries `The Rhythms of Triple Kay`, and Killa's role.
https://socanews.com/news/triple-kay-international-celebrating-25-years-of-bouyon-legacy/ -
la presse caribéenne — Triple Kay people profile
la presse caribéenne people profile — confirms the Laudat origin and 25-year track record.
https://socanews.com/people/triple-kay/ -
la presse caribéenne — Triple Kay heading to I Love Sewo Jam
Starting source — Triple Kay performance coverage at the Sewo Jam festival.
https://socanews.com/news/triple-kay-heading-to-i-love-sewo-jam/
Profiles linked by musical collaboration
SW
Bouyon vocalist · Triple Kay International member
Sweet Ticky
In 2000, when Kendel "Killa" Laurent founded Triple Kay International in Laudat, Sweet Ticky was one of the singers he picked. Twenty-five years later, he's still there — a voice that holds on stage, a memory that tells the story. When you try to understand the Dominican Bouyon trajectory between the WCK golden age and the 2020s platform recognition, he's the one you talk to. He knows the bands, the Carnival anthems, the transitions.
WC
Foundational Bouyon group
WCK
In 1988, in a Grand Bay studio in Dominica, a band plugs in a TR-505 drum machine and invents a music genre without knowing it. Gordon Henderson's cadence-lypso, the jing ping played by elders on accordion and syak, the carnival lapo kabwit, the dancehall arriving through sound systems — everything runs through the same machine and the same keyboard. The result has a name: Bouyon. WCK — Windward Caribbean Kulture — lays the first brick with the "Work It Out (Bouyon Remix)" inside the "One More Sway" album of 1988. Two years later, "Culture Shock" installs the sound inside the Dominican carnival. The historical core: Derek "Rah" Peters on drums, Cornell "Fingers" Phillip on keyboards, Mr Delly on memory voice, Skinny Banton on the bouyon-muffin color.
CO
Keyboardist · producer · WCK sonic architect
Cornell Phillip
In 1988, in Grand Bay, Dominica, a young keyboardist takes the boumboum bass of jing ping and translates it into aggressive bass synth. He takes the syak and shifts it into TR-505 drum machine programming. The accordion becomes a keyboard pad. That technical move — apparently simple — is the founding act of Bouyon. Cornell "Fingers" Phillip has just invented the sonic grammar of a genre. He co-founds WCK the same year. In 1995, he opens Imperial Publishing studio. In 2007, he forms Fanatik. Thirty-two years later, in January 2020, he is still producing: Edday's "Foreigner" with Carlyn XP.