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Earlson Matthew: Likkle Man, the keyboard behind the credits

Published October 20, 2026

Earlson Matthew, known as Likkle Man, is a keyboardist, composer and arranger from Dominica whose name appears where bouyon is made rather than where it is sung. The page of the founding group WCK lists him as lead keyboardist under his nickname, a community roster counts him among the band members, and in 2014 he arranged “Celebrating CARICOM”, the Michele Henderson song chosen as the official CARICOM song. In 2023 he wrote and composed “How De Band Playing” for Mr Delly, then composed and engineered “To The City” for Peter Prospere. In February 2025 the Dominica tourism authority billed him, under the name Likkle Man, among the icons of Bouyon Day in Roseau. This profile gathers those pieces one by one, each verified, and also states what no opened source confirms: no biography, no streaming artist page, and no keys role in the festival band of Mr Ridge, which circulated as a research starting point.

Who Earlson Matthew is: a nickname, a keyboard, a set of credits

Earlson Matthew is the full name. Likkle Man is the nickname the scene knows him by and the name the posters bill him under. The full credit form appears on YouTube, in the official credits of two records: “Earlson “Likkle Man” Matthew”, with the nickname in quotes, exactly the way Dominican credits name their session musicians. The WCK group page gives the same equation in reverse: “Earlson Matthew a.k.a Likkle Man”, followed by his function, lead keyboardist. Two independent sources, a band and song credits, therefore link the civil name, the nickname and the instrument without ambiguity.

His instrument is the keyboard, and in bouyon that is no small detail. Bouyon is born at the end of the 1980s when WCK fuses cadence-lypso with traditional jing ping, and every description of the genre insists on the same point: the sound rests on keyboard rhythmic patterns, played and sequenced, that carry the dance. The community site A Virtual Dominica states it plainly: the sequencing of the prominent keyboards is an integral part of the bouyon sound. A lead keyboardist of that school is therefore no sideman among others: he holds the rhythmic machine of the band, the one that defined the genre.

What the sources do not give, this profile does not invent. No published biography, no interview, no date of birth, no place of birth and no musical training for Earlson Matthew were found during this research. No artist page under his name was confirmed on the streaming platforms consulted: his traces are credits, arranger, writer, composer, mixing and mastering engineer, and band roster lines. That is the typical profile of the shadow musician of Dominican bouyon, essential to the records of others, and almost invisible in the public archive under his own name.

One reading confusion should be cleared in this first section. The name Matthew exists everywhere in English speaking music, and search engines mix this Dominican keyboardist with unrelated namesakes. Earlson Matthew, here, is recognised by three signatures the others do not have: the nickname Likkle Man, the WCK roster, and credits on Dominican records recorded at Sonic Art Studios. Everything else in this profile speaks only of that musician.

WCK: keyboardist of the founding band, between two rosters

WCK, for Windward Caribbean Kulture, is formed in 1988 in Roseau, Dominica, by young musicians who want to fill the void left by the great cadence bands. The group experiments with a fusion of cadence-lypso and jing ping, with traditional percussion such as the lapo kabwit, and stresses, from the start, technology and keyboard rhythmic patterns. It is that blend that receives the name bouyon and makes the group, in every history of the genre, the founding band. Its discography runs from “One More Sway” in 1988 to the albums of the 2000s, with records such as “Culture Shock”, “Balance Batty” and “Tou Cho Tou Flam” that remain dance references in Dominica.

In that history, the place of Earlson Matthew is read in two lists that do not say exactly the same thing, and this profile gives both. The reference page of the band, on Wikipedia, places “Earlson Matthew a.k.a Likkle Man, lead Keyboardist” in the list of former members, alongside Delton Alfred on vocals and Keith Goddard on bass guitar, among others. The community site A Virtual Dominica, on its page about bouyon in Dominica, lists Earlson Matthew instead among the current band members, alongside Keith Goddard, Albert Lockhart, Delton Alfred, Marsha Augustine, Shannon Liverpool and Nehimiah Darroux.

The contradiction is only apparent, and it is typical of long lived Caribbean bands: lineups rotate, generations relay each other, and published rosters date from different moments. A Virtual Dominica itself notes that the original core gradually parted ways and that a new generation of members carries the band. What the two lists establish together, without contradiction, is the central fact: Earlson Matthew held the keyboards of WCK, the band that created bouyon, and he is credited there as lead keyboardist, not as a hired hand.

That band past explains the rest of his file. The musicians of WCK form a small closed school in Dominica: the same names are found from credit to credit for decades. Delton Alfred, the singer listed in both rosters, becomes Mr Delly and in 2023 sings a song written by Earlson Matthew. Keith Goddard, the bassist listed in both rosters, plays bass on the song Earlson Matthew composes and engineers for Peter Prospere. The WCK keyboard therefore did not vanish with the lineup changes: it carried on, in the studio, with the same partners. Read the full history of the band on our WCK page.

“Celebrating CARICOM”: arranger of the official Caribbean song

The widest credit of Earlson Matthew is not found in bouyon, but in the institutional history of the Caribbean. For the fortieth anniversary of CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, a competition is launched in April 2013 to compose the official song of the organisation. Three rounds of selection reduce 63 entries to three finalists. In March 2014 the judges choose “Celebrating CARICOM”, by Michele Henderson, a singer from Dominica, who receives a prize of 10,000 US dollars.

The credits of the song, as the Caribbean Community page publishes them, are precise: the song is produced by Roland Delsol Jr., the singer husband, and arranged by Earlson Matthew. Michael Ferrol plays drums, and the St. Alphonsus Choir brings the choral voices. The song is then re-produced for CARICOM by Carl Beaver Henderson of Trinidad and Tobago, which separates the two roles clearly: the original arrangement, the one on the winning version, is by Earlson Matthew, and the institutional re-production comes after.

The first official performance of the song takes place on Tuesday July 1, 2014, at the opening ceremony of the Thirty-Fifth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, in Antigua and Barbuda. “Celebrating CARICOM” has since been presented as the anthem of the Caribbean Community, the organisation that groups fifteen member states of the region. A Dominican bouyon arranger therefore signs the musical architecture of the official song of the whole English speaking and associated Caribbean: by far the most institutional credit of the file, and it is documented by the reference page of the organisation itself.

That detour through the regional anthem lights up the whole profile. The same musician arranges an official song commissioned by competition, holds the keyboards of the founding bouyon band, and writes carnival songs for the singers of Roseau. On a small island, musicians of that level do not specialise by genre: they serve every stage of their country, from the state ceremony to the carnival street. That is exactly the path the credits of Earlson Matthew draw, piece by piece.

“How De Band Playing”: the writer behind Mr Delly

The best documented bouyon record of Earlson Matthew is “How De Band Playing”, released as a 2023 bouyon under the form Mr Delly x Likkle Man. Its official description explains the proverb that gives it its title: an old saying goes “How the band, is so you have to dance”, as the band plays, so you must dance. The text spells out the meaning: many things in life are beyond our control, and sometimes it makes no sense to swim against the tide. The song applies that expression to different life situations, in the Dominican tradition of proverb songs.

The official credits of the record name the writer without detour: written and composed by Earlson “Likkle Man” Matthew, performed by Delton “Mr. Delly” Alfred. Around them, a real studio band: Elijah JeanJacques on bass, Joel Francis on guitar, Nikita “Fridge” Christmas on drums, and additional vocals by Erneil “Shabba” Paul, Dorelle Diolen, Serena Alexander, Syan Davis, Deanna Emmanuel and Michael “Bully, Ti Mal” John. The record is recorded and mixed at Sonic Art Studios, the workshop that returns throughout the recent file of the composer.

The detail that gives the record its weight is the reunion it performs. The writer and the singer both appear in the WCK rosters quoted above: Earlson Matthew on keyboards, Delton Alfred on vocals. “How De Band Playing” is therefore, on the paper of its credits, a Dominican carnival song written by the keyboardist of the founding band for one of its singers, twenty years and more after the great years of the group. The bouyon of the founders does not survive only in reissues: it keeps producing new records, between former members, in the studios of Roseau.

The official keywords of the record tie it to bouyon and to bouyon soca, the sung branch of the genre. On this site, that lineage is given as Sean “Smokiller” Francis, a Dominican-born producer and direct witness of the scene, recounts it first hand: bouyon soca was started by Dada in 2003, in Dominica, and popularised by Triple Kay. A 2023 record written by a WCK keyboardist sits inside that long line, where the musicians of the founding bands still feed today carnivals. The full profile of the singer is read on our Mr Delly page.

“To The City”: composer and engineer at Sonic Art Studios

The second fully documented recent record is “To The City”, released under the form Likkle Man X Peter Pros. Its official credits separate two roles that Earlson Matthew combines. First the composition: composed by Earlson “Likkle Man” Matthew, performed by Peter Prospere. Then the engineering: recorded, mixed and mastered at Sonic Art Studios by Earlson “Likkle Man” Matthew himself. On this record he is therefore not only the writer of the music: he is also the engineer who records, mixes and finishes the released product.

The band that plays the record confirms the network already described. Bass is held by Keith Goddard, the bassist of the WCK rosters quoted in this profile, and guitar by Monelle “High Speed” Mondesire. The artwork is signed Kester Labad. Around the composer we therefore find the same tight circle of Dominican studio musicians: a former WCK bassist, a session guitarist named by his nickname, and a singer, Peter Prospere, who carries the voice while Likkle Man holds the composition and the desk.

The keywords published with the record place “To The City” at the centre of the current bouyon map: bouyon, bouyon music, WCK, Dominica, Likkle Man, Triple Kay, Ridge, Mr Benji, Delly, WCMF and World Creole Music Festival. Those keywords are publishing tags, not credits, and this profile treats them as such: they show in which neighbourhood the record wants to be found, that of the bands and singers of Dominican bouyon today, without proving a collaboration with each name cited.

Taken together, “How De Band Playing” and “To The City” draw the working method of the musician in the 2020s: write for the voices of others, gather a small band of regulars, record at Sonic Art Studios, and, when the record requires it, handle the mixing and mastering himself. It is workshop work, far from the posters, but it is what turns a street proverb and a keyboard composition into released carnival records. The context of the festival where this bouyon is played each October is read on our World Creole Music Festival page.

Bouyon Day 2025, and the honest limits of the file

The most recent public trace is a state poster. The Discover Dominica Authority release for Bouyon Day 2025 announces “Bouyon in de Streets”, a free event on Tuesday February 25, 2025, from 6 PM to midnight, on Hanover Street, in Roseau. The lineup is presented there as a gathering of bouyon icons, and Likkle Man appears in full, alongside Asa Bantan, Litle Boy, Quan, Reo, Freddy, Clint H, Najee, Skinny Bantan, Rah, Delly and Kenny G, with TK International, Unstoppable Shax and DJ Snow. The nickname alone is therefore enough, in 2025, to fill a line on the official poster of the national celebration of the genre.

One last trace circulates in the mixes: the tracklist of the Bouyon Mix 2025 Pt 2 by Blaqrose Supreme places, at 28 minutes 22, a “Backshot” credited to Mr. Delly x Likkle Man x Unstoppable Shax x Trump. This profile quotes it for what it is, a DJ tracklist line, which proves that a record of that name circulates in carnival selections, and not a platform release page, which no search produced. “Backshot” therefore enters the structured data of this page with that limited status, and no release detail is attributed to it.

The limits of the file must be stated as clearly as its strong pieces. The starting point of this research mentioned a keys role in the stage band of Mr Ridge at the World Creole Music Festival, and an account under the name earlsonmatthew. No source opened during this research confirms either point: no festival programme, no stage band credit and no verified account were produced for this musician. This profile therefore does not carry that role as a fact, links no social profile in its structured data, and will correct the record the day a document confirms it. Likewise, the apparent contradiction between the two WCK rosters, former members on one side, current members on the other, is published as it stands, with no invented ruling.

If an official biography, a verified account or a festival programme naming his role appears, this profile will be completed and dated like every page on this site. In the meantime, listening and reading start with the three solid credits: the arrangement of “Celebrating CARICOM”, the writing of “How De Band Playing” for Mr Delly, and the composition and engineering of “To The City”, then with the context of the genre on our WCK and bouyon playlist pages.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Earlson Matthew?

Earlson Matthew, known as Likkle Man, is a keyboardist, composer and arranger from Dominica. The WCK page lists him as lead keyboardist of the founding bouyon band, a community roster counts him among its members, and his recent credits show him writing for Mr Delly and composing for Peter Prospere, with records made at Sonic Art Studios.

What is the link between Earlson Matthew and WCK?

Two published lists tie him to WCK, the band that created bouyon in 1988. Wikipedia places him among the former members, as lead keyboardist under the name Earlson Matthew a.k.a Likkle Man. The community site A Virtual Dominica lists him among the current members, alongside Keith Goddard and Delton Alfred. This profile publishes both lists without ruling between them.

What did Earlson Matthew arrange for CARICOM?

He arranged “Celebrating CARICOM”, the Michele Henderson song chosen in March 2014, from 63 entries, as the official CARICOM song for its fortieth anniversary. The song, produced by Roland Delsol Jr. with Michael Ferrol on drums and the St. Alphonsus Choir, was first officially performed on July 1, 2014 in Antigua and Barbuda.

Which songs has Earlson Matthew written for other singers?

Two records are documented by their official credits. “How De Band Playing”, a 2023 bouyon, written and composed by Earlson “Likkle Man” Matthew and performed by Delton “Mr. Delly” Alfred. And “To The City”, composed by Earlson Matthew, performed by Peter Prospere, and recorded, mixed and mastered at Sonic Art Studios by the composer himself.

Does Earlson Matthew play keys for Mr Ridge at the World Creole Music Festival?

No source opened during this research confirms it. No festival programme, no stage band credit and no verified account under the name earlsonmatthew were produced. That role circulates as a research starting point, but this profile does not publish it as a fact and links no social profile. It will be added, with its source, on the day a document names it.

Where can I hear the work of Earlson Matthew?

Through his credits: “How De Band Playing” by Mr Delly, whose file our Mr Delly page follows, “To The City” by Peter Prospere, and “Celebrating CARICOM” by Michele Henderson. The tracklist of the Bouyon Mix 2025 Pt 2 by Blaqrose Supreme also cites a “Backshot” by Mr. Delly x Likkle Man x Unstoppable Shax x Trump. Our bouyon playlist follows the current Dominican scene.

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