Crop Over sweet

Twenty-seven-year-old Soca artiste, Desirèe Keda Ben, has released her song Gimme Sugah produced by Redhead Productions.

Bajan Vibes sat down with Keda to discuss who she is as a soca artiste and what her plans are for Crop Over 2019.

Q: Is this your first year entering the soca arena?

A:  No, this is not my first year in the soca arena. I began singing soca in 2012 with my first track Down De Road which was written by Anderson Mr Blood Armstrong and myself.

Q: You perform under the stage name Keda. How did you come up with your stage name?

A: Keda was suggested by a friend who, at the time, was in the music industry. He knew I was toying around with a few ideas as to what I wanted my name to be and we did some research. We discovered that the name Keda means “beautiful with a deep soul and understanding” and I fell in love with it. So, I decided to keep it as my stage name.

Q: This year you have a sweet soca song called ‘Gimme Sugah’. What was the inspiration behind the song?

A: Funny enough, my song Gimme Sugah was actually birthed while I was on the road driving. I had the idea and concept I wanted to go with and I sat with Chrissy D and we tweaked the idea a bit more and wrote the song together. I wanted to do a song that celebrates our Bajan guys no matter their skin tone, complexion, etc.

Q: What is your goal for Crop Over 2019?

A:  My goal is to be as visible as I possibly can. I would like more people to be aware of my music, as me as an artist on a whole. I would like to do as many performances as I can and really get my craft out there.

Q: Will you be entering any other genres, for example, Bashment Soca or Pic-O-De-Crop?

A: I have actually never thought of entering Bashment Soca, to be honest; I will leave that to the professionals. However, I have thought of entering the Pic-O-De-Crop competition. I am not sure that I want to do that this year, but who knows? Maybe next year.

Q: How did you become a part of the Redhead Production team?

A: From the time I recorded my first song with Mr Blood in 2012 the Redhead family embraced me. They are very welcoming to new singers who enter the fold and even in the years that I did not record music, we still spent time together and even went to some events together as a crew.

Q: Where you always involved in music?

A: For most of my life I was involved in music. I began singing at the age of 12 in the Bethany Baptist Church and I entered my school singing competition as well. I was also a contestant in the Richard Stoute Teen Talent Competition.

Q: At what age did you decide that you wanted to pursue music as a career?

A: I think, at first, music was just a hobby for me. But I think around the age of 15 or 16 I realized that I loved being an entertainer to the point that I could see myself doing it for the rest of my life.

Q: What does Keda do for fun?

A: I love spending time alone with myself as boring as it may sound. I also enjoy spending time with friends, socializing and I definitely enjoy going out and listening to live music. There’s just something about a live band that gives me goosebumps.

Q: Where can persons find you on social media?

A: Persons can subscribe to my YouTube channel KedaMusiq or follow me on Instagram @kedamusiqchild. (LG)