Shanta Prince From Backup Singer to Soca Royalty

By Femi Mascoll

“Music has always been a part of me... But officially with soca, I started as a background vocalist in the Bacchanal Time calypso tent when I was 17 years old.”

Wherever her vibrant vocals are heard, impassioned praises for Shanta Prince resound. Ever since the soca star made her debut, her unique sound and “posh” style has transfixed audiences, inspiring a ceaseless longing for more. British-based publication

Complex UK described Shanta as “one to watch” and a “musical force” – powerful words that epitomise the far-reaching impact of this beloved singing sensation.

While preparing for this year’s Crop Over festival, the singer busily, but happily, juggled the demands of an ever-growing soca career and the realities of her ‘9 to 5’ as a property manager. But, for Shanta, regardless of how hectic her schedule may become, music remains a priority.

“Music has always been a part of me,” she noted. “But officially with soca, I started as a background vocalist in the Bacchanal Time calypso tent when I was 17 years old. Then, I was a background vocalist for Rupee and Biggie Irie.”

Shanta described her music career as “a journey of love”, with each phase shaping her into the critically acclaimed, stand-out artiste that she is today. At one point of her recording career, the songstress found herself drawn to genres such as R&B and pop. But, although her love of music is broad and diverse, ultimately, all roads led her to soca.

“I always knew I would get to soca because I was inspired by the ladies at the time — TC, Destra (from Trinidad and Tobago), and Alison Hinds. They are all tremendous vocalists and after seeing Alison Hinds perform, I was like ‘ok, she looks like me, I can do this,’” she said, noting that in her younger years she was impressed by the way these ladies commanded their stages and connected with their audience, especially in a field which was male-dominated. As such, these Caribbean calypso queens have laid the foundation for Shanta, and since releasing “Stush” in 2014, she’s certainly cemented her spot as an outstanding performer. The hit song bumped her all the way to the semi-finals of that year’s Sweet Soca competition and got her recognised as a Female Breakthrough Artist at the Barbados Music Awards. Additionally, the uptempo song has since amassed over 272,000 views on YouTube! In 2015, Shanta was endorsed by the FLOW telecommunications company, which used the hit song “Hello” in promotional campaigns throughout the Caribbean.

Describing her personal sound as “different”, Shanta noted that her musical offerings can be quite diverse; She said, “I have a tendency to go high or low. My personal sound is just including a lot of my own preferences.” Producers such as Barbados’ Dwain Antrobus (BassInk Productions), Kurtis “London Future” Wells from Trinidad, and Canadian James DePinho of Beta One Music had all understood the singer’s personality and distinctive style, resulting in a catalogue of wellmastered work that set her up for the world stage.

When the Glamizine team caught up with Shanta Prince, who released “Follow Me” and “For You” this year, we sought to learn more about her motivations and plans for the future.

Q: What sets your music apart from other soca songs?

A: A lot of my music has fusions, such as a little bit of dancehall, a little bit of pop. But that has a lot to do with my producers and my home studio, BassInk productions — huge shout out to Dwain Antrobus, he’s been there from day one. So, we kind of curated what makes me ‘me’. The more we put ‘me’ into it, the more it developed and blossomed into what it is.

Q: What is a main factor that has contributed to your success?

A: Having a lot of pointers because soca is different from singing R&B. It has its own language. For instance, how you phrase things often differs from conventional sentences. It’s not always about perfect English, and putting your own twang to it helps a lot.

Q: What do you love most about Crop Over?

A: Crop Over is just unity, it is love, it is excitement. You wait all year, it’s almost like having Christmas twice because it is the one time of year when people who don’t know one another come together… but a song, a song is going to make people join together in harmony and sing together and party together. It is a beautiful thing. It is such a unification and I love that!

As a little girl, my mother had taken me to tents and to see the parade of the bands. It’s something I just love.

Q: What musical icons do you admire?

A: Definitely Ali! I have to big up the queen of soca, Alison Hinds! I also think Lil Rick is a treasure and he has a special place in my heart because he was there from the time I started, even making ‘kicks’ at me, saying, ‘Shanta you sound good but you could sing a li’l more brawling.’

While working with Lil Rick and watching his process, you notice that he is very meticulous. It’s never right the first time. He’s going to go at it again, come back and go at it again.

Q: What is it that you admire about these artists specifically?

A: The longevity of these artists that I have mentioned, that is what we’re looking for. Consistency, longevity, making sure that what you do touches the public in a way that brings back a memory when they hear it. That is what I want when people hear my music. I don’t care if it is ten people or 10,000; I want that when they hear that song, they hear that it is mine and it brings back a good memory, a wave of emotion and a smile on their faces!

Q: Thus far, you’ve worked with Jamaican dancehall star Macka Diamond, Lil Rick and Peter Ram. What other artist(s) would you like to collaborate with?

A: I’m really into Problem Child (a St. Vincent native). He’s been doing a lot of writing with Patrice Roberts and I find that he has a way with words and developing characters and going into a different view and style, so I want to push myself to go there. Skinny Fabulous also. It is funny that I’m mentioning two Vincys; My mother is Vincentian. Doing that would be pushing myself, going out of the box, and I think it would be something crazy whenever we do it.

Q: How do you psych yourself up before a performance?

A: I get sort of anxious. I want everything to go right. So, I am repeatedly going over every lyric. A lot of people when they see me before I go on stage realise that I’m very quiet. I like to be in my own little world. I’m just trying to centre myself and get in that zone, feel the music, feel the crowd and what is going on out there. It’s just about repetition and knowing what you want to do and also remembering to have fun and be playful with it. I do a thing, too, where I look in the crowd to see who’s having the most fun and try to connect with them. When I spot that person, I’m thinking ‘alright, it will be me and you!’

Q: What musical feats do you hope to achieve?

A: For sure I would love to perform on Machel’s Melé and those kinds of stages. Honestly, I would love the opportunity to take my catalogue of work [abroad], even if it’s just being an opening act at huge music festivals like Afro Nation because soca and Afrobeats are so close. They’re the best marriage you can ever have. I’m hoping it gets there one day. But, anywhere large enough that I can let people know about my music, Barbados, and who Shanta Prince is.

Shanta Prince is known to deliver powerful, tantalising vocals both in the studio and live on stage. She has even commanded stages as far away as Germany, but Shanta is only just getting started. With years of experience and tremendous talent, she is bound to do credit to the Republic of Barbados wherever she may go.