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Denise Belfon | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Denise Ann Sinoda Belfon |
| Born | 23 November 1968 |
| Origin | Trinidad |
| Genres | Soca |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Denise "Saucy Wow" [1] Belfon (born 23 November 1968, in Trinidad) is a soca and contemporary R&B songwriter and dancer.
|
Denise Belfon | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Denise Ann Sinoda Belfon |
| Born | 23 November 1968 |
| Origin | Trinidad |
| Genres | Soca |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Denise "Saucy Wow" [1] Belfon (born 23 November 1968, in Trinidad) is a soca and contemporary R&B songwriter and dancer.
As a young girl in school, she was a football (soccer) player and was offered a scholarship to Howard University to join the all-girls team. However, an injury at the time prevented her from taking up the opportunity. She has been singing since the age of nine, and was also a dancer and a model. When she was not performing, Belfon taught gymnastics at the Belmont Junior Secondary school and at the YMCA. Belfon is of Saint Lucian and Trinidadian descent, but also has Grenadian, Barbadian, Jamaican, French, and African ancestry.
In 1990, Belfon was discovered by the bandleader of Roy Cape. She started singing professionally with the soca band Black Sheep, before moving on to Sound Revolution. Her first solo recording was the soca single "Ka Ka Lay Lay". (Not to be confused with Makelele which of course is Alison Hinds' crop over 2011 song ) Belfon went on to record the singles "Hard Wuk", "De Jammette", "Saucy Baby", [2] and "Indian Man". [3] Belfon has also recorded songs outside of the soca genre, most notably a 2001 collaboration with New York house music duo Masters at Work entitled "Work". [4]
Soca music is a genre of music defined by Lord Shorty, its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. It was originally spelled "sokah" by its inventor but through an error in a local newspaper when reporting on the new music it was erroneously spelled "soca"; Lord Shorty confirmed the error but chose to leave it that way to avoid confusion. It is a genre of music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 1970s and developed into a range of styles during the 1980s and after. Soca was initially developed by Lord Shorty in an effort to revive traditional calypso, the popularity of which had been flagging amongst younger generations in Trinidad due to the rise in popularity of reggae from Jamaica and soul and funk from the United States. Soca is an offshoot of Calypso/Kaiso, with influences from East Indian rhythms and hooks.
Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to the mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century.
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"Material Girl" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her second studio album, Like a Virgin (1984). It was released on January 23, 1985, by the Sire label as the second single from Like a Virgin. It also appears slightly remixed on the 1990 greatest hits compilation, The Immaculate Collection, and in its original form on the 2009 greatest hits compilation, Celebration. The song was written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans, while Nile Rodgers produced the track. Madonna explained that the concept of the song was indicative of her life at that time, and she liked it because she felt it was provocative.
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Jeanette-Triniti Marilyn Bhaguandas, better known by her stage name Ms. Triniti, is a Soca - Ragga - fusion singer-songwriter who mixes the Soca, dancehall, reggae and pop genres.
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"Skin" is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna from her fifth studio album, Loud (2010). The song was written by Kenneth Coby, Ursula Yancy and Rihanna with production helmed by Soundz. Musically, "Skin" is a R&B song that contains influences from pop, dance-pop and dubstep genres, while lyrically, the song is about being in a relationship with someone and only wanting to feel their skin close to the protagonists. "Skin" received generally positive reviews from critics, as part of their overall review of Loud, praising "Skin"'s compositions as well as Rihanna's sensual vocal performance. The song was included on the set list of the Loud Tour (2011), where Rihanna retrieves a man or woman from the audience near the end of the song, and performs a lap-dance whilst on an elevated platform. "Skin" was also used in Rihanna's advertisement campaign for Armani Jeans.
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Yvonne Curtis is a singer of Jamaican descent. She has lived in the United Kingdom since the early 1960s. She became the lead singer of The Serenaders and often travels back and forth from the Caribbean Islands performing as a reggae and soca artist.
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