REGGAE singer Carla “Yasha Mani” Hobson’s star continues to rise.
Fresh from her tour of South Africa from February to April, she’s looking forward to shows in the UK and Uganda later this year.
This was Hobson’s second trip to South Africa, with the first happening in 2022. She received a invitation to perform at the benefit event Pressure Busspipe in Concert in April.
Delyno “Pressure Busspipe” Brown is an international reggae artiste from the US Virgin Islands. Hobson said she was ecstatic to be given the opportunity.
“Ironically it’s so hard to get on a massive stage here as a rising artiste. I reached out to some promoters in TT, but they said your social media numbers not high enough. But at the end of the day I have real organic followers, real followers. I continued to persevere, do things to raise my following.
“Ironically enough in Africa, they heard my music and that is it, they’re into the message more than the big numbers, and that is what I give thanks to the Almighty for, that they can see beyond the numbers and give somebody with a positive message a chance.”
Hobson said one of the highlights was meeting and speaking to Brown.
“He told me he was listening to me outside. He said he was going to sing a set of lover tunes, but when he realise is rebel tunes I come with, he told the DJ don’t play that now. I say you biting off my set, don’t do that.
“I went to meet him in the airport, that is when I realised I’ve been working towards being an artiste and I am, where I could sing at an international show.”
Between returning to Trinidad in 2022 and going back this year, Hobson had been working on the Africa Tune Sport and Music Ambassadorship Exchange Programme 2022/23, a collaborative initiative between Nigeria, Cape Town and TT, which focused on moulding and educating youth ambassadors for the purpose of inspiring and empowering other youth peers while experiencing different cultures.
[caption id="attachment_1087168" align="alignnone" width="800"] Carla "Yasha Mani "Hobson, local reggae artist, at Woodford Square, Port of Spain on May 28. - Photo by Photo by Faith Ayoung[/caption]
She said the project had to be put on hold as the record company did not fulfil its part of the undertaking.
“The point we’re at we did everything possible to raise funds, but we were unable to raise the full amount for our TT youth to go there. Even through the grant process, they were saying the youths weren’t known enough for them to invest that much in them, but I will not give up on the youths and I will continue.
“When I went back to South Africa, the same conversation continued, with South Africa now doing their leg of the youth training. It’s not dead and gone, but it’s on hold.”
Hobson said she didn’t realise how difficult to get to the African continent, as she had been invited to travel there in 2022.
“When I realised the youth programme needed to be held until we raised enough funds, I started to focus on my delivery of music, improving the quality of music and inspiring other artist
