Whether she is words deep in a new composition or entertaining her fans with her infectious music, singer, songwriter and producer Nadia Batson always has one aim – to promote TT and its easy-going island vibe.
“I call myself an unofficial ambassador because I promote this country so much. I push TT all the time, everywhere I go,” Batson told WMN.
On February 23, Batson will perform another of her self-appointed ambassadorial duties when she launches her new album, Coconut Girl, with the single, Jelly, being the flagship song.
“It (Coconut Girl) is a nice play on me being from TT and the whole island vibe. I don’t think there is anybody who could love soca more than I do, playing around with it, having fun with. To me soca doesn’t always have to represent party, there are different songs for different moods. For example, Jelly doesn’t say anything about jumping or partying, it just has a really relaxing, nice vibe and I like it.”
Batson said the album currently has 16 songs, but she’s pushing for more.
“I’m still going back and forth with management to add two more,” she said with a laugh. “But I don’t know how successful I’ll be.”
Writing and singing comes easy to the St Joseph TML and St George’s College alumna – she has been doing it since she was eight and began singing professionally when she was 17.
As an entertainer and competitor she has taken her craft to many local and international stages, among them the popular Party Time talent show of the '80s and '90s, the Chutney Soca Monarch competition, and the International Soca Monarch competition.
She has performed alongside artistes such as the late Andre Tanker and Kees Dieffenthaller, and in 2011 she formed her own all-female soca band, SASS Nation, performing with vocalists Terri Lyons (a breakout star as the 2020 Calypso Monarch) and Megan Walrond.
Batson estimates she has written hundreds of songs over the years, “I dare say thousands,” both for herself and other artistes, and has put out about seven albums. She said the majority of the songs on Coconut Girl is her own work.
“One is co-written by Lyrikal (Devon Martin), and another by V’ghn (Jevaughn John) out of Grenada.” This year, she said, she is on the Tilt, Queendom, Sweetest, Timeless and Location riddims.
Batson believes soca artistes don’t do enough “bodies of work,” with many choosing to put out just singles, maybe because of the time and money it takes to put out an album. She said the fact that she writes her own songs and has a home studio makes it possible for her to do more.
“So it’s easy for me to write and record, and because of this I have a lot of unreleased music.”
Coconut Girl is the first album she has done in the last three to four years, and is something for which her fans have been asking and into which she has put her heart and soul.
“I am fortunate to have loyal fans when it comes to streaming and buying music because they know they will have a good body of work. I am very positive that they will love what I’ve put together – a mix of favourites and
