Ex-Virgin Islands calypso monarch swings to soca

Temisha Libert, also known by the stage name Caribbean Queen, is a seven-time US Virgin Islands' calypso monarch who is using the skill built as a calypsonian to divert to soca.

She has delivered Lost and Carried Away, Flags in de Air and Jammers as her first foray into soca.

The St Croix-born songbird, 36, has been a medical professional for 15 years in the capacity of general and laparoscopic surgery, and now practises in the cardiovascular ICU.

She said her love for medicine came about when she watched her older brother die in front of her. The need for treating patients affected by heart disease from hypertension, cerebrovascular accident or diabetes holds a special place in her heart, she said.

But while medicine physically nurtures her drive to care for others, music nurtures her drive to care for the mind.

A release from her publicist said, “Her assertive and confident personality emanated at a very early age. This queen discovered her love for singing at the age of four and as the years progressed, this opportunistic islander took her love for music and acquired stage expertise to another level by entering into a myriad of pageants.

“Temisha has competed in and won multiple pageants both locally and internationally. Most notably, she’s the 2009 Virgin Islands Idol, Miss US Virgin Islands and has made Virgin Islands' history by being the first and only female to obtain seven crowns consecutively in the calypso monarch arena.

“Temisha’s love for entertainment and performing granted her huge opportunities of hosting TV and radio shows, parades, concerts, weddings and private events throughout the US and Caribbean.”

Initially, though, she did not sing calypso or soca because it was not something she had grown up listening to despite her mother being from Antigua and her father was from St Kitts.

Libert said she grew up as a Seventh-Day Adventist, and it was during her senior year at secondary school that she was introduced to Carnival and its music. The challenge of wanting to conquer “something else” led her to calypso and soca.

But her entry into calypso was not the easiest or most welcoming. She said when she started singing calypso some people criticised her saying she should be singing soca and not calypso because of the way she looked.

“Even when I competed in other places, people did not know I was the calypso queen because I don’t look like how a calypsonian supposed to look like…,” she said.

Having conquered the crown in both St Croix and St Thomas, Temisha decided to give back to artform and created a platform called Preserving Culture and Traditions in Our Generation.

Through this platform she is teaching younger Virgin Islanders to appreciate calypso.

“At the end of the day, if somebody like me don’t take up the mantle to help it to grow, how can generations to come allow it to continue.

“That is what I have been doing for years. I allow other young kids to come and participate.”

Despite having established this it is still a challenge to encourage other women to participate.

“Other women are winning in their arena in other Caribbean islands in the calypso monarch arena. I think that whole stigma about it being a man’s world, that is long gone,” Temisha said.

But this is something she hopes will change.

While this is her first time visiting Trinidad and Tobago, she is working hard to ensure it is not her last.

She shared the sentiment of fellow US Virgin artiste Pumpa that TT was a major hub for those looking to get into soca from other islands.

She too referenced BRAM, an acronym for bass, rhythm and melody – a form of soca.

“We want to be able to introduce who we are and what we are. At the end of the day, we still tend to do one Caribbean. Is it really that?

“At the end of the day, people around the Caribbean don’t consider the Virgin Islands as part of the Caribbean because we are under the US flag.”

But the country’s soca artistes were hoping to create greater unity with the region through soca.

Asked how her calypso background informs her soca music, Temisha said it has given her a huge push.

“Kaiso built a foundation for me to lead into soca,” she said, noting she used the tools of clarity and diction from calypso in soca.

She described her transition from calypso to soca as smooth.

For Carnival 2024 Temisha is hoping to be on as many stages in TT as she can and to be warmly received by Trinidadians.