Sadaeya combines music and positivity

SADE “Sadaeya” Edwards’s personality is very bubbly, positive and outgoing.

It’s no surprise that the Quarry Village, Siparia, native hopes her music can similarly impact people.

She wants the messages in her music to be “heard, understood and received in a positive way.”

Her latest single titled Win addresses conquering life despite its challenges, which is what she also plans to do with her music career.

Edwards, 25, has always been dramatic.

She laughed as she recalled “stressing out” her grandmother by putting on full productions in their gallery.

“I loved singing, making up songs and just doing dramatic skits at home,” she told Sunday Newsday during an interview on February 25.

“I used to break my grandmother’s (Beulah Coar’s) plants and use them as dollies in the skits.”

Laughing, she added, “Keep in mind, I had toys. I don’t know why I used to do that madness.”

She said she would also “bang up” Crix pans to make beats, and put on sunglasses to perform.

“My father (Marlon Edwards) also had a camera phone and I would record myself doing these things. He would laugh a lot.

“So I was a dramatic child. But the very first time I touched the stage was actually with (folk) dance when I was around five or six…And the second time was actually singing calypso at Envirofest in Siparia.”

Her mother, Sherma “Shy” Coar, also sang Calypso, most known for her song Eyes of A Madman.

“Sometimes I would go to studio sessions with her as well.”

Already having a singer in the family, her talent was further nurtured at Fyzabad Anglican Secondary School by choir director and dance teacher Judy Boatswain.

“I would be hearing (singers) harmonising and picking up on the harmonies, and I was able to do it too. I had no formal training or anything, but I was getting it. It just came naturally since then.

“Even when I did music (as a subject) in school, I was not a boss at theory but I would always mash up practicals.”

Through this, she performed at competitions such as Sanfest and special programmes at the school.

But the love she had for skits had continued too.

Her mother told her she could try theatre arts and she immediately agreed.

“I had a really cool teacher, Ms Hamilton.

“I remember one of the classes she taught us about focusing as actors. So she did this kind of thing where she said, ‘I’m going to do a bunch of funny and weird things and I need you guys to maintain concentration.’ She did all sorts of things and I did not laugh, then after, she told me, ‘You know, you could be an actor. You could do this.’”

Those words stuck with her as she did a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a focus on acting at UTT.

“Those were the best four years of my life. I learned a lot and gained a lot of experience. One was being able to fly to Houston and placing second in the world for Brave New Voices. Another was going to Toronto because my lecturer realised I could sing.”

She said with singing, she feels “a burst of energy” when onstage.

“Rehearsing and practising is totally different. That’s when you’re learning it but when I get up there to perform, I just feel so glad to be there and want to keep feeling like that.”

The first time she wrote a song was in secondary school after having her heart broken, she admitted with a giggle.

“It was called Switched Up. And that’s when I realised I wanted to take singing seriously. My mom didn’t even know I was that serious about it until years later when I posted the song on SoundCloud and she was like, ‘That’s you?’”

But her mom also gave her some advice: Everything happens in God’s perfect timing and stay focused.

“And those literally stick with me.”

She even took her talent to the stage through the 2019 Emancipation pageant, winning eight prizes including best talent. She sang Angola by Jah Bouks.

She was also crowned St Patrick Emancipation Queen.

Her first professionally-recorded song was Mad Over You with Major Ranks in 2018, continuing with tracks like Safe Haven, Energy Up, Closer, Time Machine, Same Energy and others.

“I’ve done R&B, pop, techno, dancehall, soca…

“I believe in going with the flow, going with the energies, because music is just like emotions. You don’t feel one way all the time, right? That’s why there are genres and you may listen to different ones depending on your mood.”

She had plans to stick with R&B but, “I can’t just focus on one.

“There are people who want to be labelled the queen of this genre, etc, but I probably just want to be the queen of melodies.”

As for entering Ultimate Soca Champion in 2025, she said she never dreamt of the day that would happen.

She did not qualify for the semifinals but was listed as the first reserve.

She entered with her 2025 single Win, produced by Vernice “Trini Baby” Herreira.

“I said for 2025, I’m going to come out of my comfort zone and try something I had never tried before.”

Despite not moving forward in the competition, she said she is thankful for the experience. She said she is definitely entering in 2026 as well.

“One of the judges said, ‘You are going to be a star no matter what happens here today.’ And I know sometimes, judges just say that but it felt genuine.

“For him to tell me that I really meant a lot to me because I was scared and I was quaking.”

She said the judges told her the song was very motivational, which she wrote years ago.

She sings, “Heal yourself within, fix your sins/Adjust your mind from negativity,” and, “Struggles of life, it hard, yeah, we know it, sometimes it hurts and I barely show it.”

But in the end, she proclaims, “I just want to win. These things can’t break me down…I will rise and conquer all.”

“My mom kept pushing me to release it, but I kept saying, ‘When the time is right.’ Because what people don’t understand is, I also write music for me. So lines like, ‘Dirty hearts never win’ is me having to tell myself, ‘Listen, no matter how much people hurt you and no matter how much you want revenge, that’s not going to help you.’”

She added, “I also want my music to speak to people.”

Asked what she hopes to achieve as a singer, she said for her messages to be understood and received in a positive way.

“...For people to know they’re not alone, even if they think they’re going through by themselves. We are all in this together. I want them to understand that even if I’m not physically here, just put on this song and know that I am here.”

She concluded, “The brand I want to push is positivity, happiness, realness.”