Born
Alysha Alleyne, she grew up in Barataria and then
moved to Bon Air Gardens, Arouca in North-East Trinidad,
where she spent her free time playing the steel
pan, dancing and emulating the Dancehall “chants”
of stars like Patra, Lady G and Lady Saw as well
as her “idol”, Super Cat.
Eventually, dancing with an amateur Hip Hop Dance
group in the locally televised “Party Time”
series led to her being selected as one of the dancers
in the infamous performance troupe known as Nostalgia
- best remembered for their uncanny lip-sync impersonations
of stars like Michael Jackson, The Jackson Five,
Tina Turner and Prince.
She was given the sobriquet “Ms.
Alysha” by close friend (and Nostalgia leader)
Andy Stephenson (best known as “the Soca Michael
Jackson”) with whom she toured as a dancer
and backup vocalist during the heyday of his 1997
Carnival smash “Billie Jean”. Few people
knew then that Alysha also helped write and produce
that smash single as well.
“Andy always said I was like the First Lady
of the group, “Alysha recalls, “So the
name stuck!”
Ms. Alysha went on to write and record her own material
as a solo artiste and began honing her lyrical skills,
determined to be one of Trinidad And Tobago’s
top lyricists, particularly after seeing close friends
of hers like Bunji Garlin, Jadee and Maximus Dan
go on to become bona fide Soca stars. By 2001, she
finally garnered her first hit with the smash “Not
A Singer” which became a radio and party favourite
throughout the Caribbean that year.
Soon she hit the charts again, duetting with her
“big brother in the business”, Mista
Vybe to record the popular single “Left Hand
Side” (cleverly based on Musical Youth classic
“Pass the Dutchie”). They would later
collaborate again on the lyrically-dizzying “Lighter”
which is featured on famed Soca producer Shel Shok’s
2005 compilation album, “Mr. Benjamin”.
In 2005, Ms. Alysha once again got industry tongues
wagging with the fiery lyrics of her smash “Comin'
2 Get Ya”: one of the tunes on the immensely
popular TakeOver Riddim produced by studio whiz-kid
Kasey Phillips.
Boasting irreverently brilliant lyrics like “if
you wanna get it on, let’s get it on/Let’s
square off like Destra and Denise Belfon”
and “Remove the politics and tell me what
you got/Half the artists on top - dey not so hot”,
“Comin 2 Get Ya” had people both in
and out of the Soca business asking “Who IS
this girl”? Since then she has been consistent
in her quest to lyrically conquer the world at large
and the Soca “game” in particular, and
for Carnival 2006 she seems poised to take her career
to the next level with a bevy of hits in the making.
Her first release “1,2,3” on the popular
Sahara Riddim showcases her lyrical skills and also
features vocals by her close friend, reigning International
Soca Queen and Groovy Soca Monarch, Michelle Sylvester.
It has been receiving heavy airplay on radio and
is a party favourite.
She also has a song on the recently
released Miracle Riddim, in which she dares to cheekily
“Answer Back” none other that Ragga
Soca King and reigning Soca Monarch Bunji Garlin.
And to top it off, she has entered the Road March
race with the assistance of another close friend
in the business, 2003 Road March Queen and Soca
superstar Faye-Ann Lyons. The result is a sizzling
Carnival scorcher, simply titled “Party”,
which has taken radio and parties by storm and is
already touted by critics as an early Road March
favourite. This song has even been featured on the
BET Jazz channel and MTV Tempo’s flagship
programme “downtown island”. She was
a finalist in the renowned Soca Monarch competition
for 2006 which solidified her career as a top artist
and writer in the soca fraternity.
Obviously, Ms. Alysha is set to be a force to be
reckoned with in the Soca industry and worldwide.
After having a hectic post carnival season, Ms.
Alysha continued to work in the studio and release
tracks that received much love on the airwaves locally,
regionally and internationally. She is featured
on a number of collaborations, including, “Gimme
Something”, with Spongy and the re mix of,
“What a Feelin”, from “The Piton”
riddim, with St. Lucian’s 2005, Road March
Queen, Nicole David. She is the sole female artist
featured on the “Thunder Cat” riddim,
produced by Madman Johann with her song “Fire”.
For the 2007 carnival the industry is buzzing about
this unique female artist. “Go down low and
wine” is a collaboration she did with Trinidad’s
sultry singing male quartet, H2O Plho. Her solo
offering for the Carnival season, “Unity”,
was produced by Julio Nelson (producer of Ting 4
D Road), and written by none other than herself,
Ms. Alysha. This single has received much love and
has solidified her presence in Trinidad’s
soca industry. With her amazing lyrical armada and
her never-ending, rapid-fire delivery, Ms. Alysha
is “Comin 2 Get Ya” for sure. And for
those who would doubt her lyrical prowess, remember
her words: “You mess with Ms. Alysha, you
end up on a stretcher!”
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