Patrice Roberts

Early life

Born April 14, 1986, Patrice Roberts is a Trinidad born soca singer. She is also a second cousin of the famous soca singer Bunji Garlin. Growing up she was heavily influenced by Beyonce Knowles. She aspired to be just like her as Roberts’ goal in music is to break tradition and be an independent female in every aspect while still being respected by all. Roberts’ biggest struggle when she first started out on her career was learning to perform in front of large crowds and interacting with the audience. Raised in a very religious Muslim household in a fishing village of Toco, Trinidad, Patrice Roberts had always been extremely shy before she began singing. She attended Toco AC School (Primary School) and Toco Composite Secondary School. She began to express her love of singing at the age of eight. She has also played the tenor steelpan. At a very young age, Roberts began entering singing competitions and first won the 1995 Sangre Grande Junior Calypso Monarch competition. In 2000, she became a top finalist in the competition, marking her ascent in the calypso arena. In the year 2001, she became the National Soca Monarch, the National Library Calypso Monarch and the National Junior Calypso Monarch. She again won the National Junior Calypso Monarch in 2002. Roberts would go on to become the leading female vocalist in the Machel Montano HD Family band alongside fellow soca artist Machel Montano. Being a woman in a predominantly male dominated music industry as well as being a woman coming from a very traditional Muslim household, Patrice Roberts broke tradition by asserting her feminist ideals through her lyricism, self presentation, and her confident attitude in regards to entering a male dominated genre of music. Her music is centered around having a great self-worth as well as pride in one’s identity. In this regard her music adapts a sense of modernity as she takes pride in her position as a female in the soca industry.

Artistry: Feminism in Trinidad

On January 1, 2017 Patrice Roberts released a song called Big Girl Now. In the context of Caribbean and Trinidadian history and Roberts’ role as a female soca artist, the song serves as a modern repudiation of a male dominated culture. Trinidadian culture has historically been male dominated and the same can be said of soca since its inception. Before and after Trinidad’s independence from Britain, the country has kept a strict binary of male and female roles. Men dominated the “rational” public sphere thus laying claim to the spoken word and women were relegated to the private sphere as was much of the rest of the Caribbean. The gendered authority over the spoken word in the Caribbean and Trinidad gives great meaning to women who challenge such notions. In the 1980s, the male dominated field of soca music began to shift as trinidadian vocal performers began to emerge. Enter Patrice Roberts who was born in 1986 just as women began to dominate soca music. In Big Girl Now, Patrice Roberts brushes past traditional notions of who can and can’t produce soca music and takes back her own sexuality as a grown woman from a society that attempts to tell her what she can and can’t do. Much of gendered Trinidadian society can be traced back to early post-independence. Just after the independence of Trinidad from Britain on August 31, 1962, the country set about creating the imagined community of “nation” and citizenry (state). In this light the creation of cultural borders such as that on sexuality is one of the modern nation-state. For example, the Sexual Offenses Bill of 1986 that attempted to regulate women’s bodies by dictating what was allowed sexually. The bill stated that “ promiscuity” was a “contaminant of the West”. Soca music as performed by female soca performers, such as Patrice Roberts in Big Girl Now, can be thought of as a repudiation of the nation-state evident in lyrics such as “mind your business, hush your mouth” while Patrice Roberts and her friends in the music video for Big Girl Now take part in what might be considered “promiscuous behavior” by traditional norms. Some critics of Caribbean music and the soca music scene such as author Kevin Frank believe the role of women to be a solely exploitative and poisonous one while looking at the lyrics of male soca artists and the dance “winning”. These critics fail to take into account contemporary female soca performers and the colonial history of pre-independence Trinidad as well as early post-independence Trinidad. Both periods sought out to control the sexuality of women. According to Susan Harewood, national narratives that make up the conception of “nation” are multi-authored but rarely egalitarian. Throughout Trinidad’s history these narratives have been written by men. Artists and Trinidadian women such as Patrice Roberts are authoring their own narrative of what it means to be a Trinidadian woman.

Carnival and Soca Music (Traditional Culture)

Patrice Roberts was born and grew up in Trinidad. Trinidad is a nation having remarkable carnival culture, and it is also known to be the hub of the soca and the calypso music. The soca music is also called the soul calypso. Both genres represent the carnival culture in Trinidad. Trinidad carnival music exhibits three themes including the tradition, the social identity, and the performance context and function. The tradition component of the carnival music includes the usage of music in religious ceremonies and weddings. In these occasions, the instruments such as guitar, cautro, and maracas are used. In additional, vocal, clapping, stamping and special breathing sound “doption” are also used in the soca and calypso music. People dance in the Trinidad carnivals. The social identity component reflects the ethnic diversity in Trinidad. There are huge population of Indians, Africans, and other ethnicities. The soca music mixes the calypso with East Indian music. Comparing to calypso, the soca music has faster tempo and it is more energetic. The soca music is designed for festivity and cheerful dance. While the soca lyric has less storytelling, it is calling the audiences to respond to the singer. The soca music is also having more sound effects from the studio production. As a Trinidadian, Patrice Roberts’ songs exhibit characteristics of the soca music and the Trinidad carnival dynamic. As a popular singer, she performs the soca music to broad global audiences and fosters cultural exchanges. In 2006, Patrice Roberts sang with Machel Montano, an internationally known soca singer. Together, their song “Band of De Year” won the 2006 Carnival Road March. This achievement brought fame to both singers, the soca music, and the Trinidad carnival culture.

Patrice Roberts and Motherhood

Even though there is a no color and no class system in the Caribbean, there is still sexism that exists. It is apparent in the music industry is male-dominated while women are taking up the vocalist roles in bands. Even though women are able to use their voice to speak of the gender-biased oppression as a welcoming to the music industry, it is also to be said that they are restricted to playing musical instruments roles that can farther increase their credibility. Despite this, Calypso music became the opening door for women to work in the music industry. Calypso music is a type of political and social folk song genre from Trinidad. Calypso music gave the women of Trinidad a voice to sing of gendered-biased oppression. Patrice Roberts started her career with calypso music but transitioned to Soca, the Soul of Calypso music. Despite being a musical performance that are sometimes cases as a form of male objectification, she is also a mother. She wrote a song for her daughter of one, Syri. Patrice Robert came from a traditional Muslim family where it restricted her of doing what she loved, to sing. The changing role of women as wells as the improved status of local expressive forms help create a space for women to participate in the cultural life of Trinidad and Tobago, just as they won role for themselves in public life in general. Patrice Roberts was able to still be an entertainer and was able to perform when she was pregnant. This passed mother’s day she celebrated her daughter’s first birthday by publishing a song for her. Her daughter’s name is Syri, and the song title is Diamond in My Heart. This music video features Patrice Roberts being a mother during Syri’s baptism.

Achievements

In her early career, Roberts first won the 1995 Sangre Grande Junior Calypso Monarch competition. In 2000, she became a top finalist in the competition, marking her ascent in the calypso arena. In the year 2001, she became the National Soca Monarch, the National Library Calypso Monarch and the National Junior Calypso Monarch. She again won the National Junior Calypso Monarch in 2002. Other achievements include Toco Personality Winner 2000 and U.N.D.P. second-runner up 2001.

Patrice Roberts has also competed in the International Soca Monarch in Trinidad on several occasions. In 2006, she placed second alongside Zan with the track "Always Be" in the "Groovy" category. Her collaboration with Machel Montano, "Light it Up" placed 4th in the "Power" category in 2007. In 2008, she placed second in the "Groovy" category with her song "More Wuk".

Her greatest achievement so far has been winning the 2006 Road March competition with the song "Band of the Year" sung with Machel Montano.

Discography

Collaborations