Friday, October 9, 2009

Trend alert: Guyanese-Canadian singers



[caption id="attachment_1581" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="From left to right - Melanie Fiona, Anjulie and Rhea. (Photo at right from closetdiaries.com)"]From left to right - Melanie Fiona, Anjulie and Rhea. (Photo at right from closetdiaries.com)[/caption]

 

 

 No seriously!

 

 The old saying is 'three is a trend' right?

And in the last few months, we have seen three Guyanese-Canadian singers who are definitely on the rise in the international music scene. Shoot, they all hail from in or around Toronto too. It's a freaky but fabulous coincidence.

First up was Melanie Fiona, whose track Give It To Me Right made some waves. She opened for Kanye West on his European tour in 2008 before she had even released her debut album, The Bridge and she was one of BET's Rising Icons.

Next to get our attention was Anjulie.

Again, she opened for a big name act - Jesse McCartney on his U.S. tour this time. Her debut single Boom reached number one on Billboard's US dance charts and her songs have been featured on several shows - The Hills, The City, the new Melrose Place and the Vampire Diaries, among others.

And now comes news that N.E.R.D. (aka Pharrell Williams and the not as cute guys) has added Guyanese-Canadian Rhea as the only female to their line-up.

And Pharrell and co. clearly have high expectations of Rhea. He told MTV.com:
"Musically, we're just somewhere else [with her].... The music is now very 3-D. It's something you have to hear. But you'll see. We're definitely somewhere else. I want to leave that impact moment for when you purchase your download and you purchase your CD.

... Now you have this little Tinkerbell that's just stepped in and has been amazing. ... It's made it a fun process. We can go in so many more directions, because we have the vocal support."

Whooooiiiiieeeee. No pressure, dread!

Of course, there's something more these (undeniably talented) chicks have in common than being Guyanese-Canadian warblers from T-dot.

Something that probably makes them more... marketable.

Not that we're being racial.  But we do call it as we see it. After all, we've observed something similar as increasing numbers of Barbadian singers have snagged record label contracts. Take a look at our collage below and see if you spot it. 

 

We're just saying...

[caption id="attachment_1568" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Clockwise from left - Rupee, Rihanna, Shontelle, Livvi Franc, Jaicko, Vita. In the center - Hal Linton"]Clockwise from left - Rupee, Rihanna, Shontelle, Livvi Franc, Jaicko, Vita. In the center - Hal Linton[/caption]

 

 Hums Sesame Street song (one of these things is not like the other...)

4 comments:

  1. You ain't lie. That's the first thing I noticed with those Guyanese-Canadian ladies -- their shared ethnicity. As for the Bajan singers.... yuh dun know.

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  2. WOW! I know I haven't been keeping up with my R&B/Hip Hop/Pop, but why does Rhianna look so r*sshole fair skin?!?! I mean when she came out, she was not soo light!

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  3. I was waiting on you to comment on this LOL
    We all know it's aversive racism. They'll use the whole they have "the look" argument but we all know what they REALLY mean.
    Hal Linton is really talented, thus why he get thru despite his complexion and colour isn't as much of an issue for male singers.

    @ MzNoBehavior Where you been living? the girl been looking white for ages now! LOL

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  4. [...] Interestingly enough, within hours, pictures leaked of her ex Chris Brown looking couple-y with a chick that people are saying is new Guyanese-Canadian N.E.R.D. member Rhea. [...]

    ReplyDelete