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Up Close And Personal With Queen Ifrica

Posted by CaribShout on July 21, 2009 at 10:11pm

By Walter Greene She is the undisputed new Queen of Consciousness coming out of the Caribbean. With her debut CD entitled, `Montego Bay’ the town of her birth burning up the charts, Queen Ifrica, winner of two IRAWMA International Reggae & World Music Awards is busy promoting her music and carrying her message across the world. Her schedule is grueling, but the love of performing and reaching out, propels this talented lady to move forward with the important work she’s doing especially in terms of women’s and children’s rights, as well as bringing several social and moral issues to the forefront. RASTAFARIAN “I enjoy going to New York. Right now its about coming to America, Europe promoting the album. I visit a lot of schools, we are doing a school tour of St Kitts as part of a new awareness program called `Badness Out of Style.’ ...I’ve always been a Rastafarian where it was all about self awareness and unders­tanding the system and its easy to bring this to the music,” said Queen Ifrica of what’s happening in her life presently. She admits to relaxing at home in Montego Bay and “laying on the couch and not doing anything!” when she’s not busy touring or working in the studio. MONTEGO BAY The name of the new CD is appropriately named `Montego Bay’ on VP Records, where she pays homage to the town of her birth. “I was raised here, this is where my cultural awareness was grown. There are many tourist in Montego Bay but some never get out of the resort to see and enjoy the people. Now, they do not have a place where the kids can go and play. There is no public park, they are planning to fence up the only public park we have left.” HER FATHER The daughter of popular Jamaican musical giant Deryck Morgan (of the Prin­ce Buster camp), Ifrica said that music was defi­nitely in her genes. “My Dad has a major catalog, he is very big, he was at the top of the charts for like nine weeks with number one records. So even before I won the compe­tition, I remember singing as a young girl. I sang in Sunday School and in church, plus my mother is a beautiful singer. So with my record and popularity, sometimes Rebel says I’m not excited about it, but singing is so natural to me, and I give thanks.” PUBLIC RECOGNITION In terms of public recognition, the Queen says its important to have a good personality. “I try to be myself at all times. I learn from Tony Rebel, I always ask `How you do it?’ But, these are the people who support me and love my music and I learn so much from them. I’ve never met a fan that had been rude, they are always so nice.” LOCAL DESIGNERS The new CD with its sure fire hits is enveloped in a stunning pictorial of Queen Ifrica beautifully photographed with her Montego Bay home-base in the background, and, she’s fabulously dressed in every shot. “I am wearing clothes all made in Jamaica by some simple ladies who just love to sew, and I love to support these local ar­tists. There are lots of artists in Jamaica and we don’t support these desig­ners enough.” She revealed that the stun­ning black and white dress that she wore at the IRAWMA Awards in New York was a creation from well known Jam­ai­can designer Les Cam­­p­bell. DADDY CONTROVERSY About her controversial song `Daddy’ which deals with incest, which is featured on the CD in both English and Spanish, Queen Ifrica said she knew that the song would spark controversy. “But not to the level it did. I was like: Wow! First, a lot of the interviewers asked me if it happened to me `Did this happen to you?’ was the first question, and it was fun to actually talk about it. You don’t have to be the victim, but the love for your craft makes the message real.” She talked about her song `Randy’ which deals with gun violence. “I cannot convince some people that I don’t have a baby father that was killed in a gun battle. I put a set of conviction in my music. TOO HARSH - TOO GRAPHIC “That’s why I wrote the song so carefully. I actually knew there would be a backlash, but not to the extent that it affected so many people.” The powers that be said that the song was too harsh and so graphic and it was banned on public radio in Jamaica. “I can’t say I was surprised, but it was the public support that really made that record. People called the Broadcast commission, they had to make a statement - but it was still not played on radio. That was enough for me...My thing is: Do we know why kids behave the way they do? I’m looking for solutions. TROUBLED TEENS “The sad part is in the Caribbean, I went to shows and when I came off stage there were long lines of kids and they wanted to hug me and these girls are crying into me, my clothes were wet with the tears. I go into one wo­men’s center that housed troubled girls from like 9 to 18 years-old and all I hear is: `My dad, my uncle, my step-dad is doing this to me.’ When you look at how sad these girls are it’s heartbreaking,” laments Ifrica. “A lot of girls think its their fault and a lot of time these institutions don’t heal these wounds. I’ve got calls from men to say thanks and they too have been sexually confused. You look at their eyes and they say I am in a situation and you helped me.” BE AWARE Blessed with a totally high level of consciousness, this young singer is very aware and is destined for even more blessings and greatness as she shares her gift with the world. “I see good and evil - there are two wheels in the back and two wheels in the front. As fast as the front goes, the back will catch up...You have to be aware of the adverse effects...we need to be aware and know what’s not good for us.”

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