Destra Garcia

[1] Guilbault, Jocelyne. Governing Sound, The Cultural Politics of Trinidad’s Carnival Music. Chicago. The University of Chicago Press. 2007. Print.

Garcia is very active on the social media scene, with a Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook account. She states, "Everybody is experimenting to see if we could take soca to another level. I think soca is already good, I’ve decided to see if I can make it more marketable." Her activity on social media has certainly allowed her to not only connect more with her fanbase but also cultivate a community around her music. In an interview with Huffingtonpost, we learn that "while many popular figures have social media managers, Destra sees things differently. Therefore, to build a level of authenticity, she believes that it is imperative that she does it herself." Hence, every post, comment, 'like', tweet, retweet, etc. on the Destra Garcia social media sites are from the queen herself!

Destra Garcia is known as the Queen of Bacchanal, QoB for short, because of the excitement listeners hear in the inflection of her voice on radio talk-shows and because of her own Carnival-inspired event "Festival of Bacchanal". She also is known for having an alter ego named Lucy who is supposed to personify the more sexual aspect of Destra. In her song released in 2017, "Destra vs. Lucy", one of the lines sang is, "[Cause] I [will] sing like Destra, but still [work] it like Lucy" which tells listeners that Lucy is the sexual ego and Destra is the singing one. More detail on Destra's personalities can be heard on a comedic interview with the ego "Lucy" herself on a radio show called "Breakfast Party". In the interview Lucy reveals that Destra is "holding [Lucy] back,... [she’s] too safe" and Destra always watches what she says. This makes listeners view Destra as a more timid person which inflates Lucy's sexuality because of this gap.

The Queen of Bacchanal believes that when it comes to artists, "At Carnival you are studying so much more: the music, audiences, what people are saying about what you are doing, what you are wearing". Destra is famous for her music and fashion style which she describes as 'a merger between American punk rock and Soca'. It is a style that transcends the traditional and modernity. Similarly, Malian West African and Blues singer and songwriter Kar Kar's personal style was also influenced by the American Rock n' Roll era. The YouTube clip titled 'Destra Garcia Live at Soca on De Hill 2015' is a live performance that exhibits her wardrobe style and the explosive, engaging energy she emits on stage. Destra wears a black leather jacket with fringes along the sleeves and pink Doctor Marten boots. These pieces can be described as American punk rock. She is also wearing revealing, extremely short spandex shorts that allow her to maneuver and dance effortlessly with a potential partner to the soca music. Destra captivates the crowd by trying to instruct a male fan from the audience on how to dance with her on stage. She places his hands on the side of her hips and demands 'Now you have to listen to me'. Destra is authoritative and fiery in her dance directions and quickly loses patience with this first potential male dance partner. The failing dancing attempt lightens the mood with its comical aspect. When he fails to follow the rest of her instructions, she exclaims 'I can't teach you nothing' and 'you have to listen to what I say'. Nonetheless she dismisses him with a hug then gestures 'Off Off Off!’. In order to keep the show moving forward she quickly calls two more men from the crowd on stage and warns 'I don’t like men that are slow'. The man that moves his hips well to the soca music pleases Destra and she proceeds to dance with him. This performance showcases Destra Garcia’s fiery personality and her ability to transcend through the traditional and modernity in soca. She dances traditionally to soca alongside her male dance partner. However, Destra breaks out of the traditional 'passive female role' by taking on the authoritative role of not only leading in the dance but also verbally commanding her male dance partner's movements. Destra’s confidence and dominance are aspects of her captivating persona that make her a strong, dynamic female figure in the male-dominated soca music genre.

2012 "Link up" 2013 " Mash Up " 2019 "Stage Party" 2019 "Mash Up De People Fete"

In 2006, Caribbean Beat magazine described Destra's music as "the kind of sound that a young person, living at the crossroads of cultures and technologies that is Trinidad and Tobago today, is likely to produce, and the breeziness of her music may well act as an antidote to the hard edge which often characterises life not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but in many other corners of the globe.

Also in 2006, the Digicel mobile telecommunications group named Destra as its spokesperson in a two-year endorsement deal.

Destra is famous for her style. Due to her radical clothing choices consisting primarily of revealing clothing such as tight, short pants, and low-cut bra tops, she has captivated audiences during her performances. On stage, Destra is wild and explosive in her movements and vocals, sometimes seemingly performing in her own world due to her passion. Destra has expressed her music and fashion choices as a merger between American punk rock and Soca. This mix is evident in the instruments used in Destra's music, as she frequently utilizes rock guitar acoustics with underlying Soca rhythms. Her 2006 look "soca fabulous" has been created by local designers such as Meiling and Peter Elias. From a new "glam" hairstyle, to her bold, risqué wardrobe, Destra's new look has been described as one which "is going to rock the town and will be a fashion force to reckon with."

[2] Dudley, Shannon. Carnival Music in Trinidad Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York. Oxford University Press. 2004. Print.

In 2003 Destra released her first album Red, White, Black which included her hit duet "It's Carnival" with fellow Soca artist Machel Montano. The song became the virtual anthem of Trinidad and Tobago carnival that year and is widely known throughout the Caribbean and by extension, the world .

Destra won the Road March title in 2003 at the Labour Day Carnival in Brooklyn, and also placed second in the Trinidad and Tobago Soca Monarch competition in that same year.

She is yet to win either the Carnival Road March or Soca Monarch title in Trinidad although she has come close in the Road March race, placing second in 2003, 2004 and 2009. Despite this, she has become successful in the local music industry, specializing in pop-sounding soca compositions as well as fusion music encompassing aspects of East Indian culture.

Destra's released her first CD in 2003, entitled Red, White, Black. Her second CD, Laventille pre-release, which featured her Bonnie and Clyde hit song, was released in 2004. Destra is well known for one of the most popular soca anthems "It's Carnival" (featuring Machel Montano) which was released in the 2003 Carnival season. Some of her later popular releases are "Come Beta" (featuring Shurwayne Winchester), and 2005 singles "Fly" and "We Say So". She also paid tribute to her home town in 2005 with a track entitled "The Hammer Revisited", a duet with Calypso veteran David Rudder. In 2006, Destra contributed her vocals to the song "Aur Chale" in conjunction with the band Dil E Nadan, and released popular songs such as "Max It Up" and "Independent Ladies." She also released a song called "Jumpin'" later that year for her album "Independent Lady" which seemed to have signalled the start for women's shout for independence. For 2007, Garcia has released the following singles thus far: "Las Lap" featuring Naya George, "Soca or Die", "Sign", "Situation" with Multi Symptom, the "made-for-pan" production "We Luv Carnival", the most popular song of her 2007 releases, "I Dare You" (the song in which she began utilizing the ever-popular dance created by Reggae Superstar Tony Matterhorn, "Dutty Wine"), all of which now form part of her "Soca Or Die" album released in 2008. Hott (2009) It was released for Barbados Soca.

In 1999 Roy Cape All-Stars took notice of her single titled Ah Have A Man Already with Third Bass and invited her to join the Roy Cape All-Stars band as one of the lead vocalists. She pursued a solo career briefly, but eventually joined the band Atlantik in late 2002. She remains the frontline singer for Atlantik and has forged a successful songwriting partnership with Kernal Roberts (until 2005 inclusive), churning out hits such as "Whe Yuh Want", "Negative Vibes" and "Bonnie & Clyde".

Destra Garcia (born 10 November 1978) is a Trinidadian singer and songwriter of soca music. She is also known by the mononym Destra. She is one of the most popular female soca artists in the world.

Over the past two decades soca music has transformed and revolutionized the Trinidadian music scene. Soca is said to have derived from soul calypso, suggesting a blend of African American and Trinidadian music. Lord Shorty, Trinidadian calypso and soca musician created the term in the late 1970s spelling it "sokah" and said it was meant to be a blend of calypso with East Indian music. "In addition to succeeding in making Africans and East Indians come together as a unit, soca also promotes a sense of nationalism and unity for the country of Trinidad as a whole".[1] Soca brings Trinidad as a country together and through the music Trinidadians are able to express themselves and their cultural pride. "The majority of popular dance songs during Trinidadian carnival today would be described as Soca as opposed to Calypso and that is due to soca being established as the dominant form of carnival music by the calypsonian singer Super Blue in the 1990s who sang and led the most popular road march three years in a row. Super Blue ultimately established a new model for carnival music that emphasized more dance, faster tempos, and energetic rhythmic vocalizations".[2] Essentially calypso and soca soon eventually began to go their separate way and became clearly distinguishable from one another with calypso tending to be more reserved music sung in a calypso tent and soca being associated with road and street festivals. Furthermore, calypso is characterized by long narrative texts while soca lyrics are usually built in short phrases that don't necessarily have to form a logical narrative. In addition, soca is often seen alongside with electronic studio effects which is never seen in calypso. Trinidadian singer and songwriter of Soca music Destra Garcia can be seen exhibiting elements of soca through her quick movements along with her swift vocals while performing with the use of lights and electronic studio effects in the background.