Fast 5 with Jadel - HER Weekly Magazine
Express Her Magazine - Essiba Small |
Singer Jadel (Jardine Le Gere) wraps up our Carnival feature 'Fast 5'. Thanks to all the incredible women Destra, Nadia, Nailah Blackman, Amrika Mutroo - who came along for the ride.
Her Magazine (HM) - Which fetes have you performed at for the season?
Jadel - Soka in Moka, Sokah Origins, Black 2 Blue, Xperience Fete, Party With The Hearts, Straight Out of Belmont, Out in South, QRC Fete Royal, I Love Choka, Nurses Fete, Soca Takeover and much more.
Her Magazine (HM) - What are the names of your 2024 Carnival releases?
Jadel - Just to name a few, 'Doh Ease Meh Up' was my first release for 2024. It was written by AdvoKit and was influenced by the sweet groovy soca some may remember from the late 2000s; that was a period of soca I loved.
We wanted to tap into that style of sweetness.
'Addictive' was a collaboration that I wrote with Charly Black out of Jamaica, Denise Belfon actually helped to make this happen. Charly and I began writing this song back in July of 2023 and it all came together perfectly. He came to Trinidad in November to shoot the music video, which was released on New Year's Day. The feedback was amazing.
'Calypso', written by Jason 'Shaft' Bishop, was two years in the making. The song was pitched to me in 2021 and I finally recorded it in 2022. I held it back because I really wanted to release it with a music video, but the finances weren't there at the time. I wanted visuals that showcased the beautiful Trinidad and Tobago culture. I finally shot the music video in October, during the Tobago Carnival weekend, and shooting wrapped up in Trinidad. I'm really proud of the final project, which is out now.
Other releases are 'Wah Yuh Doin,' 'Fire Body,' and 'Garbage Day' all of which can be viewed on my YouTube channel.
I also had the opportunity to be featured in two releases, 'Messy' with Karlie Redd from VH1's Love and Hip Hop. She really loves soca music and wanted to tap into her Trinidadian roots. I was happy when Karlie and her team reached out to me. And my second collab of the season was 'Drift' with Iwer George.
HM - In such a short season, what were some of the things you did to maintain your energy on stage?
Jadel - I naturally love to dance on stage, I love to work the entire stage and enjoy myself. A lot of my popular songs are party songs, which require a lot of movement.
HM - A few of the women in your industry have gone on to stage their own concerts.
Is Jadel in concert something you've ever considered?
Jadel - It's something I would love to do in the future. I'm still growing, building my music catalogue and my fan base. It's amazing to see women doing their own concert, because this isn't easy; as women are also under a lot of pressure to perform at an elevated level, every single night. I grew up in gospel music and I got into soca under live bands, so I'm naturally a live band performer.
It was a bit difficult for me to transition from performing with a live band, to just singing on tracks at every show. A live band allows me to have more freedom to present and break down my music to the crowd, as well as rearrange productions to better fit my songs on stage. Not only would I love to have my own concert someday, but I would also love to have my own band.
HM - Valentine's Day is next Wednesday , what do you think is the power of love?
Jadel - It is a feeling that brings you the ultimate peace and extreme happiness.