Budding lawyer is calypso queen

Asked what it felt like winning the competition she said: “I felt so elated! As soon as my mother told me, I couldn’t help but shout out _Yes!’ To have that title under my belt at my age is an amazing feeling.” Moses, 20, won the competition with “The Main Witness”, a song about the trials and struggles of state witnesses and what they go through due to the delays in the criminal justice system, and end up feeling as though they are the ones who have done the crime.

Commenting on her performance of the Lawrence Percival composed song, she said: “My performance was able to move people.

As I got to the third verse people were trying to hold back their tears because it was so moving. So I believe that is what pushed me forward.” Moses also sings soca and is a semi-finalist in the Soca Monarch competition. She will be singing “My Song”, that she says, is a feelgood song to bright up one’s mood and compel people to get up and dance. The song was written by Dale Ryan and Emmanuel Rudder.

About her chances in the Soca Monarch competition? “I feel very confident about my chances, I’ve got a great team behind me and we intend to put on a performance that will set the bar extremely high for the other contestants to come.” Aside from soca and calypso, Moses is a trained vocalist in other genres of music. She has received from by Jocelynn Sealy, one of TT’s top vocal coaches. Moses is also one of the front line singers for Mayaro 2.0, alongside singers Sean J (Sean Johnson), John O Cool (Lester Salandy) and Janelle Manwarren in the Joel Ali-led band.

For this Carnival Moses is performing with the Generation Next Calypso Tent based in the Curepe Scherzando panyard.

Described as a young, talented, vibrant and energetic artist, with a commanding stage presence and powerful, melodious voice, Moses had a passion for music and the performing arts from a very tender age.

During her junior years she has had many successes and won numerous national competitions, including the National Emancipation Calypso competition 2012-2014 and the National Schools Soca Monarch 2014.

In 2015 she began her transition from junior to senior status, becoming the newest and youngest cast member of the Kaiso Karavan Calypso Tent, and the following year a cast member at Generation Next.

In the last two years too, Moses was a semi-finalist in both the International Soca Monarch and National Calypso Monarch competitions.

After graduating from San Juan South Secondary school with nine CXC passes, she enrolled in the UWI Open Campus where she pursued Business management and technology and graduated in 2015. Last year she started her law degree.

“I went into law because I’ve always been intrigued by the justice system. I watched a lot of TV shows dealing with law, and I always want to win an argument. My mother can attest to that,” Moses said with a laugh.

Moses said once it reaches to a point where her schoolwork is suffering she will have to give up singing until she completes the degree.

“That is the plan. But hopefully it doesn’t have to get to that point,” Moses added.

Commenting on her stage life Moses said: “Calypso is my first love so I would always stick to calypso.

With it I get to be more dramatic because calypso is basically about how you express yourself and put yourself into the song. In soca it is more modernised and can move more people, or rather a separate section of TT. So if I’m able to reach out to both sections then I would be killing two birds with one stone.

“In the band, I basically get to enhance my performance and given that we perform a lot to different crowds, I have been learning to adapt. But, just to get to sing with a bunch of talented people to co-operate with them, where there are different brains, everybody has different perspectives, it is a wonderful experience.” Moses has set herself some goals for the future.

“Musically, in the very near future, I see myself winning the National Calypso Monarch and the International Soca Monarch titles.

I plan to tour the world and show everyone the beautiful talent that Trinidad and Tobago has to offer.”