Tizzy gets busy

Hailing from Antigua and Barbuda, Tanzania “Tizzy” Sebastian has been singing and performing since she got her start in her homeland with El-A-Kru in 1998.

Blessed with exotic and alluring looks, a commanding voice and an impressive vocal range, Tizzy describes herself as a “genuine, free and fun-loving spirit” whose passion for music and fashion keep her driven and determined to succeed.

“I just want to share my music,” she tells WMN. “I want to share my love of music with the whole of Trinidad and Tobago and everybody who’s coming in for the season and let’s just have fun and have a safe and clean Carnival. We want to jump up and have a good time – that’s what soca music is about – having fun, loving each other and loving life. We want to be safe doing that because the world is so hard these days and so many harsh things are happening – some of them really unexpected – so we have to look out for each other and be our brothers’ and our sisters’ keepers and make sure we keep that love there.” Even though Tizzy is just “holding on” in place of the now pregnant, Darnella Simmons, the articulate and eloquent singer is determined to leave her mark on the 2017 season.

“My management team and I are always looking for opportunities to display my talent and promote my brand,” she explains. “So when the position with Roy Cape became available, of course, I jumped at the chance to work with one of the leading bands in the region. After performing with Destra and Atlantik in 2008, I became very familiar with the fete circuit here and gained the experience of working the Trinidad crowds.

Performing with a band is always a richer experience than singing on tracks so it’s both an honour and a win-win for me to have the legendary Roy Cape All Stars behind me and alongside me in 2017.” In case you haven’t made the connection by now: this is the same _ ery vocalist who thrilled us in 2007 with “Expose” and also had us grooving alongside Richard Trumpet in 2009 with “Wuk Meh”. Armed with a threeyear digital distribution deal from VP Records, Tizzy has released four singles: “Pumping Iron”, “Wake It Up”, “Show Dem” and a recent collaboration with Chutney Soca Monarch, Kris “KI” Persad entitled “Fire”.

“Pumping Iron was released for Antigua Carnival last year and made its way down here,” she explains.

“I made the rounds in December and while I was here for rehearsals at Christmas time, I got the opportunity to work with De Red Boyz – I got the song, “Wake It Up” – heard it and loved it and went over to Barbados to record it and then came back here for more rehearsals and some gigs we had for the Christmas season.

“’Show Dem’ is my power song – power is back and alive and well – and was written by Rayza and Produced by Stadic and I recorded that during the Christmas season. The one with KI, I just recorded that – I try to make the best use of my time while I’m here in Trinidad so its recordings, interviews, photo-shoots, the full works… Kasey from Precision Productions originally sent me the song, but because I had three songs already, I said I would just record it and hold it for sometime later, but KI got wind of it and sold me on the idea of collaborating with him and it was real fire in the studio and well, he’s the Chutney Monarch, so… now it’s out!” Confident, attractive and talented, Tizzy represents a new breed of female entertainers who do not feel compelled to sell sex onstage all the time to earn their keep. While her doubleentendre songs and daring/fashion forward out_ ts may be considered “spicy”, the Antiguan bard is out to earn her respect via her talent and her work ethic, as opposed to using only her looks and her trim physique to gain attention.

“I feel that people should stand up for themselves – whether male or female,” she said.

“It’s been a male dominated industry – as far as soca music – for quite some time now, but the females have been working hard to make sure that they can stand on their own and become even better than some of the male performers out there – and we have to keep doing that.

“Not just in the industry, but females should support females on a whole because there’s a lot that we go through that the normal man doesn’t have to go through and we still make sure that we keep it together. We are the foundation of life itself and we keep it together not just for ourselves, but for everyone around us as well, so I’m supporting everything female and females all the way and making sure that we keep our health and strength and continue to love and support each other, so we can grow.” Growth and progress are de_ nitely two important items on Tizzy’s agenda. After starting out in the calypso arena and now representing with soca, she’s determined to take her music and her career to higher heights – even as she observes and participates in the evolution of the genre.

“The music has changed and it has to in order to grow,” she states. “What we have now that we didn’t have years ago is social media – it can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing – like money, they say money is the root of evil, but if you have it you can do a whole lot of good with it as well. Same thing with soca music – we have made some changes that are good and some that are bad, but it’s all about being consistent and evolving with whatever is changing in the world.

“Sometimes you can be the head of the change and sometimes you follow the change, but it’s all about making sure we have a presence in what’s going on at the time. I’m definitely going to ensure my presence is felt and I really believe in good time management and being as productive as possible. Every breath, every waking moment is an opportunity to progress in life, so I try to treat my time as such and make the best use of it.” Check her out onstage at your next fete, or log on to her social media platforms using her full name and @therealtizzy 5