The name Queen Omega is well respected globally. A woman of strong conviction, yet humble and unpretentious, she knows the power she wields when she stands in a studio booth behind a microphone. On Saturday, December 9th, she will break all chains and barriers at Skinner Park, in San Fernando when she hosts, ‘Queens Awakening.’ The concert is being touted as one to re-ignite goodness in the hearts of her people at home, in Trinidad and Tobago.

“The Queen’s Awakening is really to bring an awakening to the people. There was a time when conscious music was the music played on radio. I would like to bring this consciousness back to T&T, especially with the crime and violence we are seeing right now,” she told Ebuzztt. She added, “love must be promoted to the people, now more than ever.”

Queen Omega has been a celebrated female reggae artiste around the world, for many years. Her vocal strength and powerful cadence places her in a category of her own. She has toured internationally and shared stages globally with major reggae artistes out of Jamaica, however she laments that even with this level of global appeal and recognition, many of Trinidad and Tobago’s people still think that she is Jamaican. “I’m not known in Trinidad as much as I’m known internationally. People still think that I’m from Jamaica. Many people don’t know that I was born in Trinidad until they listen to my songs so I think this is a good opportunity to let Trinbago know the gem that they have,” she proclaimed.

In 2022, Queen Omega was called on stage by reggae artiste, Luciano, at the Redemption concert in Trinidad. Her star power shone brightly then, and much will be the same when she hits the stage at Queens Awakening on the weekend. “The people can expect, Chantuelle Queen, Kushite, Stephanie Joseph, NISA, Sister Efa, Larva Marva from Jamaica and more, along with two additional artistes, out of Jamaica,” Lutan Fyah and Iba Mahr,” she said. She also guaranteed that fans could expect an hour long performance from her, alongside the Kornerstone Band.

THE MUSIC OF TODAY

With her Spotify streaming numbers certainly proving her musical excellence- the artiste having achieved some 25 million streams and 1.2 million new listeners in 2023, Queen Omega still expressed her personal concern for the musical energy being touted. “Trinidad is like a melting pot of talent and I really appreciate that, but I can see the impact the music has – the New Age music, what we call the TriniBad, which is a break-off of dancehall. I just wish it could be more positive content because we can see that it is really doing something to the minds of the youths,” she highlighted. The artiste who recently achieved SONY Music recognition for a dub plate done, that has since gone viral, said, “music is a weapon.” “Music is a powerful tool. It can be misused. It can be abused. If we use it in the right way, it can bring healing effect and if we use it in the wrong way, definitely it can have some detrimental effects,” she warned.

The San Fernando, Trinidad native continued her expression of concern, lamenting that the youths who are listening to this type of music, are proving this point. “The youths are listening to this type of music and if you watch their behavior right now, they are very vile,” she pointed out. Explaining that artistes often reason with each other on such topics and concerns, she went on to note that at the end of it all, it comes down to individual choice, as artistes. “Somebody can only write according to their personal experiences so for instance, if someone had a hard life, or if they were around violence, they would write about that but then that is where the gift comes in now, where you can still take that negative energy and put it in a positive way.”

Likening artistes to alchemists, Queen Omega reminded her fellow songwriters and entertainers that they have the power to take negative energy and transform it into positive music. “We take a bad thing and make a song out of it and make people dance- and still feel a good vibes about it and this is the power of music,” she said.

A MESSAGE FOR WOMEN

Her travels vast, Queen Omega says coming from Trinidad and Tobago, she is always proud to highlight to her audiences that she is from this little twin island. “The highlight of my travels is always to let people know where I am from – to let them know that Trinidad is a little island but we full of vibes – calypso, soca and of course, reggae, because here I am, Queen Omega. I am the female reggae ambassador of my island.”

Giving tremendous kudos to her fellow female reggae artistes, Queen Omega took the opportunity to remind women of their worth. “I want to tell Trinidad and Tobago’s women, you have to love yourselves. You have to love yourselves so much and set the trend that you all must be beaming love, shining love and anybody and everybody that comes around you will feel that love and give you that respect because love comes with respect, honor, humility and peace. Once you are on that level as a woman, you will be respected, you will respect yourself, you will carry about yourself modestly,” she said. The artiste further explained that the old adage, “women are to be seen and not heard,” simply means that a woman should not have to use her voice to be recognized, because a woman’s mere presence should be enough to command the attention of others. She said this could only be achieved when a woman searches her soul and loves herself.

Excited about what lies in wait, even beyond Saturday’s event, Queen Omega told EBUZZTT that her recent success with the ‘No Love’ dubplate done with Little Lion Sound, is quite exciting. “SONY music has now made the dub plate a song and this is the first time in history that a dub plate is being made a song. Not even a Jamaican artiste has ever achieved that.” The dub plate achieved some 33 million digital views and as a result, SONY has officially placed the song for purchase on all major music platforms. “It’s a blessing. No time ever in the history of reggae or dancehall, was a dub plate made a song,” she said happily. “This will open many, many doors and I am prepared to walk through most, if not all of them,” she assured.

Queens Awakening will start at 2:30pm and end at 9pm on Saturday, December 9th. Tickets are currently on sale at a cost of $200 General Admission and $700 VIP.