[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he year 2018 was, for London-based jazz singer Poppy Ajudha, 23, a very good year. And not only because she received the shout-out of all shout-outs from former United States president Barack Obama. By widely publicized account, Mr. Obama had been particularly impressed by Ajudha’s contribution to Tom Mich’s “Disco Yes”, to the extent he had included it among his favourite songs of 2018. Ajudha also released last year two EPs entitled “Femme” and “Patience”.
Come March, Poppy Ajudha will embark on a United Kingdom and European tour of over ten cities including Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels and Manchester. The rising star was recently in Saint Lucia to announce a partnership with the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, which will see her performing here and collaborating with local artists. At a conference convened on Tuesday, the SLTA introduced Ajudha to reporters. The young singer revealed that she had grown up in the UK around music, that she’d always dreamed of becoming a performer. The holder of a degree in social anthropology, Ajudha said there’s a lot she wants listeners to take from her music.
“I try and talk about issues that I feel are pertinent to now, and especially in London, with my experiences with young people and the issues they go through. A lot of my work is about race, gender, sexuality, and social economic issues. A lot of my songs are about feminism, equality for women and strength in women to pursue their goals.”
She thanked the SLTA for hosting her and said she is excited to solidify a work relationship on the island. She considered it a privilege to do here what she is most passionate about. “I’m just excited to meet people,” she said. “I’m just interested in finding as many people as I can to just see how we work together and whether we can make something different and unique.”
When someone brought up the Dennery Segment, the UK-born singer said: “I’m interested in what they do, even though it’s very different from what I do. But I mean that’s what’s really beautiful about music and that’s how collaborations become really unique.” A representative said the SLTA considered music a great marketing tool and the authority is looking forward to using the music of local artists to advance destination Saint Lucia. “When we supported the Dennery segment tour last year,” he said, “we had in mind the fact that music can reach areas that our regular marketing efforts cannot. We can show our Saint Lucian-ness via our music. We now hear the music of Dennery Segment in the most unexpected places; places we’d not penetrated earlier.”
Is there a possibility that Poppy, whose father is Saint Lucian, will perform at this year’s Jazz & Arts Festival? She said that she’d attended the festival many times as a child and would love the chance to perform. Said the SLTA’s Jackie Mathurin: “We would love to have her for our Jazz launch in London, and yes we would love to have her for our Jazz festival. We’re going to work on the specifics and see how we can work that out.”
