Trinidad and Tobago’s self-proclaimed Queen of Bacchanal Destra Garcia is one of the most influential female artists from the twin island republic.
Destra Garcia grew up in the Laventille district of eastern Port of Spain, she is constantly expanding the sound of soca both locally and internationally.
With deep Caribbean roots, Destra Garcia always valued the tradition of her culture. As a young girl, she followed her father and grandfather in her musical interest. Her father was a guitarist, a Western instrument influenced by Middle Eastern Al-oud, and her grandfather played brass instruments using common instruments, true to the traditional soca style. Destra began experimenting with Calypso, as well as R&B and gospel. She was recognized for her mastery of the Calypso style for five consecutive years at school.
Destra became known in the music industry in her hometown first, where she became interested in pop-sounding soca compositions and fusion music, incorporating elements of East Indian culture, where she performed with the music quartet, Psyke.
Psyke disbanded after just one year. After the group’s demise, Destra attended the School of Business and Management earning her degree in Sales Management.
For a brief period, Destra tried a solo career before joining Atlantic in the second half of 2002. In 1999, she was invited by the Roy Cape All-Stars to be a member as part of their vocalist main, after they heard Destra’s track,’Ah You have a husband already‘, with the Third Bass. She had a songwriting collaboration with Kernal Roberts and continues to be Atlantic’s lead singer.
Destra Garcia is one of the leading ladies of soca music, who has revolutionized and reinvented the Trinidadian musical landscape over the past two decades. Calypsonian artist Super Blue established soca as the dominant type of carnival music in the 90s and went on to create a new type of carnival music that emphasized faster beats, aggressive rhythmic vocals and dancing.
Calypso is often associated with more reserved music while soca is associated with street festivals. Moreover, calypso is distinguished by extensive narrative texts, while soca texts usually consist of short phrases that do not need to make a rational narrative. Singer Destra can be seen showing off some soca with her quick moves and snappy vocals as she performs with studio electronic effects and background lights.
Destra collaborated with the group Dil E Nadan in the song ‘Gold Chale’ in 2006 and has since recorded hit singles including ‘Max It Up‘. In 2007, she released songs like “Soca or Die”, ‘Sign‘,’We Luv Carnival‘,’rounds,’Situation’ with Multi-Symptom, and her most popular song ‘I dare you’.
Red, white, black was Destra Garcia’s first album released in 2003. Known for her song ‘It’s carnival’ released in 2003 with fellow soca artist Machel Montano during the carnival season that became Trinidad and Tobago’s carnival anthem. It’s Carnival it is widely known throughout the Caribbean and therefore, the world.
In 2004, she released her second album, for lavender, which includes her chart-topping song ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, which was used as the soundtrack for a Parrot Bay wine commercial. 2005 single ‘Fly’ and ‘We say so’AND ‘Come Beta’ were among her later hits. Recently, she has released albums “D-20” iin 2019 and ‘The Queen’ in 2020.
Destra won the Carnival Road March title in 2003 at the Brooklyn Labor Day Carnival and also placed second in the Trinidad and Tobago Soca Monarch competition that same year. She has yet to win either the title of Carnival Road March or Soca Monarch in Trinidad, although she has come close in the Road March competition, placing second in 2003, 2004 and 2009. Despite this, she has become successful in the local music industry , specializing in soca compositions with pop sounds.
Destra Garcia is known as the Queen of the Bacchanal, because of the thrills listeners hear in the inflection of her voice on radio shows and because of her carnival-inspired event the Bacchanal Festival.
She is also known to have an alter ego named Lucy, who is supposed to personify Destra’s sexier side. Lucy is speculated to come from carnivals in Trinidad. In her song “Lucy”, she sings about growing up a good girl and a good student, but one day when she’s exposed to carnivals, she and her dancing start to become very sexual.
Today the carnival consists of women dressing up and showing off their bodies. It is believed that the Trinidadian carnival is so sexual because of the dominance of the women who participate and their preference for highly sexualized dancing.
Destra’s love for her and her music being very sexual is heavily influenced by carnival and her continuing to be erotic keeps the carnival “sexy”. She stands out for her style. Due to her radical clothing choices that mostly consist of revealing clothing such as tight pants, shorts, and short bras, she has wowed audiences during her performances.
On stage, Destra is wild and explosive in her movements and vocals, sometimes seemingly performing in her own world because of her passion. Destra has expressed her music and fashion choices as a fusion between American punk rock and soca. This mix is evident in the instruments used in Destra’s music, as she often uses rock guitar acoustics with basic soca rhythms. Her 2006 look “Wonderful Soka” it is created by local designers such as Meiling and Peter Elias. From a new glam hairstyle to her bold and risqué outfits, Destra’s new look has been described as one that will “rock the town and be a fashion force to be reckoned with.
Destra is one of the leading ladies of soca music. The Queen of Bacchanal says: “At the carnival you’re studying a lot more: the audience, what people are saying about you, what you’re doing, what you’re wearing. Her confidence and dominance are aspects of her attractive personality that make her a strong and dynamic female figure in the male-dominated genre of soca music.
Over the years, the bacchanal queen has won several awards for her contribution to the music industry. She has won the Copyright Music Organization of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT) Music Award for Female Singer of the Year consecutively from 2003 to 2008. In 2014 and 2015, Destra won the Black Canadian Awards for Best International Act 2014 and 2015.
