The Jamaican-born artiste, who resides in St. Kitts and is known for ‘working her body’ during performances, brought a mixture of the Soca genre to the stage at this year’s Carnival events with her two entries – ‘International Girl’ and ‘Warrior’.

 

Coming off the competition, the young songstress indicated that she has a lot in store for this year and is encouraging her fans to be on the lookout, despite stopping short of giving details of what to expect.

 

“I have a lot of things planned for the future, some that I wouldn’t speak of, but let us say I have a lot of work coming up. I have a lot of new adventures and projects that I am about to record.”

 

Competing in the Power with ‘Warrior’ and the Groovy with ‘International Girl’, Raymond placed in both categories, grabbing the fourth and third spots respectively.

 

“Overall, it was a very successful season for me not only with competitions, but also with the other shows that I had to do. For example, Inception, Party Central, Caribbean Talented Teens among others. 

 

“My performance was good! I entered both segments, which for me was a great thing because last year I was disappointed...I didn’t place. So it was a step up to know that I placed in both segments this year. I do think that the winners were well deserved,” Raymond said.

 

The 23-year-old was one of the vastly improved artistes at this year’s Soca Monarch Competition, bettering her performances in every round, noticeably in the Groovy segment with ‘International Girl’.

 

She eventually pulled all the proverbial stops to place with that song, utilizing the stage with her creativity and performance.  

 

In terms of her ‘Warrior’ entry, the jovial singer declared that it was her first time performing in a Power competition, after only doing pieces with bands.

 

Her goal for that song was to primarily make it into the Finals in order to place, but over time she gained confidence in laying down a sterling performance that got her the fourth spot.  

 

“The love grew though it has been my weakness, because it is not something I am used to doing.  I have always been saying I do not know if I have the energy to do that or the stamina. From watching other artistes do it inspired me and I say I would try it, and I have grown to love Power Soca,” she explained.

 

Speaking to the level of the just concluded Soca Monarch Competition, Raymond suggested that there needs to be more moulding of the event to make it bigger than it currently is.

 

She indicated that though St. Kitts and Nevis has its own cultural aspect in terms of Soca, more could be done to have it taken to the international level.