BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WHILE many primary school students at this stage of their educational process may not know which career path to choose, it is not so with 10-year-old Sonrisa Watts who has positively indicated that she is aspiring to become a superstar and making her name a household one through music.
Watts, a Grade Five student at the Seventh Day Adventist School, has already penned a number of songs; two of which have been receiving positive feedback on the local airwaves.
Watts is said to have a very melodiously voice, and after penning ‘Superstar’ and ‘This Life’ her mother encouraged her to record the tracks at SKN Entertainment Studio.
Speaking with SKNVibes, Watts said since at the age of four she wanted to be a superstar after her uncle had produced a beat. She said that beat generated the idea for the first song she wrote and sang.
‘This Life’, on the other hand, was written after she had listened to some songs that spoke about changing the world. “I found a rhythm and started to write the first thing that came to my mind,” she added.
Although she has never graced the stage of any major show, Watts performed at a few Christmas programmes and was a contestant in the Kittitian Superstar Junior Competition, where she made it to the finals but was not fortunate in making the top two.
The 10-year-old said her father told her that she must learn to take criticisms in the same spirit in which she would be praised. This advice, she declared, has taught her not to get too excited whenever she hears her songs on the radio.
Watts believes that she could use her music and writing skills to help change the world and add a positive mark.
The young singer pointed out that she motivates herself by thinking, “If you wish upon a star it would only take you half the way; you have to do the rest with hard work and practice.”
Watts said when she is not engaged in making music she would read, draw and spend some quality time with her family.
Speaking briefly with Watts’ father Esinton Watts, he said he is really happy for his daughter but is sometimes afraid because she is moving at a fast pace and is really bent on making it to the top.
“She really knows what she is about and it is frightening that she has such intensity for her age. My only fear is that it doesn’t interfere with her school. But, normally, her mother would be the one to get real excited,” he added.
The senior Watts noted that his daughter has very good writing skills and that her grandfather is also a very good musician, as he had played with Isaac Hayes, and “perhaps that is where she gained her talent”.
Her first name, which is the Spanish word for smile, defines what this young singer is trying to achieve with her music - put a smile on sullen faces.
Sonrisa Watts said she is currently working on two new songs - ‘Dream Big’ and the other is yet to be named.
