Empress a bit sad after carnival success

Having captured the titles of the Ragga Soca Monarch, Calypso Monarch and Road March Monarch, as well as taking the second position in the Soca Monarch competition, Lornette “Fya Empress” Nedd should be on the top of the world.

This, however, is not the case.

Fya Empress, accompanied by her husband of ten years, Trinidadian David “Mr Fusion” Reid, sat down with SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday afternoon to speak about her phenomenal 2012 Carnival season.

Despite her victories, Fya Empress revealed that her achievements here have brought about some negative responses from some members of the public, because she lives overseas.

She explained that it is very distressing to know that persons are making comments such as “She come an tek all de money and going back with it”.

“My husband told me this afternoon that I need to cheer up. I am trying to cheer up, but it feels, wow!”

Fya Empress made it clear that she still carries a Vincentian passport, which she uses to travel. She said she is happy to know that she has her “freedom” as a Vincentian to be able to travel back and forth between her homeland St Vincent and her place of residence, Tobago.

Speaking of his wife’s achievements, Mr Fusion said her success was made possible through hard work and dedication.

“I feel very, very proud. Firstly, when she won the Ragga Soca competition, I couldn’t help; tears just came from my eyes.

“It’s really a hard task to getting her to this point, but it was somewhat easy as well, because she could sing and she is a very talented person,” Mr Fusion said.

Fusion, who is also Fya’s manager, describes writing songs with his wife “real love and a bond” and getting to this point in her career “is a really overwhelming feeling.”

Fya Empress, on the other hand, commended her husband for his support throughout her career and credited him for always being in control of all that’s happening around her, while she focuses on singing and performing the songs that they write together.

The couple said they met in Tobago over ten years ago and since getting married, they’ve combined their musical talents, which they have used to put bread on the table.

In Tobago, the two do nightly performances at various hotels and have also managed to capture the Tobago Soca Monarch title on three occasions.

They explained that it is not an easy task travelling between the islands during the carnival season, because it is very costly.

But Fya Fusion, as they are known on the entertainment stage, do not make the expenses a problem.

“We don’t do this for the money. We do this because we love it and to improve on her career,” Mr Fusion said.

“Bear in mind, that the earlier years gone by, since 2007 when I started coming home to perform, nobody would know. We go home with smiles, yes, but then we go home literally having to start all over again and try building another funding for the next year,” Fya Empress stated, before her husband interrupted to say that they have “practically gone home bankrupt” on many occasions.

Fya Empress also stated that her success at Vincy Mas 2012 is not just for her benefit, but it is also an opportunity for her homeland to gain a bit more exposure in the soca arena.

“I am happy, because I can see St Vincent being marketed for soca, because I am based in Trinidad. The advantage we can gain from that is frequent air play.”

The two took the opportunity to thank all who made their success possible. These include SVG Distillers, Courts St Vincent Ltd, SVG Players Mas band, Extreme Fanatic J’Ouvert band, Collin Graham, Hot 97, Hitz FM and Adrian Bailey among others.

The couple leave the shores of St Vincent on Monday, July 16, after which they will focus their energies on a number of overseas performances.