By Latrishka Thomas
The warm waters that surround Antigua and Barbuda and the warm hearts met beyond the sheltered bays are reasons why Grammy award-winning artist Ashanti says she has fallen in love with the twin island tropical paradise.
The ‘Baby’ singer whose first visit to Antigua was to perform at the United Nations ‘Play it Out’ concert in June 2019 has since visited on two more occasions.
She told Observer that what keeps her coming back is that the island is “super exotic but you still feel a friendly vibe”.
“It’s just such a great vibe. You know I’ve travelled all over the world, I’ve been to almost every part of the Caribbean…and I think Antigua is beautiful, it’s super laid back. The water is warm…It’s not too touristy and not too local,” she elaborated.
The superstar disclosed that Antigua is one of her favourite Caribbean islands and because of that fondness she is already making plans to come back for New Year’s Eve.
“You’re going to get sick of us,” the icon iterated signalling her return.
On her last visit to the land of sun, sea and sand – about two weeks ago – she commemorated her 40th birthday by unwinding on the beach, partying on a yacht and enjoying all that the tropical paradise has to offer.
Ashanti left the island a few days later with video memories and a few edible trinkets from the island’s soil such as soursop, plums and star fruit.
The artiste also shared that while here she attempted to get content for a music video but just didn’t have enough free time.
But she revealed that she has new music coming out soon, a few online concerts planned and a Christmas project in the pipeline.
And speaking on future projects, the artist said that she is considering a Caribbean tour or concert.
“It’s so funny, I was talking to somebody the other day and we were like, we should try to put together some kind of concert out there in Antigua and just think about the artists that you guys would like to see.
“I would love to do a Caribbean tour …or a show with artists that you guys would really, really like,” she said, noting that she did something similar with Machel Montano last year to perform their single ‘The Road’.
She added that since then she has become infatuated with soca music.
“When I got back from Carnival, I was in the gym listening to all soca music; everybody was looking at me like, what are you doing. I liked it before Carnival but after Carnival it’s a whole different level,” she shared.
Ashanti hinted that ‘The Road’ may not be her only song in the soca genre.