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Different things send people along different paths in life. For Imani \u201cImani Ray\u201d Patterson, it took the loss of her father to turn her on to a career in soca.<\/p>\n
The US-based singer used the indigenous music to help her heal.<\/p>\n
But soca has always been a part of her life. Whether it was from the influence of her Cuban\/American father Michael Patterson, her Trini mother Roxanne James, or DJ uncles, Imani Ray grew up around music. Her great grandfather Stephen \u201cMighty Pye\u201d Solomon would compose music, write songs and compete in calypso competitions.<\/p>\n
Music has always been a big part of Imani Ray\u2019s household especially during cleaning.<\/p>\n
Although she began expressing her creativity through dance when she was five, Imani Ray found, especially after her father\u2019s death, that dancing did not bring her \u201cthe joy it used to.\u201d<\/p>\n
So she turned to music as an outlet to find her happiness again. Soca gave her a feeling she could not find in anything else.<\/p>\n
So at 18 she began singing, and has been doing it for the past seven years.<\/p>\n
Imani Ray\u2019s first song was called Break Away, which she defined as her \u201ctrial and error\u201d song. It was her first time ever recording a song and \u201cit was a learning experience with everything, from recording to writing to finding melodies and learning about little things like mixing and mastering.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Imani Ray could have decided to pursue a career in any genre, she chose soca, since \u201cwith soca I feel like you can really feel the music…The music really drives you, compared to other genres.\u201d<\/p>\n
An integral part of her upbringing was regular visits to TT. Through interacting with her grandfather, Joseph Solomon and other people here, she would learn a lot about the country.<\/p>\n
Since she came to TT this year, Imani Ray has been to prisons, volunteering her time and talent for inmates. She has performed at the Women\u2019s Prison, Youth Training Centre, Carrera Island Prison, the Maximum Security Prison and the Port of Spain Prison.<\/p>\n
She first performed at the 2016 Great Fete weekend in Tobago, \u201ca frightening experience, but also good at the same time.\u201d It was frightening because she felt she only had one chance to please the public but it turned out to be completely different from what she was expecting.<\/p>\n