Childhood and early career

Destra Garcia was born in Laventille to Lloyd Augustin Garcia and Debra Garcia. Her paternal great-grandfather was from Venezuela. Her maternal great-grandfather was from France while her maternal great-grandmother was from Spain. Her musical roots stem from grandfather Frankie Garcia, a local jazz musician and her father Lloyd Garcia, an accomplished guitarist. The eldest of four siblings, Destra was raised in the community of Desperlie Crescent, Laventille directly east of Port of Spain. She later attended Woodbrook Government Secondary school and St James Secondary School where she discovered her passion for singing and music. She went on to win her school's Calypso Monarch title for five consecutive years.^[1]

She joined a quartet called Psyke which disbanded after only one year. Following the demise of the group, Destra attended the School of Business and Management earning a diploma in Sales Management.

Stepping into success

In 1999 Roy Cape All-Stars took notice of her single titled Ah Have A Man Already with Third Bass and invited her to join the Roy Cape All-Stars band as one of the lead vocalists. She pursued a solo career briefly, but eventually joined the band Atlantik in late 2002. She then forged a successful songwriting partnership with Kernal Roberts up until 2005, churning out hits such as "Whe Yuh Want", "Negative Vibes" and "Bonnie & Clyde".

In 2003 Destra released her first album Red, White, Black which included her hit duet "It's Carnival" with fellow Soca artist Machel Montano. The song became the virtual anthem of Trinidad and Tobago carnival that year and is widely known throughout the Caribbean and by extension, the world .

Soca Icon

Destra won the Carnival Road March title in 2003 at Brooklyn's Labour Day Carnival.^[2] Her 2004 hit single "Bonnie and Clyde" also became the theme song of a Malibu Rum TV advertisement.^[3]

Georgia Popplewell of Caribbean Beat magazine in 2006 described Destra's music as "the kind of sound that a young person, living at the crossroads of cultures and technologies that is Trinidad and Tobago today, is likely to produce, and the breeziness of her music may well act as an antidote to the hard edge that often characterises life not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but in many other corners of the globe.^[3]

What's more, mobile telecommunications group Digicel appointed Destra, in 2006, as their first ever female spokeswoman in Trinidad and Tobago.^[4]

She's yet to win either Trinidad's Carnival Road March or Soca Monarch titles, although coming close on occasion. Despite this, she's become an icon of soca, renowned for her pop-oriented tunes incorporating both world and fusion music.^[5] During both 2014 and 2015 Destra won Best International Act at the Black Canadian Awards.^[6] As well Destra has collaborated with renowned artistes such as Nicki Minaj, Mr. Vegas, Karlie Redd, Tanya Stephens and Spice.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Cultural influence

With Caribbean roots going back to Trinidad and Tobago, Destra Garcia values the tradition of her culture. Destra started by experimenting with Calypso as well as R&B and gospel.^[11] Only until Destra became fond of Soca that she would find her passion and place. Soca originated in the Caribbean with Trinidadian roots. Originally dubbed "Soul Calypso", the genre was created by Lord Shorty as essentially calypso with sexualized vocals and at a faster pace. Within one of her most popular songs, "It's Carnival", she states, "Carnival in T&T is so special to all ah we". Destra is there expressing her own cognizance about carnival's significance from a national and regional standpoint.^[12] The content of her songs typically pertains to her Caribbean roots, with this as one example.^[13][14]

As Destra became more popular, she encountered a bit of a puzzle. She wanted to grow her fan base but also stay true to both her roots and Caribbean culture. With this that she began to confront orthodox norms to work with outside artists for elevated artistic progress. She also embarked upon prolific tours to allow for more exposure, promote the sounds of soca and attract larger audiences.^[15] She also makes mention that the biggest setback she faces is the pressure she feels from Trinidad to stay within traditional confines of the Soca style. As an artiste Garcia seeks to proceed to new horizons, responding to modernity in order to keep expanding her fan base. Where she is aims to explore her artistic boundaries while thoroughly incorporating her culture with a constantly loyal fan base.^[11]

Social media, style, and performance

Destra is one of the leading ladies of soca music. The Queen of Bacchanal expresses that "At Carnival you are studying so much more: the audiences what people are saying about you what you are doing what you are wearing".^[23] Not only do blogs about Destra revere her musical talent, they also express admiration for her physique, in particular her fit abs. Her defined abdominals have also become part of Destra's celebrity persona that fans think of when they think Destra Garcia. One blogger exclaims 'I will admit I am extremely jealous of dem abs, I wish mines was like dat but I guess I hadda wuk rel hard'.^[24] The tumblr page named 'Triniwoodentertainment' provides images of the star's activity with captions utilizing the same admiring tone such as 'Check out the soca songstress and Queen of Bacchanal, Destra Garcia showing off her abs and curves figure on a scorching hot Sunday. Fit to be a Queen, indeed.'^[25] This caption is for a picture of a bikini-clad Destra Garcia enjoying the sun. The blog's post includes a link to the image which is originally from Destra's official Instagram.^[26]

Garcia is very active on the social media scene, with a Twitter,^[27] Instagram, and Facebook account.^[28] She states, "Everybody is experimenting to see if we could take soca to another level. I think soca is already good, I’ve decided to see if I can make it more marketable."^[23] Her activity on social media has certainly allowed her to not only connect more with her fanbase but also cultivate a community around her music. In an interview with Huffingtonpost, we learn that "while many popular figures have social media managers, Destra sees things differently. Therefore, to build a level of authenticity, she believes that it is imperative that she does it herself."^[29]

The Queen of Bacchanal believes that when it comes to artists, "At Carnival you are studying so much more: the music, audiences, what people are saying about what you are doing, what you are wearing".^[23] Destra is famous for her music and fashion style which she describes as 'a merger between American punk rock and Soca'.^[24] It is a style that transcends the traditional and modernity. Similarly, Malian West African and Blues singer and songwriter Kar Kar's personal style was also influenced by the American Rock n' Roll era. The YouTube clip titled 'Destra Garcia Live at Soca on De Hill 2015' is a live performance that exhibits her wardrobe style and the explosive, engaging energy she emits on stage.^[30] Destra wears a black leather jacket with fringes along the sleeves and pink Doctor Marten boots. These pieces can be described as American punk rock. She is also wearing revealing, extremely short spandex shorts that allow her to maneuver and dance effortlessly with a potential partner to the soca music. Destra captivates the crowd by trying to instruct a male fan from the audience on how to dance with her on stage. She places his hands on the side of her hips and demands 'Now you have to listen to me'. Destra is authoritative and fiery in her dance directions and quickly loses patience with this first potential male dance partner. The failing dancing attempt lightens the mood with its comical aspect. When he fails to follow the rest of her instructions, she exclaims 'I can't teach you nothing' and 'you have to listen to what I say'. Nonetheless, she dismisses him with a hug then gestures 'Off Off Off!’. In order to keep the show moving forward she quickly calls two more men from the crowd on stage and warns 'I don’t like men that are slow'. The man that moves his hips well to the soca music pleases Destra and she proceeds to dance with him. This performance showcases Destra Garcia’s fiery personality and her ability to transcend through the traditional and modernity in soca. She dances traditionally to soca alongside her male dance partner. However, Destra breaks out of the traditional 'passive female role' by taking on the authoritative role of not only leading in the dance but also verbally commanding her male dance partner's movements. Destra’s confidence and dominance are aspects of her captivating persona that make her a strong, dynamic female figure in the male-dominated soca music genre.

Albums