Fans get the best of both worlds from Stalk Ashley

Setting aside her 'Stalk Ashley' persona for the evening, singer Bona Carter was serving acoustic realness at the Shot List film festival on Sunday at Hope Gardens in St Andrew.

Illuminated by an array of lights and visuals from several of her hit singles, Carter's 20-minute set was a taste of her far less visible side.

Explaining why she decided to ditch the bells and whistles for the evening, she told THE STAR, "There are many sides of me and I hope in time people will get to see that. I'm not stuck in a particular way, there are many sides to me and I just want people to see that. This is Bona Carter and as you know there is Stalk Ashley; we're one in the same but as you know we're different."

Carter's performance included renditions of nine of her most popular songs backed by a lone guitar.

"I'd like to thank JAFTA (Jamaica Film and Television Association ) for this opportunity. It's not an opportunity that I'm afforded often, to just relax and sing some songs you know, like for real," she purred. Her set list included hits like Young, Sole Provider, Taliban and Narcissistic, the latter being a collaboration with Valiant, who she brought out for a surprise duet.

Speaking on her collaboration with the breakout star, she explained that she is fed up with the dating rumours.

"At this point mi nuh care what people wah say because me know seh people ago talk no matter what. Initially, I was so mad about it because they never say that with the male artistes. They will see two man artiste and them say 'yeah collab coming soon'. But when is a woman artiste is 'oh dem deh'," she said. "I stop make it bother me, I'm just going through, paving my own way, making my own way you know, understanding that this comes with a lot of it and that's just what it is. I can't change what people say, I can't control that, and so I just moving at my own pace."

She continued, "I think it's because we're truly friends. A lot of times things are business related or something else, I feel like (for me) friendship is the base. I wouldn't collab with someone unless I know them and get a chance to meet them and know what they're about, and so I form genuine connections with them. So like whatever we produce, it is what it is. It's not forced, it's not us trying to do something or be something that we aren't."

While Carter has yet to set a date for her upcoming album, she told THE STAR that the public can expect more songs empowering women, while honouring her standard as an artiste.

"There is so much groundwork going into it that I can't promise you exactly when it's coming, but I know it's coming. I'm definitely in this. I'm a musician, I take my art very seriously. I could have thrown out an album already, but for me that's not the way to do it. I want to make sure that everything is done properly and I take my time. So when it comes out, you know she it ready fi come out, not just throw out," she said.