At 54, Lady Antoinette thinks it’s her time to shine - Explores passion with her recording artiste partner

Fifty-four-year-old aspiring artiste Lady Antoinette believes it's her time to shine, and with the strong 'backactive' from her partner, fellow artiste Culture George, the musical lovers are destined to reap their rewards.

Lady Antoinette said her musical inspiration came from Whitney Houston and Marcia Griffiths.

"I love music. When I was 15, I used to sing, anything I'm doing around the house ... mi always just a sing. Mi follow mi grandmother's footsteps because she can sing too. So she used to bring me to concerts and to a church in Palmer's Cross [Clarendon] and mi used to enter the concert competition and go up and sing and [get] plenty money," said Lady Antoinette, whose given name is Antoinette Nelson.

Due to her innate ability to hold strong, melodious notes, at age 23, she started recording, after hustling as a street vendor to book her studio sessions. While on her 'street-side hustle', she promoted her music by connecting her thumb drive to a "small sound box" that she played while selling. She said her customers were always amazed at her voice and often asked her to perform their favourites, to which she'd comply.

However, her captivating voice caught the attention of one particular client whose heart was captured by her.

"Three years ago I met George [when] he heard one of my songs playing at one of my friend's shop and asked the person 'Who is that?'. I was coming from up the road and my friend called me and introduced me to George and George said he liked it and he took it from there," she said. Since then, Culture George hasn't left her side as he took her on all his local shows as his back-up vocalist, expanded her knowledge in music through rehearsals and personal lessons, and spearheads her production work for her singles. He excitedly recalled that first meeting with Lady Antoinette.

"So from that now we start talking and she explained the run-ins, like she said she go studio and dem take her money and dem nuh mix the music good. Some of the songs is like she's singing in A and the rhythm is playing in G. Suh mi seh 'No man, you know, I'm gonna help her [because] di song them sound good'," shared Culture George, who has been in the music industry for more than 40 years.

Lady Antoinette currently has several singles including Trouble Trouble, Old MacDonald, and God Knows on the Apple Music platform.

George, a reggae-mento singer, said his main wish now is for his talented lover to be more confident in owning her unique sound as she possesses real talent that needs the exposure to "make her name big time".

"Because when she singing with me, it sound nice yuh nuh, on di recording. But mi want har fi upfront because I'm hoping that she might tour with me sometimes. Me want when she's on tour, she can do a certain amount of song for herself and the people, the world can know, say, boy, a Lady Antoinette," he said.

Lady Antoinette said that she knows she has what it takes to make it big and credits George for his selfless contribution.

"George push me a lot and I like dat. He bring me out to let me see the light of people and mek people see me but sometimes I'm shy to sing by myself but I know I can sing," she said. She described her sound as a culture-reggae fusion which speaks on all aspects of life and her personal encounters. Despite her age, which she said she's often teased about, and style of music, she believes she can keep up with the musical pace to garner the needed attention from the current generation.