Tabia parts ways with LIME Soca Dans

Two months after parting ways with the LIME Soca Dans, singing sensation Tabia has broken her silence as to what led to her departure from the group.{{more}}

The young woman, whose full name is Tabia Matthews, said she left the group she had been a part of for four years because she did not agree with the direction in which the group was heading.

“I want to go in a different direction musically, and it was not compatible with the main theme of the group. There was a conflict of interest pretty much. The group is mainly about Soca, and I want to spread my wings much further than soca,” Matthews revealed.

Reiterating that she left the group on mutual terms, Matthews said she has the utmost respect for the others members of the group and thanked LIME for affording her the opportunity to showcase her talent over the years.

Noticeably absent from the group’s line up for much of Vincy Mas 2010 and 2011, Matthews said she did not just make a decision right off the bat.

“I really wanted to see if things would have changed in my favour, but it didn’t. I want it to be known that it was not a rash decision and that it was something that I was pondering for a while,” she revealed.

She was quick to say that she has no hard feelings for anyone in the group or LIME and she has learnt a lot from working with the group over the years. While this is so, Matthew said the time has come for her to take her career in another direction.

“I have learnt quite a lot from being in the group with veteran guys in Soca. But you have to learn that music is a business, at the end of the day.”

Having had much success in 2008 with her hit track ‘Boom Boom’, featuring French rapper Nathy Boss, Matthews said that track helped propel her career, as it was not just a soca song, but a mixture of other genres.

This assisted in making the song a hit throughout the Caribbean, she said.

“This is what I want to do more of. I want to do more collaborations, not just only Soca, but touch on other genres of music and work with different artistes,” she admitted.

In 2009, Matthews won the award for Best New Soca Artiste at the International Soca Awards, with the track “Feeling it”. She would later follow up on her success by nabbing three awards from Music awards ceremony in Bermuda.

Herrick Horne, manager of the LIME Soca Dans, confirmed that Matthews parted ways with the group on mutual terms.

Horne told SEARCHLIGHT that they look to push out the best talent and it could be conflicting when artistes have a slightly different take on how their career should go.

“She just finished her contract, and it was always optional if you want to renew or take your music elsewhere. But I want to make it clear that it was no bad blood or anything,” Horne stated.

Stating that Matthews’ departure will not negatively affect the group in anyway, Horne said the group has already started working on material for next year’s Carnival.

“We have new producers and song writers, so you’ll be seeing us doing a lot more collaborations next year,” he added.

Now without a manager, Matthews said that she is currently working with someone in New Jersey and is looking to develop networks as she embarks on a new journey.

“This would definitely be a different journey and people can look out for a nice fusion of different genres from Tabia,” Matthews boldly declared.

Matthews assured her fans that she has a few things in the pipeline and hinted that she would be working with a Jamaican artiste to do a reggae track.

She thanked her fans for all their support over the years and promised them bigger and better things in the near future.

Now handling her own bookings, interested persons can contact Matthews at tabiamusic@gmail.com; on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/tabiamusic) and on Facebook page (search for Tabia).