Soca artiste Lolani building her name in music industry

Lolani is making her mark in Saint Lucia’s music scene. She describes her journey as a soca artist as both challenging and rewarding, as she works to find her place among established names.

“I love to try new things, so I decided to try soca,” Lolani said. She explained that fellow artiste Orion encouraged her to enter the genre. Their collaboration led to her first competition, when they submitted the song Sorry as a Power Soca entry in 2025. “That’s when my journey in soca began,” she said.

Since then, Lolani said her experience as a female artiste has changed her. “It has been an experience… I can say I really love it so far,” she shared. She feels she has grown both personally and professionally. Meeting major performers has been a key part of her journey, taking her “from who’s who, is she to okay; this is Lolani”.

Lolani spoke about how important it is to share the stage with leading performers. “Being around really big artistes like Auther, Ricky T, Cupid, Keisha, it’s just a great experience,” she said. Performing with them and joining panels has helped her gain confidence.

Before she started singing soca, Lolani’s background was in choral music and church. “I started singing from the age of four,” she explained. She sang in several choirs, including church, school, and the National Combined Schools Choir. Later, she chose to leave group singing to focus on a solo career.

Lolani tried calypso while at Castries Comprehensive Secondary School. Even though people said she was too shy, she auditioned anyway. “I love to prove people wrong,” she said. She ended up representing her school and finished as first runner-up in 2023.

Although she admitted, “I didn’t like the genre,” Lolani said calypso taught her a lot, especially about performing. “When you sing calypso, you can really, like, embody a different character,” she said. Her time in calypso helped her develop her stage presence.

Most recently, she competed as a solo artist in the groovy segment with her song Life Sweet, produced by Stratosphere Musik. She expressed gratitude for the chance to perform.

Lolani made it to the quarterfinals but did not advance further. She described this as a tough moment. “I cried so much because I really wanted this year to be like my year,” she said. Even though she was disappointed, she reflected on the experience and concluded, “It just wasn’t my time.”

She also entered the power segment with Jurgen, and together they reached the semifinals with their song Can’t Let Go. Although the song did not do as well as they hoped, she spoke positively about the collaboration, saying “it was a great experience” and calling the song “an anthem for the carnival season”.

A highlight of her journey was on the Soca Monarch stage. She was not a finalist, but she got to perform as a guest artiste, which she valued greatly.

Outside of competitions, Lolani said her music always has a purpose. “Every song I put out has a message behind it,” she explained. She likes to experiment with different genres, such as R&B, afrobeat and Dennery segment. When making Dennery segment music, she decided to focus on women empowerment instead of the usual party themes. “I decided to make the song be like sort of a women empowerment instead of jump up, shake your bum bum,” she said.

For Lolani, connecting with her audience is at the heart of what she does. “The most important thing for me is to reach out to people and touch people’s hearts,” she said. She tries to do this through her lyrics and performances.

As she grows as an artiste, Lolani said her style is unpredictable but always focused. “Expect the unexpected from Lolani,” she said. She describes herself as spontaneous but always committed to quality. “Expect quality from me, quality music.”

Now in her second year at Soca Monarch, Lolani said she can see her own growth. She first entered the competition in 2025 with Orion on their song Sorry for Power Soca and has since returned as both a solo artist and in collaborations.

As her sound evolves and her stage presence grows, she is determined to help advance the country’s music industry. “There’s so much talent in Saint Lucia,” she said.

She believes artists just need the right opportunities to take the industry even further.

The article Soca artiste Lolani building her name in music industry is from St. Lucia Times.