Denise "Saucy Wow" Belfon (born 23 November 1968, in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

) is a

soca Soca or SOCA may refer to: Places * Soča, a river in Slovenia and Italy * Soča, Bovec, Slovenia * Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, by ICAO code * Soca, a village in Banloc Commune, Timiș County, Romania * SoCa, Southern California Other u ...

and

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

Early years

As a young girl in school, she was a football (soccer) player and was offered a scholarship to

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

to join the all-girls team. However, an injury at the time prevented her from taking up the opportunity. She has been singing since the age of nine, and was also a dancer and a model. When she was not performing, Belfon taught

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

at the Belmont Junior Secondary school and at the YMCA. Belfon is of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

n and

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

descent, but also has Grenadian, Barbadian, Jamaican,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, and

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

ancestry.

Singing career

In 1990, Belfon was discovered by the bandleader of Roy Cape. She started singing professionally with the soca band Black Sheep, before moving on to Sound Revolution. Her first solo recording was the soca single "Ka Ka Lay Lay". (Not to be confused with Makelele which of course is

Alison Hinds Alison Amanda Hinds (born 1 June 1970) is a British-born Bajan soca artist based in Barbados. She is one of the most popular soca singers in the world. Biography Alison Hinds was born in London on 1 June 1970 and grew up in Plaistow.Batey, A ...

' crop over 2011 song ) Belfon went on to record the singles "Hard Wuk", "De Jammette", "Saucy Baby", and "Indian Man". Belfon has also recorded songs outside of the soca genre, most notably a 2001 collaboration with New York house music duo

Masters at Work Masters at Work is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have been r ...

entitled "Work".

References

External links

Denise Belfon Profile
at TriniJungleJuice.com

on Trinibeat.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Belfon, Denise 1968 births Living people 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago women singers 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago singers Contemporary R&B singers 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women singers 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago singers