Keeping the ‘tropical fiesta’ rolling
The next ‘queen of Guyanese soca’
The next ‘queen of Guyanese soca’

GUYANA has an abundance of vocal talent, and there are some dynamic song divas who have topped the charts with their exquisite performance and the many interesting methods that have infused in their repertoire to keep the ‘music of the tropics’ rolling around the hemisphere.

Melissa ‘Vanilla’ Roberts, the Guyanese Temptress.
Melissa ‘Vanilla’ Roberts, the Guyanese Temptress.

A pearly-toothed, marble-skinned home-girl took the music industry by storm not so long ago, and though she was very timid at her first entrance, she is now one of the hotties who continue to keep the Guyanese flag flying high musically.
In 2005, she recorded her first song, ‘Koc it Up’, on the Kross Kolor label. The song was featured on the annual compilation album, ‘Wine Till Yuh Drop Volume 2’. Later that year, Vanilla recorded her second song, ‘Boy’, and that propelled her into the realms of the elite performers in Guyana. In that same year, she teamed up with soca sensation ‘B52’ formerly known as ‘Lilman’, to record the single ‘Wine it Up’.
By that time she had already realized that she had hidden talents, and wanted to take things to another level. For Mash 2007, Vanilla recorded the song ‘Queen of the band’, which eventually won the Road March competition, beating the reigning Soca Monarch and thirty others that year. This was a significant achievement, since it was her first year in that competition, and she was convinced that she could make a difference in the entertainment arena in Guyana.
In 2008, she lost the crown, but because she never gives up, she decided to continue in the competition. The following year, she placed second at the sixth annual Carib Soca Monarch Competition with the song ‘Rude’, and also regained her title as Queen of the Road.
She is an artiste with tremendous potential; one who, with the right guidance, can achieve greatness. In 2010, Vanilla again captured the Road March title, making herself the only female artiste to have won the title three times as well as the GT&T People’s Choice Award at the Soca Monarch, where she also placed second.
Vanilla continued to record and release songs that were also co-produced and arranged by producers based out of Guyana, and she now has quite a few hit singles which were all produced by Kross Kolor Records.
Since the Carib Soca Monarch competition became a number on her annual list of activities, she re-entered the competition in 2012 with the song ‘Rage’, which created quite a storm and was named the most popular song of the season by many. In 2013, a surprise twist came when she teamed up with label mate B52 to enter the competition once again, as it was a collaboration that was never done in any competition by the KKR artistes. They did not manage to place, however, but the song ‘Tear De Roof’ was another popular number amongst the Guyanese audience.
As a well-rounded individual with a passion for being fit and healthy, Vanilla has won the Guyana Amateur Body Building and Fitness Federation (GABBF) Miss Body Fitness Novice title in 2006, Miss Body Fitness Intermediate title 2007, and has placed second at the Miss Body Fitness Seniors competition in 2009.
She is an International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) Certified Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Fitness Nutrition, who is aiming for an associate degree in both fields. She is also a video editor, graphics designer, script writer, director and manager at the company where she works.
She loves dancing and hanging out with her friends.
Her favourite quote is: ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’.

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