REGGAEWOMAN

'even the newest stars are honored'

Natasja

REAL NAME:Natasja Saad
BIRTH DATE/PLACE: October 31, 1974 - June 24, 2007
BIRTH PLACE: Copenhagen




The daughter of a Danish photographer, Kirstine Saad, and a Sudanese father, started singing and DJ'ing at the age of 13 in Copenhagen, where she performed live with Miss Mukupa and McEmzee in the band, No Name Requested. During that period, she also performed along with Queen Latifah and gained popularity in Jamaica. In 1998, while in training to become a professional jockey, she fell off her horse. This seriously slowed down her career.

In the summer of 2004, she published the 12"-Cover Me and later the 7" Summercute and in 2005, the cd Release. In the same year, she appeared at Bikstok Røgsystem's biggest hit, Cigar covered as 'Lille T'.

In 2006 she won the reggae competition, Irie FM Big Break Contest in Jamaica with the song 45 Questions as the first non-Jamaican ever. First prize was a record label, a music video, a photo session and a job at the Reggae Sumfest-festival, where 50 Cent and Rihanna, amongst others, also performed.

Natasjas first major hit, Mon De Reggae, inspired the hit Pon De Replay by Rihanna. Natasja was the first non-Jamaican reggae/dancehall artist ever to win the Jamaican "Irie FM Big Break Contest". Natasja entered the competition in May 2006: 700 contestants, 12 finalists, and one winner!

Natasja debuted in the Danish comedy film Fidibus by successful performer/director Hella Joof with the track Op med ho’det. Around this time her song Calabria with DJ Enur was recognized and became a huge summer hit on Dance/Electronica and Pop charts across the world. It's her most popular song to date and it would give Saad her first US number one single on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart in 2008 and in the process gave Saad the chart's first number one single by a posthumous artist. The song has also peaked at number twenty-four on the Billboard's Pop 100 chart.

Natasja died on June 24, 2007 in a car accident in Spanish Town, Saint Catherine, Jamaica.

Natasja is buried at Assistens Kirkegård, Copenhagen's cemetery for artistic and pioneering personalities, which, aside from hosting H.C. Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard and physicist Niels Bohr, is also gradually becoming a resting place for more recent stars of the 21st century.

NATASJA at Reggae Sumfest 2006

Natasja's last performance - portmore awards 2007




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RWW FASHION FEATURE - 'BRIDGET SANDALS'

A JOURNEY IN BRIDGET SANDALS
Novia McDonald-Whyte - Contributing editor Jamaica Observer
Sunday, December 07, 2003


Sandals designer Bridget say "Bridget sandals" in Jamaica and fashion watchers, as well as lovers of sexy leather straps, will smile the smug smile of those in the know. It has been, for Bridget Brown, (known by thousands as Bridget), a journey of twenty-odd years. The fact is, the leather soles of her sandals almost left her barefooted on several occasions. "It took me three years," Bridget tells SunDay to get my feet off the ground. I paid the price for not going to school. I had to endure artisans not cutting the leather properly, bad work attitude, sabotage, you name it, I went through it."
A baptism of fire, some might be tempted to add for the former Playboy Bunny. "I was a bunny between 1972 and 1977 at the Playboy Boscobel Beach," says Bridget, flashing her signature toothy smile, and still conscious of that bunny poise.


"Playboy was forced to close (no tourists were coming to Jamaica). I was forced to come back to Kingston. I had to find some means of survival. My first stop was G's One of a Kind -- an upscale boutique that sold one-of-a kind Italian shoes and clothing. I left that in May 1981, after Bob Marley's death. I sold pound-cloth for Carmen Brown of Karmen's Corner. "There I was with my scale underneath my arm, and my cushions at my side. I really never wanted to make sandals. I also made skull caps and crochet bags."

After several attempts to generate income, Bridget tells SunDay that divine intervention led her to the world of leather and the world of sandals. "There's a saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. This really applied in my case. After several motivational sessions with my friend Winston Clarke, who also taught me an affirmation which I repeated daily, I heard a voice say, 'Bridget why don't you make leather sandals?' I saw gold, red, and silver sandals. Armed with my life's saving of $2,000 I started."
Start she did and never looked back. Bridget even found the time and finances to attend school in Milan. "I went to school out of curiosity. I wondered if I was doing something wrong. Little did I know that I was in fact doing something right. My customers are happy, the sandals are fitting right, and I, too, am satisfied. I admire what I am doing."

No idle boast. Bridget Sandals were on the runway at New York Fashionweek, and Caribbean Fashionweek. Bridget Sandals are in Barbados, St Kitts, Antigua, Lincoln Avenue, South Beach (Miami), in the Village (New York) and at Controversy -- Battersea London.
Come next season, there's the possibility of a shipment to Japan, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Dallas.

"You have to be skilfull to survive. It has been a 20-year fight for survival. It's a struggle to maintain quality, confidence, style, craftsmanship. Finally, you have to have integrity in business."
As the chat comes to an end and Bridget does that Bridget walk towards her taxi, and there's a feeling that the very best is still to come from this beautiful sister.

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