I asked Scrouge to recommend the next artist to feature on the blog. He introduced me to Empire the Artist, who has been in the music business for a number of years. Empire the Artist released a major hit, Ah Cheating, for the 2025 St. Thomas Carnival. Read more to learn about him and his plans for his music.
Empire the Artist is a recording artist/songwriter out of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. I don't want to brand myself with any particular genre because throughout my new career, I plan to be doing music in different genres. So, I don't want it to be like I'm a soca artist or a dancehall artist because I already know that I'm going to bring out music in different genres.
Who's the team behind you?
I'm more like a one man team with great support. I find my beats and write my own music. I record consistently at one studio. In terms of coming up with my music and creative thought process, I’ll be at home and inspiration comes. I have a good supportive team that includes my family, including my girlfriend. Whatever I need them to do, they do it. At this time, I don’t have a manager or photographer but if I’m out, I can ask my niece to record me. If I need a DJ, I can reach out to my brother. My family fills any role that I need and sometimes, one person plays several different roles.
What inspired you to get into music?
I've been doing music for a long time. I started music at a very young age. I was maybe six years old when I competed in a Calypso competition and placed first runner-up. I didn't feel bad because the person that beat me was in sixth grade while I was in first grade. The winner was more experienced and more polished. I still felt like a winner because if I had his experience, the result would have been different. Music has been something that I always stuck with, not seriously, but as a habit in the community. People always gave positive feedback on my talent, craft and my penmanship. In the music community in the Virgin Islands, people would always say that I am talented and capable but I wasn’t presenting myself to the world consistently. It was like I was popping in and out of the music scene.
I won the 2008 VI Teen Idol competition at age 17. The show was a big event at the time in the Virgin Islands. When I won, people said that they always knew that I was good. Between 2008 and 2012, I released music consistently. During this time, I also did the group thing with some guys and we released music and also did shows in St. Thomas and St. Croix. I've opened up for some of the biggest names that came to the territory to perform around that time.
When I started to release music, people were like, “we see you – we’ve just been waiting for you to say you’re doing it for real.” I got pure open doors. Everybody was like, “We want to work with you. Here's the opportunity, here's the opportunity.”
I got my first daughter in 2010, so I was juggling parenting and music for some time and then I stopped the music to focus on her. I would always write and record but never put the music out. I wanted to be able to give music the time it deserves. I didnt want to be popping in and popping out. I didn’t want people to think I was not serious.
Music remained on the back burner until the 2025 St. Thomas Carnival. I had been working on some songs and I shared one with the circle I mentioned. They previewed the song, but since I've done it a few times - they said if I was not going to make a serious move, not to come forward. I decided to take the step forward because my children are older now.
I released my first single in a long time for 2025 St. Thomas Carnival, Ah Cheating, and it took off. I would say it was probably one of the biggest songs for 2025. Since then, the door has been blown open and feedback has been encouraging. So now I'm sticking with it. I’m more mature, polished and knowledgeable. Everybody has been giving me information to help me. I've been taking all the opportunities seriously and continue to invest in the craft. I'm trying to push my music and get out there.
My greatest musical achievement would be winning the VI Teen Idol. For 2025, I won the 2025 Vivid Streaming Road March. That means Ah Cheating got the most votes when it was played to win.
Who do you listen to?
It’s a very large list.
- Soca: Lyrikal, Bunji Garlin, Patrice Roberts, Kes, Machel Montano, Voice, V’ghn, Pumpa, Adam O, Scrouge
- Dancehall: 450, Beenie Man, Bounty Killa, Vybez Kartel, Popcaan
- Bram: Blind Earz, Uncle Mehn, GusBus
Quote: Status does not determine who I listen to.
What stage have you always dreamed of performing on?
I've performed on this stage before, but not how I wanted it to be - not with the status or the preparation or the respect. Our biggest stage in the Virgin Islands is Carnival. It’s where you you see the most people. When you look at drone shots of the village, it is phenomenal. I want to perform on that stage. I got the opportunity to perform this year in front of that same crowd because of how great Ah Cheating was doing. However, it was still from a place of ‘who is he?’
I want to put in the work and get an opportunity to come back so that when my name pops up and the MC introduces me – the people know me. I want this on all our islands - St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, and the British Virgin Islands. I want to get on that level where I'm on stages in the Caribbean – carnivals and music festivals in Dominica, St. Kitts and bigger events like the Trinidad carnivals and Uber soca cruise
The stage that I really want to have this moment would be right here at home with my people knowing who I am and receiving me as, ‘We see you, we hear you, we love you, come and give us a great show.’ I could have said to tour the world and perform on countless stages, but I know how hard it is for the Virgin Islands to be behind a Virgin Islander. We just seem to be extra hard on each other. It's like it would be easier for me to get recognized overseas than at home.
Quote: I know if I put in the work and get my name out there, my people at home would say, ‘now we see you!’
Who have you collaborated with in the past musically?
Back in the day when I did the group thing, I worked with two local rappers, Young Blaze and Geno. I've sat in on some writing sessions here and there.
Which international artist would you wish to perform or write with?
- R City
- Pressure Buss Pipe
- Pumpa
- Adam-O
- Mic Love
- Patrice Roberts
- Bunji Garlin
- Lyrikal
- Kes
- Voice
What’s your favorite song of yours?
Ah Cheating
What are your plans for your music for the rest of 2025?
I'm about to shoot a music video for Ah Cheating. That song has so much more great potential. Outside of that, I'm trying to be consistent. I have more songs to release throughout the year. I'm going to let the temperature determine when and what I release because I don’t want to overdo it. I don't want to be working on multiple projects at the same time and then I'm just stretched too thin. I want to give each project the potential that it deserves because I mean to go above and beyond.
There are a lot of big events coming up: Miami Carnival, Uber Soca Cruise, St. Croix Festival, BVI’s August Festival. My goal is to put in the work, network and get the music playing in those places. I did an interview recently on Tola Radio because I visited Tortola for the USVI vs BVI King of The Courts Celebrity Game. I realized that no one knew me or my music so I knew I needed to do more networking.
I was reminded that I can’t leave the little hype that I got at home make me feel like I’ve done enough. I started to reach out to the BVI DJs, radio personalities and influencers and those conversations opened the door for that interview. Shout out Tola Radio because the DJ knew the song from the 2025 St. Thomas Carnival. He just didn’t know that I was the singer. Therefore, for Tortola, the song was like a brand new release again.
I hope that as the months go by and with more networking, the song can get more popular over there and beyond. Miami Carnival is coming up and I am hoping I could have a big soca/Bouyan song and this could transcend to the Uber Soca Cruise, which is in the following month. Then it would be St. Croix Festival in December/January.
What advice do you have for young people interested in music?
- I would say, ‘Be consistent.’ Hindsight is always 2020. If I was consistent, different doors could have already opened - that I'm trying to open now 15 years later.
- Regardless of what's going on, if you love music, like you say you love music, and it's something that you want to do, always find the time. That's something that I wish I could go back and change because the love for music never went away.
- If you were to ask me 10 years ago when I wasn't recording anything, why would you like to be a recording artist – my response would have been that I want to sing music across the world. Right now, I'm a surgical technician at Schneider Regional Medical Center but if I could put down the scalpel right now, I would pick up a mic.
- I had time for everything that became more important but I could have gotten up and made a move to the studio. I could have gotten up and written three more songs. So definitely, be consistent, and not in terms of putting up music but working on your music all the time, if it's something that you like to do. You can't go back. People have told me that I could have done this a long time ago. You never know what doors you’re skipping over by just deciding to not invest in it.
Quote: Don't be discouraged and be consistent.
Can you please share something that most people would not know about you?
I'm a good cook. I make good stew chicken. I make a good Johnny cake. My baked macaroni is really good also. As good as I am, I don't like to cook. It was more of a necessity. My mom would just say you need to learn to cook. I have two daughters, 15 and 7, and it became a necessity for me to cook. I didn’t need to be great at it but I needed to be able to feed them. During the learning process, I started to like it. I started cooking more and I felt accomplished enough to ask people to taste the food. It was encouraging when someone would comment that I should cook more. It’s like I can put that in my pocket as a superpower.
Who would you like to shout out?
Can you please share something that most people would not know about you?
I'm a good cook. I make good stew chicken. I make a good Johnny cake. My baked macaroni is really good also. As good as I am, I don't like to cook. It was more of a necessity. My mom would just say you need to learn to cook. I have two daughters, 15 and 7, and it became a necessity for me to cook. I didn’t need to be great at it but I needed to be able to feed them. During the learning process, I started to like it. I started cooking more and I felt accomplished enough to ask people to taste the food. It was encouraging when someone would comment that I should cook more. It’s like I can put that in my pocket as a superpower.
- First of all, I want to shout Scrouge for making this connection. This is my first artist interview that wasn't just basically music based. Everybody, go and stream Hydraulics!
- Shout out to my mom, Cindy, because she has been supportive from when I was a child
- My whole family circle, Sherelle (Bebe), Sheraine (Chedda), Tremaine (Mainy), my brother Raymond (Rama) and my brother, Daren
- My daughters, Le’niya Lewis and Le’vae Lewis
- Kendra Kent - She does all the graphic work for my songs. She’s really good and her graphic design company is called Kanvas Graphic Design. She's also the leading lady in my life.
- Rashidi for Vivid Streaming. Big up Rashidi. I always had an open door invitation regardless of the circumstances or the time. He would welcome me to the platform and share my work.
- Big up to DJ Black. DJ Black is who got me the opportunity to perform on the Carnival stage for 2025. He's been opening doors for me just off of the strength of love. I didn't ask him and he wasn't part of anything that was going on with Empire. It was just like, “yo, you're doing your thing. I'm going to plug you in here. I'm going to plug you in there.” He would ask for nothing in return. He would say, “you have the potential, any opportunities that I could present to you, I’m going to do it.”
- All the DJs: Rama the boss, DJ MALIE, DJ Lady Mix, DJ Jeaucar, DJ Kuntry, DJ Avalanche, DJ Jahseed and the 105 Jamz - WVJZ (105.3 FM)family, AfterDark Empire,T winFlamez, DJ Mac Milli, DJ Reg, DJ Anyvybez, and all the DJs who support my music.
- Big up to Th3rd and Th3rd House Productions where I record my music consistently
- Whole family tree
- All radio stations and streaming platform the support my music
Is there anything else that you'd like to share?
Just support Empire the Artist. All my platforms are Empire the Artist. Support anything Virgin Islands because we’re just getting started. This is a brand new career for me and I am happy for everyone’s support.
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Ah Cheating is a contender for Tola Radio's Groovy Songs 2025. Click the link and vote for Ah Cheating in the Groovy Song Category.
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