NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamian creative extraordinaire Dominique Forbes continues to showcase her talent on a global scale, with two of her most recent songs garnering more than 10,000 plays on Soundcloud within just days of being released.
The songs are diverse in content and sound, with “WIN” being a victorious ode inspired by the gold medal wins of Bahamians Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Steven Gardiner at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games; while the heartfelt “Sleep On” is a soulful tribute to Forbes’ own relative, Devon Brown, whose life was lost to violence in October 2020.
The latter song’s powerful ability to move listeners was evidenced in the over 10,000 listens and scores of likes earned on Soundclound within just two days of its release on October 22.
Although another version, “Sleep On (Remix Island Style)” was released earlier this year, Forbes said she wanted to record an orchestral version.
“When I sent the rough draft of my song to a Nigerian producer, the song ‘Jealous’ by Labyrinth came to his head instantly,” the published author, recording artist and mother of five recalled.
“He got to work immediately and completed the instrumental as though he had picked the instruments directly out of my brain, while adding some of his own style to the project.
“I am well pleased with the first version of this song.
“I told him I wanted the sound of an orchestra on this first version of ‘Sleep On’. The vocals were recorded by Todd at Empower Media in Nassau. ‘Sleep On (Remix Island Style)’ was released earlier this year and was produced in Argentina. From there, this project was completed in Brazil.”
Forbes said the first time she sang the song in front of family members, she could not make it past the third line before she began weeping.
“There was not a dry eye in the room,” she shared.
She added: “On the night of Devon’s death, I wrote this song. His life was taken by the hand of a gunman… My family still mourns, yet I feel like we are blessed because we could have buried multiple family members as a result of that incident. As a result of this, I give praise.”
International attention
Meanwhile, Forbes’ song of celebration, “WIN”, saw more than 17,000 Soundcloud plays within nine days of its release, with international listeners picking up on the electrifying beat as the song was aired on a Brazilian radio station while a Moroccan dance troupe brought some dubstep moves of their own on TikTok.
The TikTok dances can be viewed at https://www.tiktok.com/@dzeko_wave/video/7020201429214301441?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1 and https://www.tiktok.com/@dzeko_wave/video/7021133150440934657?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1 respectively.
Both songs are streaming now on Forbes’ Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/dominiqueforbesmusic and “Sleep On” can be purchased via the artist’s Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/posts/sleep-on-part-1-57716798.
For more information, follow Forbes on her social media pages on Facebook (Dominique Forbes Music), Instagram (@Dominiqueforbesglobal), TikTok (DominiqueForbes242), Youtube (Dominique Forbes), Twitter (DomForbes242) or Facebook Global (Dominique Forbes 242).
