The Storyteller Shaping Soca’s Public Voice
Behind every soca artist whose name lands in a headline, whose interview resonates, whose narrative feels coherent and compelling — there is usually someone working quietly but purposefully in the background. In the Caribbean music industry, that person is increasingly Adanna Afiya Asson. Hailing from Trinidad and Tobago, Adanna has consistently provided behind-the-scenes support in the entertainment industry, and through her diligence has become a prominent figure in the world of public relations in the Caribbean. She is the woman behind Creativa Media Public Relations — and her influence on how soca artists are seen, heard, and understood by the world is significant.
From Storyteller to Publicist
Asson’s journey began with a fascination for storytelling that bloomed from a young age. Her genuine interest in people and their narratives steered her towards PR. But the path from curious storyteller to sought-after entertainment publicist was not a straight line. After secondary school, she channelled her passion into creating an entertainment website called Entertainment Macco, a platform she used to interview and share the stories of up-and-coming artists and creatives in the Caribbean music space.
It was through that work that she began to see the gap between the talent she was writing about and how that talent was being presented to the world. “While working on building that blog it became evident that many of those creatives needed direction. I was being sent selfies in bathrooms as professional images,” she has recalled with a laugh — a telling detail that illuminates why proper, thoughtful PR matters so deeply in a music scene where artists are often navigating media without any professional guidance.
Asson attributes her formal entry into PR to her friend Natasha Andrews, who offered her mentorship and the opportunity to try out her desire to be a publicist at her music production company. That mentorship opened the door, and Adanna walked through it with intent. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications from the University of Greenwich and an Associate Degree in Journalism and Public Relations from COSTAATT — an academic foundation that complemented her natural instincts and sharpened her craft.
Building Creativa Media PR
CreativA MediA PR is a full-service public relations agency birthed by one woman’s genuine love for communications and entertainment, with a determination to create memorable interactions for creatives. It is not a generic entertainment PR firm. It is one built around the specific rhythms, culture, and needs of Caribbean music — and that specificity is precisely what has made it indispensable to some of the genre’s most prominent artists.
As the force behind Creativa Media PR, she has worked with renowned soca artists including Kerwin Du Bois, Patrice Roberts, Farmer Nappy, Adana Roberts, Nessa Preppy, Nadia Batson, Ricky T, Pumpa, Triniboi Joocie, Voice, and Lyrikal, among others. It is a roster that covers some of the most consistent names in contemporary soca — multiple International Soca Monarch winners, Road March contenders, and fan favourites across the Caribbean and its diaspora. The trust these artists have placed in Adanna says everything about her reputation for reliability and results.
Kerwin Du Bois, one of the most respected voices in modern soca, has spoken plainly about that trust: “Adanna has become family, to be honest. We have been working together for about 8 years and she has always been reliable, trustworthy and ethical. Really, if she tells you that she is going to get a job done, she will do everything in her power to do so.”
More Than a Publicist
What distinguishes Adanna from a straightforward media handler is the fullness of her role. She is not simply issuing press releases and booking interviews — she is a strategic partner in her clients’ careers, often doubling as advisor, creative sounding board, and in some cases, part of the management team itself.
Her work with Patrice Roberts is a prime example. When Roberts became one of nine female artists handpicked by Nicki Minaj to feature on the remix of “Likkle Miss” — a remarkable international milestone for a soca artist — it was Adanna who articulated what the moment meant, noting that Roberts had “worked tirelessly at her music and craft so she was able to generate interest for herself and the genre,” and that the team could “only anticipate what other opportunities might come.” That kind of informed, forward-looking commentary is the mark of a publicist who genuinely understands the bigger picture.
With Nessa Preppy, Adanna’s role has extended even further. When Nessa became the first soca artiste to perform at Festival Latinidades in Brasília — the largest festival in Latin America focused on Black women’s art and culture — Adanna travelled as part of the artist’s team, serving as both manager and publicist, and the two paid a courtesy visit to the Trinidad and Tobago embassy in Brazil during the trip. It was a vivid illustration of how deeply embedded Adanna is in the work of placing soca on the global stage.
She describes herself as “an out-of-the-box entertainment publicist — a blend of serious, quirky, and unconventional.” That description is both honest and earned. Her approach to PR is built around a genuine creative intelligence, not a cookie-cutter formula.
Recognition and Looking Forward
Adanna is a Black Excellence, Forbes Blk Community member, and a professional member of the Recording Academy — the organisation behind the GRAMMYs — a significant recognition for a Caribbean publicist working in a genre that has long deserved more international institutional visibility. She aims to bridge the gap between clients and their audiences, enhancing their careers and projects while creating unique opportunities for them to explore their gifts.
Looking ahead, she has spoken about her desire to expand internationally — not just serving Caribbean artists on the world stage, but potentially representing non-Caribbean clients who are interested in engaging meaningfully with the region and its diaspora. It is an ambition that reflects both her confidence and her vision of what soca and Caribbean culture can mean to global audiences when properly communicated.
In a music industry where the loudest voices tend to belong to the artists themselves, Adanna Asson is a reminder that the clearest communication often comes from the person who knows exactly what to say — and exactly when to say it.
