Tanya heralds new CFW trend

The first-ever CFW Jamaica Night concert gets off to a spectacular start come tomorrow, as reggae diva Tanya Stephens teams up with dancehall superstar Mavado in what is certain to be a musical tour de force to kick start the three nights of fashion and music. Previously CFW showcased international superstars such as Kelly Rowland and Eve performing cameos during the fashion shows. This year, however, as the event enters its second decade, the focus is on full concert performances coming immediately after the fashion shows.

On Saturday, CFW's Caribbean Night will unfold, featuring soca king Machel Montano and high priest David Rudder, with Rudder backed by the Fab Five band.

Come Sunday, it's International Night with international recording star Joe and Jamaica's king of the dancehall, Beenie Man.

influential artistes

Vivienne Tanya Stephens, better known by her stage name Tanya Stephens, is one of Jamaica's most influential reggae artistes who emerged in the late 1990s. Stephens is best known for her hits Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet - the single was later featured on the Reggae Gold album - and It's a Pity, which gained her significant international recognition.

Stephens was born in 1973 and grew up in St Mary and St Ann, attending Zion Hill and Ocho Rios primary schools and St Mary High. Her album Rebelution was released in August 2006, and the first single These Streets was a No. 1 hit in the Caribbean staying in the top position on Tempo's chart for more than four weeks. The album was totally sold out in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean. The track Rosa is a tribute to Rosa Parks.

Tanya's early material was lyrically typical of dancehall and drew comparisons with Lady Saw, along with whom she was proclaimed "the top female artistes in Jamaica" in 1998 by the Washington Post, but later developed beyond what she called "the same old four topics" to 'reality' themes. Said social scientist Clinton Hutton, "Tanya is very intuitively intelligent and deftly tackles relevant social issues". In 2007, she was awarded a scholarship to study via the Internet for a business management degree from the University of Sunderland. Her latest album Infallible, was released in 2010.