Muzik Lil Muzik, Now SunDivas, Interviewed by Vivaa in New York in 2013
Before they became known as SunDivas, sisters Samantha and Nadine Bryant were making their mark on the UK Soca scene as Muzik Lil Muzik.
In April 2013, the London-based duo connected with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson in New York for a Julianspromos interview. The timing was especially fitting: Muzik Lil Muzik had already made UK Soca history, while their new single “Colonise” was beginning a year that would take their music to audiences beyond Britain.
Watch Muzik Lil Muzik in New York
The 2013 interview captures Samantha and Nadine during the Muzik Lil Muzik era, before the later Sunshine & Nadiva and SunDivas names.
The interview was hosted by Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett, and uploaded on April 17, 2013.
Who Were Muzik Lil Muzik?
Muzik Lil Muzik was formed by sisters Samantha and Nadine Bryant, London-raised performers whose Caribbean heritage includes roots in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Barbados.
Music was part of their lives from childhood. Contemporary profiles described the sisters as singers, dancers and musicians who grew up playing instruments including piano, guitar and steel pan while drawing influence from Soca, Calypso, Reggae, R&B and Gospel.
By the beginning of the 2010s, they were becoming increasingly visible within the growing UK Soca movement.
Making UK Soca History
Muzik Lil Muzik had already achieved something significant before arriving in New York.
In 2011, the sisters became the first artistes to win both the UK Groovy Soca Monarch and UK Power Soca Monarch competitions in the same year, taking the titles with “2Flag” and “Make A Way.”
Their momentum continued in 2012 with recognition including a Calabash Award for Best Soca Group and a Soca Music Award for Best UK Soca Artiste.
So the sisters speaking with Vivaa in 2013 were not newcomers receiving their first introduction. They had already established themselves as part of a generation pushing UK-produced Soca forward.
“Colonise” and Their 2013 International Push
The New York interview came at an especially active point in their career.
“Colonise” appeared on UK producer Soca Child 360’s Palm Tree Riddim, which debuted on Choice FM on March 31, 2013. The riddim also featured Hypasounds, Ms. Desire, Natia Daniel and other Caribbean and UK-based performers.
Muzik Lil Muzik released “Colonise” in early April, just before the Julianspromos interview. The song’s message centered on Soca and Caribbean culture spreading internationally — which closely reflected what the sisters themselves were doing at the time.
Their 2013 Colonise Tour would include appearances in New York, Berlin, Sweden, Wales, London and Leicester. Later that summer, “Colonise” also carried Samantha and Nadine into the UK Groovy Soca Monarch final.
That places the New York interview right in the middle of their international push.
UK Soca Finding Its Own Identity
Muzik Lil Muzik represented something important within Soca in the early 2010s.
Their music was being created in London rather than Trinidad, Barbados or another Caribbean island, but their sound remained rooted in Caribbean culture.
The sisters were part of a UK scene increasingly developing its own artistes, producers, competitions and Carnival audience. Their success in the UK Soca Monarch competitions showed that British Soca was becoming more than simply a market for music arriving from the Caribbean.
For Samantha and Nadine, the goal was increasingly international.
“Colonise” captured that ambition perfectly: UK-made Soca traveling from London to Caribbean communities around the world.
From Muzik Lil Muzik to SunDivas
The name seen on the 2013 video would eventually change.
After Muzik Lil Muzik, Samantha and Nadine became known as Sunshine & Nadiva and later adopted the combined name SunDivas.
Their career continued under the newer identity, including further Soca competition appearances and a stronger connection with Vincy Mas in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. By 2019, contemporary coverage was identifying Samantha “Sunshine” Bryant and Nadine “Nadiva” Bryant as SunDivas.
That makes the 2013 footage an interesting point in their timeline.
The artists audiences would later know as SunDivas are already there — but the name change and several later chapters of their career were still ahead.
From the Julianspromos Archives
The Muzik Lil Muzik interview is also part of Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson’s early interview history with Julianspromos.
Vivaa hosted the New York conversation while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage. The interview was uploaded on April 17, 2013, the same date associated with the original Julianspromos archive entry. The current archive also places the Muzik Lil Muzik interview among Vivaa’s documented 2013 assignments.
The assignment also broadened the geographic story represented in the early Julianspromos interviews. Muzik Lil Muzik were Caribbean diaspora artistes developing Soca from London, meeting a Caribbean media platform in New York, while making music rooted in islands thousands of miles away.
But the strongest reason to revisit the interview is where Samantha and Nadine stood at that moment.
They had already made UK Soca Monarch history. “Colonise” was brand-new. Their international touring was expanding. Another UK Soca Monarch final was still ahead that summer.
And the name SunDivas was still in their future.
This is Muzik Lil Muzik in New York, 2013.
