Jazz musician John Arnold describes her voice as “made for Jazz, with wonderful textures and sonority.” Singer/Songwriter Aniqua Richards-Lafeuille, previously known as the Original Qua Qua, aka Qua developed her versatile aptitude, range and talent for music from her childhood exposure to a variety of styles.
“Being in a family where everyone had a musical talent, it somewhat came natural to me. I grew up hearing Jazz and soul music so that’s where I started my career.”
As a child she sang various choirs and youth groups. When she grew up, she joined cover bands including Arnold’s Kariwak Players, where she impressed him with her “amazing talent and great register.” Eventually she went solo and has performed at Tobago Jazz Festival 2012, 2013, 2025 and 2018, CARIFESTA 2019 and a host of other LIVE events in T&T.
Qua has moved on from jazz to reggae. When asked by Tobago Pride about this development, she explained,
“In trying different types of music. Reggae has always been my home. I call it my safe space. It’s where I feel most comfortable and able to express myself without judgement.”
Currently she is collaborating with other creatives such as Producer Platinum Touch, Videographer Rodryl Lynch (Dryl Revolution) and Franz Job who assists in writing. The team recently released a two- part project. According to Qua “Ready was launched in March, Drip blood, a month later. They are a two part visual that first shows someone being attacked, which symbolizes many different things like: hurt, abuse, stress or just the trials of life that may affect us at some point in time. The second shows us that we have to research/think solutions, put in hard work in whatever way necessary and do what we have to do to conquer our “attackers.”
She also collaborates with Producer/Songwriter P*nut out in the UK who has worked with Amy Winehouse, Juelz Santana among others.
Asked about the music scene in Tobago, she enthused “we have a thriving music scene in Tobago. We may not have the numbers like other places but we have artistes that I believe have what it takes to be recognized internationally. Within all that, just like athletes will go hard every day I want us to take time to invest in our dreams and goals, be driven, dedicated to and own our craft and come together as a unit and not compete with each other because the talent we have here is so much greater than that. I also wish Tobago had an artiste development program for us to go to. For the most part I do receive the support, Tobago radio stations play my music a lot and people ask me when I’m releasing new music.”
She has a deep appreciation for Tobago as a nurturing space:
“Tobago has a uniqueness about its culture and heritage but there’s still space for you to be yourself and express yourself your way and we have so much talent waiting be discovered.”
As for the future, Qua envisions touring Europe “with the same message of love and positivity through my music.”
