Call her Miss Diva but Color her Passionate

Always shining in the spotlight

Egbert Gaye

The thing about Alicia Anderson is that she has grown accustomed to winning and making things happen, especially on stage. That’s why fans get a treat when she gets into her act, because for her it has always been all or nothing.
As one of Montreal’s emerging reggae stars, the woman they call Miss Diva has placed herself on a fast track in getting to the top of her game. And says she’s doing it by “staying busy, staying true to myself and staying true to the music.”
“I think the most important thing I have going for me, is my love for singing and for reggae music, which has always been part of my life although I have been involved in other things.”
So although Miss Diva comes into the game with ‘nuff passion’ and a strong desire to get to the top, she knows that there can be roadblocks and other obstacles in a young woman’s path trying to make it in the music industry.
And she says part of staying real means staying away from some of the people and scenes that force you to do things you don’t want to do.
So for now she has taken it upon herself to do as much as she can to get to the next level. And so far, it has been ‘all good’.
After only about a year and half on the circuit, she has already been on several of the big stages across Canada, opening for some of the biggest acts coming out of Jamaica such as Glen Washington, Lady G and others.
Miss Diva continues to push the boundaries by releasing a seven-track album titled Seven Shades Of Love that’s getting people’s attention here in North America and Jamaica. And true to form, she wrote most of the material on the CD and collaborated with two established artistes.
She told The CONTACT that she’s inspired and energized by her mother, Pat Dillon, who herself as an artiste has been tireless in making things happen and pushing her career forward.
“I’ve seen my mother lock herself in a room for hours when she’s preparing her thing. I think I’ve learned a lot from her.”
Also, it’s also because of her mom that Miss Diva is no stranger to the spotlight. Long before she stepped in front of a microphone, a five year-old Alicia was in costume dingolaying as Montreal’s Junior Carnival Queen, then grew up to be the Queen of Carnival, dominating both competitions in the heady days of Montreal’s Carifiesta celebration for 14 years.
Then she took her dancing ways to the dancehall stage, winning the title of Dance Hall Queen here as Miss Splitz and across Canada right on to the United States where she elevated to being number three in North America.
Through it all, the young woman who grew up as a child of our community has never strayed too far from home and has never lost sight of what’s or who’s important.
Today, no matter how hectic things get, she will never walk past any of us older hears whom she refers as “aunty” and “uncle.”
Also when she was younger than most, she chose the path of self-employment and opened her beauty studio, Diva Salon. She is still splitting her time between that and her dream.
And as she’s following that dream, Miss Diva says she’s full of excitement. She’s still overly passionate about songwriting and is looking forward to improving her skills at it.
She also wants to continue touching base with some of the ranking reggae stars and learning from them.
But right now she is thankful to those who have helped to get her where she is today, especially Brian Kotler of Indie Music Productions together with Garnett Bobby Pottinger and the other musicians whom she says were selfless with their time in making sure that her debut album was as good as it can be.
It’s all part of the inspiration that’s driving her forward, she says.
“For me, it’s all about the music and keeping it real.”