The Brian Lara Promenade was the place to be last Friday, and if you missed it, the internet filled you in quickly enough.
Caribbean beverage brand Rude Boy officially unveiled soca star Nailah Blackman as its newest brand ambassador at a ceremony on the Independence Square Promenade in Port of Spain. The energy was exactly what you’d expect from an event combining one of T&T’s most beloved performing artists with one of the region’s fastest-rising drink brands.
Blackman, who comes from soca royalty — her grandfather is the legendary Ras Shorty I, widely credited with inventing the genre — didn’t hold back on her vision for what this partnership means. She said the two were planning to take things worldwide, tying the brand ambition directly to her music: “We’re literally going to take the brand, Rude Boy, our partnership, we’re going worldwide with it. And so is the music.”
She also gave fans something extra to look forward to. Blackman revealed that 2026 marks nearly a decade in the music industry for her, and she is set to release a new album titled Born a Diamond. She’s also slated to perform at the Rude Boy Ultra Fest on May 30th, alongside Jamaican dancehall artist Valiant.
The signing did come with a minor bit of controversy — but none of it Blackman’s doing. Local distributors AS Bryden’s were quick to distance themselves from a provocative Rude Boy billboard that appeared near a school in Kingston, Jamaica, clarifying that the T&T marketing team had no involvement in that campaign whatsoever.
Regardless, the mood in T&T around this signing has been celebratory. Nailah’s star is rising — and it looks like she’s taking the whole island with her.
