Caribbean Blogger Spotlight: Ayeola George of Caribbean Celebs

Caribbean Celeb blogger Ayeola Lolita George is immersed in Caribbean culture in a variety of ways. The blogger (singer, writer and P.R. maven) was born in Dominica the Nature Island of the Caribbean, creating her blog CaribbeanCelebs out of necessity, feeding the need for wanted more information on celebs from her home region, she didn’t wait for people to report on artists that were of interest to her. Get to know more about Ayeola, the lady behind CaribbeanCelebs

Tell me a little about yourself and how you got started in Caribbean entertainment coverage?

From as far back as I can remember I was always involved in entertainment. My dad is a musician and my mom was a teacher who was very active in the community and just about everything she did involved the arts. I was in choir and did piano as a child.  I moved to Houston, TX in the late 90’s and by word of mouth I started getting gigs to sing back up. First it was for a Trinidadian artist named Tremendos, then another Trini artist named Major Riley. Eventually leading to singing backup for a variety of bands and singers including Roger George, Caribbean Vibes, Prodigy Band and sharing the stage with the likes of FayAnn Lyons, Rupee, WCK Byron Lee’s Dragonaires. I write songs and would one day like to write a wicked chune for Estelle or Rihanna. That’s the music side of me!

On the journalism side, I’ve interviewed Emeline Michele, Marlon Asher, and Neutral Sisters (published) for Jouvert Magazine. I have written features on Sean Kingston(published), Chris Martin, Skinny Fabulos, Etana (published) Ryan Mark, Omari, I-Octane for College Lifestyle Magazine in Jamaica as well. I’ve done some work as an on camera host for Caribbean Maco in Houston and interviewed Benjai, Patrice Roberts, Elephant Man, MC Wassy, I-Wayne, but the best interview to date I would say was with the late Lucky Dube.  I have parlayed all what I have learnt in the business into my work as a Publicist and I currently represent Marie-Claire, an Opera singer from Dominica who recently released her first single “rastaman chant” featuring Spragga Benz. (Download her EP HERE). I have also done press for NellyStharre, King Dice, NickyB, Chain of Hope, King Tappa and others on a freelance basis.

When did you start blogging & why?

Houston has a large Caribbean population and there are events taking place all the time. I found that the only time I connected with the region, entertainment-wise, was when someone came up to perform. For me to find out what was happening I had to go online. It dawned on me that the easiest information to find was on Jamaican artists, there were a few sites like TorontoLime for example that had news on soca artists but back then (2007) it was more Bajan and Trini. Being from a small island I wanted to know what was up with Dominican, Lucian, Antiguan artists and whats going on in St. Kitts an St. Thomas etc. I figured if I was having this much difficulty getting info on the smaller islands then other people are as well and I just started putting what I found in one central place. My site was originally called The Lime. My slogan was “fresh news everytime!”. It caught on so well that I ended up doing news on DJ Solo’ s show on CaribbeanVibesRadio.com and on the Pure Vibez show on KPFT 90.1. I stopped blogging for a year when I moved back to Dominica. Cable and Wireless was now LIME. That name was a bit too close for comfort as I had difficulty registering my company. So I have renamed and rebranded and now I am back as CaribbeanCelebs.com

If you could describe your blog in one sentence, what would it be?

CaribbeanCelebs.com is the go-to site for Caribbean entertainment news, music, photos, gossip and interviews!

What do you hope to accomplish through your blog?

Well the name of the site is CaribbeanCelebs.com and that’s what it is about. There are many prominent persons (especially in music) who are from the Caribbean (or have a Caribbean parentage) and a lot of people do not know that!  So every post I try to mention where that person is from eg. June Ambrose is from Antigua or Mel B’s roots are Kittitian, and Harry Belafonte’s father is from Martinique. I still have my original aim of highlighting the artists from the Eastern Caribbean on my blog especially the OECS islands. My hope in that regard is that while visitors may come for artists from the bigger islands, say a  Nicki Minaj fromTrinidad, a Rihanna from Barbados or a Vybz Kartel from Jamaica,  that  they will discover  talents from other Caribbean islands such as Nayee (Dominica) or Saik (Guadeloupe) or Cover Drive (Barbados) or Drastic (Antigua) etc. There’s my contribution to integration:-)

What is the most challenging part of being a blogger?

Based on my goal of highlighting artists from the smaller islands, I find it challenging to get information. Many artists do not have publicists or management teams sending out their music or sending press releases. I have to reach out to them and say hey what’s going on. I am here for you. When I do I get a song I have to write the artist and say ok send me a picture and your social media links etc. or I have to Google them and when I do I find a pic that’s not quite to the standard I would like. There is a positive trend in that little by little they are getting it. I am really impressed with ColtonT from Dominica a young artist who readily shares information on Facebook and Twitter. He has a great quality video out. Still need to work on his pictures though, lol, but he’s getting there and that is very encouraging. For the more-popular celebs it can be tasking to cover news as it happens and it’s always happening! But I do what I can and I have learnt over the years to not beat up myself about what I missed. There is no way to cover everything about everybody. That’s why blogs like yours are out there. It’s a balance.

How do you keep content on your blog fresh and interesting?

Right now I am the only one writing on the blog,so the opinions are mine. So if there is a story that all media outlets have, mine would still be different because there’s a little piece of me in there. Most posts are short and to the point but I do highlight my writing skills in event reviews (search for reviews on the site) and interviews. In the interview section, I try to ask the artists interesting questions that one would not find in their bio, so asking Protoje if he would be in an open relationship or asking Nicky B to finish a sentence starting “When I see a girl I like” definitely makes it fresh and interesting!

What are some key ways that you use to promote your blog?

I promote my blog on Facebook, I also promote on Twitter(which I am growing to love BTW). I also try to tag my posts creatively so that whenever someone is searching for anything within the Caribbean entertainment realm, they are led to me.

How do you pick through content that is worthy to post on your blog?

There is a lot of information out there and sometimes its not all  correct or its very slanted. What I try to do is still use it, but in a way that I am comfortable with.  For example,when many media sites posted that Rihanna ‘found love’ with  the lead in her video, I mentioned it but I just pretty much stated that she’s just liming and having fun. I personally don’t think she was in ‘love’ and I don’t want to jump on the sensationalizing band wagon. Right now the Vybz Kartel story is the hottest thing in Reggae and I have covered it extensively but when news leaked that he made a comment from jail, I refused to post because I could not verify that. That may cost me a visit or a couple thousand, lol. But I refuse to write anything I cannot stand by and say yes, I got it from a credible enough source.  And in general I post what I like.

Who are you Vibin’ to right now ?

Musically I am really feeling Wretch 32, that British accent is just too dope. Alison Hinds “Explode” is definitely my song of the  moment. I like DJ mixes too especially Dagga Dagga from D’Bandit. And recently I was by Chinna Smith who introduced me to Salif Keita (YouTube him please) his voice is amazing! I generally listen to radio ZipFM in Jamaica, NRJ in Martinique and I switch between local radio stations in my native Dominica.