Nicole Neret: A true princess lover

By Ardine IsmaSpecial to CSMS MagazineCalling it Zouk or Dancehall music makes no difference for young people in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana. Whether you’re driving in the streets of Miami, listening to a Caribbean station in Paris, or watching the latest zouk music video on your local Caribbean TV. Station, the presence of zouk and dancehall is overwhelming. And when it comes to Princess Lover, she has taken the zouk music world to a new level by combining dancehall music and zouk together, which makes her the dancehall zouk queen.            Nicole Neret also known as “ Princess Lover” was born in Martinique but raised in Paris. At a young age, she went to a school in Paris named The school of Alice Dona, a performing art school in order to enhance her singing and dancing talents. It was also there she met with many top French music labels, including the one that launched her first two hit singles.            At the age of fourteen, she went under the name Princess in order to coil with her brother Master MX, who was a dancehall artist at the time. Then in 1998, with her incredible vocal talent, she was able to score appearances on zouk and dancehall compilation albums, which were in high popularity in the Caribbean music charts.            In 2002 after her tremendous success in the duet “ I know” with Perle Lama off the Duo of the sun compilation CD, she managed to have her first solo album deal under Section Zouk records. In her first solo album Princess to coil just part of me part 1 featured some of the biggest stars in zouk such as Sonia Dersion, Jocelyne Labylle, Ali Angel and her brother Master MX. The album generated so much success that it sold more than 70,000 copies worldwide.            Today Princess Lover is under a new management called Lickshot Entertainment, which also manages other dancehall and zouk artists. With the new management, she is able to have a new form of popularity from fans all over Africa, Europe, and Asia and with the expected release of her second album in the fall. There is no doubt on the fans’s minds that Princess Lover will still maintain her dancehall/zouk style for many generations of Caribbean music to come.Ardine Isma is senior at Sheridan Hills High. She wrote this article exclusively for CSMS Magazine.