Behind Nadine Sutherland’s dreamy lavender ‘Pass the Mic’ look
Published:Friday | March 4, 2022 | 12:06 AMSade Gardner/Staff Reporter
The performances weren’t the only thing that dominated conversations around DJ Cassidy’s Saturday night reggae-dancehall ‘Pass the Mic’ showcase. Singer Nadine Sutherland also stunned in an ensemble comprising a lavender tube top adorned with feather boas, glamorous blue diamond earrings, and her signature braids, diversified with blond and brown highlights.
Speaking to The Gleaner, Sutherland said she immediately contacted her stylist Neko ‘Bootleg Rocstar’ Kelly when she confirmed that she’d be performing her hit single Action alongside Terror Fabulous on the show.
“It was the after-party for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) Image Awards, so you know the viewership would have been ‘tun up’ so I got pretty excited, and Neko was excited too,” she said. “He came with the idea for the clothes, and initially I was like, Neko, I don’t even know. Sometimes we go back and forth because he is the edgy, fashion person, and I can be a little bit modest, and if you know me, I’m sometimes even a little bit shy.”
REGGAE ICON
She decided to seek the opinion of her two nieces, and they were sold.
Kelly’s vision centred around his regard for Sutherland’s legacy.
“Nadine is an icon to our culture, country and just to reggae music overall,” he shared. “The idea of icons and people being iconic in dancehall or in reggae is a very old image … Even though she’s been around for a while and is an older woman, she doesn’t have to look like what the stereotypical reggae icon is. I really wanted her to look young, fresh and hip without being too vulgar.”
Fashion designer Kadian Nicely is behind the lavender creation, which was made complete with trousers.
“I love pastels on Nadine’s skin, and I felt like pastel will be a huge thing for spring, so I really wanted that,” Kelly explained. “Most importantly, ‘Pass The Mic’ mostly shoots upper body as they’re sitting down, so I wanted something that could have been so statement in her performance where she didn’t have to show her entire outfit, and I felt like just the texture, function and the movement of a feather top would have been epic and dope. I figured they would have had a colourful background since it was a reggae-dancehall kind of segment, so I wanted to tone it down a little bit with her looking very soft and subtle among all those colours.”
To disrupt the monotone, he incorporated the pale blue earrings and light blue heels “to make her pop a bit more”.
Cathy Stephenson did her glamorous make-up, and Sutherland’s long-time hairstylist, Lavern, from Monique’s Beauty Home, did her braids. Kelly suggested the highlights.
“She’s just used to doing the regular, one-colour braids, and I said do some highlights to make it a little more interesting than the usual. I felt like for such an iconic song, she needs to look like her iconic self, which is the braids. Once you see Nadine in braids, you know that’s Nadine Sutherland, so that was a really good call.”
Sutherland and Kelly started working together in 2016 after being introduced by singer Tanya Stephens. They sometimes have creative differences, but they make a hell of a team.
“There’s this saying that people don’t smell their perfumes when they have it on, and I don’t think she understands how she looks outside of herself to other people and how important she is,” Kelly said.
“She’s very humble and modest, and sometimes that will spill over into wanting to be being subtle. I’m like ‘No Nadine, you are Nadine Sutherland, you should look a certain way’, so, I have to really sometimes go on a bidding and negotiating war with her to wear certain stuff, and once she wears it and sees the photos, it’s all good from there.”
It’s been a learning experience for Sutherland, who admitted that she’s learning that terms like “the make-up artist beat up yuh face” is a compliment. Nonetheless, she’s enjoying working with young people.
“I’ve seen Neko grow into this incredible figure, and I’m so proud of him.”