Tanya Stephens: "I'm not really a singer, I just happen to sing my lyrics!"

Tanya, welcome to Belgium. Who is your father, who is your mother? Tanya Stephens: "Unfortunately I never got to meet my father. He died when I was one. But I heard only good things about him. He was responsible for road construction at parish level. He was a superintendent at his branch. And my mother used to work in the community health system, going from door to door to teach people how to take care of their babies and so on. She's retired now. I got my sense of humor from her. She's really played a big role in the upbringing of my niece and daughter."

So that's where you came from, carrying the best of both or their personalities. So what was your school career like? Tanya Stephens: "I took a break from school after high school. In Jamaica you have to go to college to get a degree, so I have a certificate from high school.  Instead I got a really interesting education in the dance hall. It really served a lot of purposes. I would tell kids now to go to school as long as they possibly can, but for me this really worked. Dancehall was my college. I do have a huge interest in the social sciences though, and especially working with at-risk kids in Jamaica is my passion. However, my work schedule does not allow me to get so heavily involved with that at the moment. But I'm doing hands-on work anyway."

From 'Rebelution' onwards you have taken on some more serious topics in your songs, and I'd like to single out a few. One would be religion. I know you're self-identifying as an atheist, but you are wearing a nice cross on your t-shirt this evening. Tanya Stephens: "I think the cross is really cool. I don't know if what it stands for is cool. I don't believe in "handing over" symbols or colors to any special group. It's true I'm an atheist but sometimes it appears as if I'm really militant. It's just because religious people want to convince everyone else, so I do sometimes take a more firm position in discussions related to that. But for me it's no problem that you believe and I don't. We could perfectly sit at this table in peace."

How do you feel about Rastafari? Tanya Stephens: "Rastafari was necessary, especially when it came about, when it became popular. I would say especially for places like Jamaica, because we had one way of thinking and Rastafari introduced an alternative which of course created a space for people like me to exist even though I myself don't subscribe to that. But in the freedom of religion lies the freedom from religion. So it creates a space for me too. And I respect Rastafari because they have many good principles, like living off the land, eating Ital and so on. But for me being a vegetarian is hard; sometimes I am one, sometimes I am not. In any case, tonight I'm eating the lovely food from Mama Suzie's kitchen."

You like to make your own choices. That is a good thing. Do you also believe in collective responsibility in society? Tanya Stephens: "Yes, I believe that it begins with heightening awareness in the individual. If there is any God, it has to be us together. I don't believe in segregated groups."

How do you think it is possible then that a democratically elected government does not respect all of its citizen's rights, as we currently observe in Jamaica with the gay community? Tanya Stephens: "I think it's irresponsible that somebody who is supposed to be employed by the people to represent the people to work on behalf of the people separates the people into different groups and identifies with a particular group and by doing so disenfranchises all the others. I think that's not right. All of us have a responsibility to get up and object to that. It doesn't have to be you who is affected personally. I mean, the aggression and the violence against gay people is very real. It's going to take education; I mean re-socialization in terms of safe sex, human rights and so on, in order to make us aware of our extended environment. And the Jamaican diaspora has a big influence here, they're the ones that are sending home Western Union (money transfers, red.). Even though they may co-exist peacefully with the gay community in San Francisco, with the money they're sending home come instructions: "Do not let the batty-bwoy dem take over di island!". So they have a big responsibility too."

Something else: what comes first for you, music or lyrics? Tanya Stephens: "Lyrics! It started in literature class. You see, I'm not really a singer, I just happen to sing my lyrics. I'm a nerd when it comes to literature. I love poetry which started with limericks. But now I like writing fairly long pieces of poetry, I've actually written quite a collection by now. In a song you only have three minutes, a poem can take longer and you don't have to comply with formal rules like a chorus. Whenever I can I engage in poetry, whether it is writing or reading it."

Do you like dub poetry? Tanya Stephens: "Yasus Afari started a literary fest in Jamaica. I really like the idea that he's doing that. He brought it to Kingston now. I try to share and tell people about it. We need to promote those festivals much more, make literature cool again so that people start reading again."

Finally Tanya, you previously released some of your work for free. Why is that? Tanya Stephens: "Yes, the previous album 'Infallible' was a free download. I don't think it's bad for business. It was the height of the recession and people had no cash to spend. It was kind of like a present for my fans, saying: "you've been so good to me!". People loved it and we had so many downloads. For me it's great. And my current album 'Guilty', which first came out on Sanctum Entertainment, is really the result of a co-operation, no corporate people involved. We all just love the music and we took our time. If the Belgian fans want to stay in contact, they can always join my page on Facebook, called "Fans of Tanya Stephens".

I'm a member already. Many thanks!