Today we’d like to introduce you to Bodine Victoria Johnson.
Hi Bodine, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m one of the lead female entertainers from The Bahamas with a focus on preserving and promoting Bahamian culture. I write my stage name as BodineVictoria to optimize SEO – one of the reasons why people can find me easily enough, but it’s also part of my branding and entertainment branding advice I offer recording artists after 20 years in the business. At this point in my career, I’ve managed to turn a childhood dream of singing into a long-standing career in music and entertainment and I am thankful.
If you watch my socials, they’re a snapshot of my real life, relatable and genuine – vulnerable to an extent. You see my wellness routine, home-cooked meals and restaurant visits; my intentional efforts at learning money, the business, and maintaining a social life. You see my love for the arts and culture, small, women-owned businesses, and more. You see an artist who takes up space in government offices, learning the business of Culture, education, and relevant laws, and my efforts to put myself in spaces where I can speak for us, the members of the Orange Economy.
The passion I have for Bahamian Culture and the desire to share and maintain it is who I am.
My foray into a music career started with Hip-Hop and then included Reggae. In 2008, I released visuals for Intoxicated, my Soca song fused with Bahamian Junkanoo, a subgenre I call ‘SocaNoo’ a term borrowed from Lady E whom I first heard say it. The song charted internationally. I became a regional name through the influence of Tempo Television and later partnerships with the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited.
From there, I’ve built a brand of fun Bahamian music for international consumption. My music has won placements in National Awards ceremonies like Music Masters (Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival 2015) and The Bahamian Ting Song Competition (similar to Soca Monarch in Trinidad and Tobago). One of the moments I appreciate most in my career is when my song “Good Feelings” was featured as the performance music of the Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans halftime shows in 2017.
In 2022, I performed for the Miami Heat training camp while they were in The Bahamas, and multiple national festivals, and in 2023, I continued performances with South Carolina Carnival and for the Bahamas’ 50th Anniversary Celebration events.
I think some of my biggest accomplishments come from a pandemic business. I started cooking and sharing Bahamian recipes on YouTube through my show, “BodinePot” and people the world over use these step-by-step recipes to learn how to make Bahamian dishes no matter where they are in the world.
A lot of people have Bahamian heritage but haven’t been taught our traditional food practices so they end up left out of so many things. Fusing my food and my music gives them the best of both worlds. Sometimes I don’t know where people know me from until they walk up and say, “You saved Christmas morning with that Stew Fish recipe, thank you so much!” or, when they say, “Gyal ya carry on bad at that concert aye? My son can’t stop singing, ‘You better pay the maintenance fee’. It’s such a good feeling when your art connects in so many ways.
I’m a published home cook, with recipes featured in the Showman Family cookbook and I’ve done work with the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation with storytelling through food. If you want to find my recipes and cook with me step by step, you can watch my YouTube channel, BodinePot. I guarantee you’ll find something you like.
Right now, I’m grateful for the way my brand is expanding, allowing me to touch so many avenues in meaningful ways.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has not been smooth. Opportunities for performing locally and internationally require so much intention and marketing.
That requires money and at one stage in my career I thought about giving up and I almost did. There’s a point in developing a small business where you’re in the red all the time and you don’t see a profit. Music and entertainment can be like that. Being disciplined has been my saving grace, especially in times when I’m not inspired or when the rejections come in faster than I can process the ‘no’.
Making culturally relevant and internationally consumable music and art comes with the knowledge that what you create isn’t for everyone and if you’re not acquainted with rejection, you may just want to give up. I’ve learned that being intentional and maintaining a consistently authentic message makes even the most challenging times bearable. They only last so long.
What I’ve learned is to create a balance between authenticity, art, and commerce. Treat each piece of art, music, and content like a product and write a marketing plan for it. When you do that, you’re better able to appreciate the expenditure versus the return on the investment in the piece and you make better decisions on how you present this to the world and which audience it’s for. I’ve also learned to network because we need one another. Sharing the connections with like-minded individuals from a sincere place has always worked in my favor and I’ve been mentioned in rooms I have not physically accessed because of it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an entertainer. I say that because my primary art form is music. I’m a singer/songwriter from The Bahamas who performs Afrobeats, Hip-Hop, Reggae, and Jazz Fusions fused with Bahamian music genres Junkanoo and Rake n Scrape.
I’m also an actress; my first theatre performance was with James Catalyn and Friends. My small screen debut happened with Travolta Cooper as a mysterious woman named “Rovel” in his series, “Where in the World is Wally”.
I host as well. I’ve hosted “Fabulous Living, Bahamian Style” a travel and lifestyle series on ZNS – the national broadcast system of The Bahamas. I’ve hosted radio for almost 20 years, holding interviews with over 400 Bahamian artists over that period.
Those platforms have afforded me a level of influence. I work with corporate brands like Commonwealth Brewery Limited, The Small Business Development Center, Atlantis Local, CG Atlantic, and various government ministries and I’m the current brand ambassador for the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Limited (BTC) and that’s not all.
I walk a clear line that allows me to move into so many spaces as a singer, host creative asset, and consultant. My music has been licensed by local and regional companies and I’m called on for any major national event because I’m trusted to be professional, able to speak fluently and articulately, manage an audience whether live or online and I am cool under pressure. The equity in my reputation and character is what I’m most proud of.
The thing that sets me apart from others is that I’m so versatile. I can be called for diplomatic events, national celebrations, corporate get-togethers, intimate community activities, and inspirational messages. I’ve managed to develop a brand that’s unique but flexible, I touch almost every part of art and society, and I make it my job to share how things should be done with others.
So maybe we end by discussing what matters most to you and why.
Now, legacy matters. I am most concerned with ensuring that artists have the knowledge, skills, and access to opportunities, grants, funding, and more. I’ve actively attended workshops on Intellectual Property, and present concerns to my colleagues at the Creative Industry Tourism Council for action.
What I want to see is more educated creatives who use their talents for growth and development, but who are also financially secure into retirement age. I know it doesn’t sound exciting but knowing that life happens and the Arts tend to be an important but severely underfunded area, empowering young artists and helping course-correct the missteps of our artists who put their lives into this work.
Careers in the Arts and Entertainment for artists in small developing countries should be able to afford sustainable livelihoods for the lifespan of the artist and beyond.
When I’m inspired to, I post motivational talks on my Instagram feed about being an artist, how to navigate the emotions you feel when going through some of the rites of passage in the business, and enjoying the journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bodinevictoria.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodinevictoria
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bodinevictoria
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bodinevictoria/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/bodinevictoria
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/bodinevictoria
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bodinevictoria?_t=8hkIVHNtRLi&_r=1
Image Credits
Scharad Lightbourne, Sherard Campbell, Farreno Ferguson, The Bahamas House of Parliament, and SBDC
