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Onika in Nicaragua - photo bluefieldspulse Click here for more photos
of
Onika and the band in Nicaragua photos
Song in the background
is Onika's #1 hit for 2005, "All Is Your"
In
Loving Memory Of Onika Bostic
Gregory A. Lewin
glewin@bluefieldspulse.com
To All Nicaraguan Posse! As Onika would say it!
Dec-20-04-It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I
must inform you that Onika is no longer with us. She died Sunday night
December 19 at 9:30PM. Onika’s birthday is this Thursday, December 23.
She would have been 25 years old.
I never missed a Burning Flames concert. When I had
the opportunity to meet Onika for the very first time, I was elated. It
was an honor. Onika was smart and talented. She was one of Soca best
artist; yet she was a very low key and down to earth human being. I fell
in love with the person that Onika was the very first time we spoke. It
was on Miami Beach October 10, 2004 where the group was performing in the
Miami Carnival.
My being on Miami Beach on October 10 was to brief
the group on the trip they would make on October 14, 2004 to put on the
very first Soca show ever in Nicaragua.
She was very curious yet excited about the whole
thing, a sign that all would go well. And it did. We spoke for a while
before she moved on stage to perform. And as usual, she was Onika–a
crowd favorite, nice, charming, beautiful and sweet.
Onika’s performance in Nicaragua was no different
from the many others she had done all over the world. She was full of
energy and glory. Buried forever in our mind is her favorite saying
“Nicaragua Posse”. For those who attended the show, I know you have
engraved in you an icon, a legend in her time, a person full of love and
care for others.
She was funny too. In the latter part of the show,
Oungku started saying, “ We got to go now.” Onika whispered to me and
said jokingly, “I hate when he does that.”
I ask why and she said, “Because he is just about
to start playing now,” and we both laughed.
Onika and the band wanted to know Bluefields after
they met the young ladies and the other creoles at the show. Sadly, Onika
will not get to see the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. Plans were already
in the works for Burning Flames to rock Bluefields early 2005.
I will always remember Onika on the day of departure
from Managua International Airport. Steve, Austin, and I were singing
“Bust A nut” and “Strings”, two of Burning Flames new hit songs.
She turned toward us and laughed. She said, “You guys are crazy, how
come you know these songs already and we just put them out.” I could not
have thought that this would be the last time that I would see Onika alive
in the flesh.
The tragic accident took Onika’s life just when she
was on the top of her career. Two of her latest release, which was sure to
crown her Soca Queen of 2005, have become number one hits in Trinidad.
“Mash It Up” and “All Is Yours” have taken the island by storm.
Sadly it was on her way to a second performance to perform the hit songs
that tragic night when her car flipped, and subsequently caused her death.
I will always love and keep Onika present in my
heart. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to meet someone as nice
as she was.
I believe Nicaragua was the last International show
for the year for Onika and the Burning Flames band. Our heart felt
condolences go out to the rest of the band.
Onika, on behalf of the Nicaraguan posse, we will
cherish the time you spent with us and WE WILL LOVE YOU FOR EVER!
You may send your thoughts to onika@bluefieldspulse.com
and I will deliver them.
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