Soca music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Soca is a dance music which is claimed to have originated in Trinidad from calypso. It is not, as is often said, a fusion of soul and Calypso. It combines the melodic lilting sound of Calypso (based on the original Steel Pan) with an insistent percussion. Soca music has been revolutionized in the last 20 years primarily by Trinidad, Guyana Barbados, Jamaica, and a few islands in the lesser antillies such as Aruba.
The reputed father of Soca was Lord Shorty (né Garfield Blackman), whose 1963 recording of "Cloak and Dagger" started the trend. It would be Lord Kitchener who would begin the noticable and accredited transition and Byron Lee and the Draggoniers which made soca a West Indian social wave, but the Baha men in the 21st century that brought it to American recognition.
Like calypso, soca was used for both social commentary and risqué humor, though the initial wave of soca acts eschewed the former. Lord Shorty was disillusioned with the genre by the 1980s because soca was being used to express courtships and sexual interests. Like all things related to sexual freedom it became embrassed because of its ability to reflect what people were thinking and their desires in a society was was sexually repressed. Soca music became an expression of sexuality through metaphors in the West Indies. Soon after, Shorty moved to the Piparo forest, converted to the Rastafari movement and changed his name to Ras Shorty I. There, he created a fusion of Reggae and gospel music called jamoo in the late 1980s.
Some of the greatest soca artists of all time are Shadow, Mighty Sparrow, Krosfyah, Byron Lee & the Dragonaires and more recently artists such as Alison Hinds, Machel Montano, Destra Garcia, Shurwayne Winchester, Denise Belfon and Maximus Dan.
Some soca songs which have become hits:
- "Hot Hot Hot" - Buster Poindexter (originally recorded by Arrow)
- "Follow the leader" - Soca Boys (originally recorded by Nigel and Marvin Lewis), a more recent version by S.B.S.
- "Who Let the Dogs Out" - Baha Men (originally recorded by Anslem Douglas)
- "Sweet Soca Music" - Sugar Daddy
- "Turn Me On" - Kevin Lyttle
- "Tempted to Touch" - Rupee
- "We Not Givin' Up" - Machel Montano and Xtatik
Soca music has evolved like all other music over the years, with Calypsonians experimenting with other rhythms, some examples are:
- Rapso : trinidad dialect rap with smooth calypso melody and bold lyric
- Chutney-soca: A fusion of traditional Indian percussion and style of singing and Calypso; Tempo usually around 154 BPM
- Ragga Soca: A fusion of Jamaican Dancehall and Trinidad's Soca
and the original soca which is an uptempo calypso beat with moderate bass and electric instruments.
Soca is not currently influencing anything in the West due to its newness as a household thing in the west. However Soca has been experiemented with in Bollywood films, Bhangra and new Punjabi pop.
The nickname of the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, the Soca Warriors, refers to this musical genre.
