Talk:Soca music

These are my definition of Soca and Calypso
Soca - Soul Calypso( the soul of our African ancestors mixed with the social commentaries of our situation in the Caribbean}. Calypso - Political or social commentary told in a song.

CP.

Eddy Grant made an album called 'Soca Baptist' and claimed in the sleevenotes to have invented the genre. Can anyone explain this to me? Mighty Sparrow is calypso in my book.

NT

There is a recursive defination used. Chutney is based on Soca and Soca is based on Chutney, that does not make sense.

Chirags 23:42, 2 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Recursive, but true. :) Guettarda 02:58, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree. For example, you have songs like "Brotherhood of the Boat" by Brother Mavin which is very Soca-sounding but then has lines where it has Indian influence. But now you have song like [Jep Sting] or [Come Beta]. These have have swung even farther back towards the Eastern Indian music genre. I think one key thing to remember is from my observation Soca undergoes shifts in its sound every 1-2 years. I'd say there's fundamentally some songs every 1-2 years that cause a Paradigm shift. One of the songs I think created a very large paradigm shift that always comes to my mind was Tallpree who brought the whole Jab Jab rhythm more intensely into Soca. With the song about "the Grave, the jail, or the Hospital". That whole Jab Jab rhythm, has a common characteristic of having more driving beat and in the background a sort of pronounced "toottoot-toot---" sound. (Example: ( Badder Than Everybody or Pipe). You can hear it in the first song beginning at roughly 20 seconds into the song, while the second example is 12 seconds into the track. But in both you can hear the horns and driving beat which is the Jab-Jab style riddim. CaribDigita (talk) 15:43, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Soca vs. Soul and Calypso
Soca is not soul and calypso. That fact should be corrected.
 * The article explicitly agrees with you. What would you like corrected? Tuf-Kat 08:12, 13 January 2006 (UTC)


 * I think it may be useful to address this misconception in the article itself. Based on how http://caribplanet.homestead.com/101_Soca.html presented this, perhaps following the Soca Warriors reference this paragraph (or something like it) could be added: "There is a popular misconception that soca is a fusion of American soul music and traditional calypso. Hence the name "so-ca," soul/calypso. Though this sounds plausible, this interpretation is not correct." Skisby

Soca vs. Chutney
Soca is NOT derived from Chutney. Soca is based upon the roots of Calypso. Chutney is an fusion of Soca and Hindi or Indian music. Chutney was created and mostly performed by those of indian descent(Indo-Trinidadians, Indo-Guyanese, etc).


 * Actually the then Lord Shorty blended Indian rhythms with kasio to give birth to soca. In addition, while soca had a large influence on chutney, chutney has also influenced soca. Guettarda 18:30, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Chutney
Music of India I changed it from "Calypso and music of India" to "Calypso and music of the Indias"...the indias are the caribbean islands, while India is the asian country...and it is Calypso+Chutney, where chutney is caribbean (though inspired in music from India, is not from India) I know chutney was originated by music of India+Caribbean music, but if you want to say a genre was inspired by music of India, it is chutney directly, not soca directly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AFOH (talk • contribs)


 * No, the origins of soca are not chutney, but actual Indian music. In addition, "music of the Indias" does not mean Caribbean music - it quite frankly doesn't mean anything in standard English.  Guettarda 01:27, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

My Two Cents(Sense)
In many ways, Soca is all of those things and more. It is "Soul Calypso"; Calypso infused with American Soul and Blues Music; it is also the fusion of Chutney (Chatné, according to some ) and Afro-Creole tribal-folk dance music (The Bongo, the Bélé and so on). Two other things that must be kept in mind when understanding the origins of Soca is (1) The influence of the other Caribbean Music-forms (2) The influence of New Recording Techniques and Electronic/ELectro-Acoustic Instruments on the Music of Soca —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ishango (talk • contribs).

um
"Trinidad and Tobago has been renowned for its magnificent carnivals,calypso and in this century's only musical invention: the steel pan."

the electric guitar was invented in this century, too. and the theremin. =/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.138.181.84 (talk) 02:13, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

The steel pan was the only non-electronic musical invention of the 20th century. Some people say "only invention" because they take it for granted that electronic instruments were invented in the 20th 190.213.145.92 (talk) 23:49, 29 December 2010 (UTC)

The Past & Present of Soca Music:
When Soca was first created in the '60s by Lord Shorty he mixed two (2) genres of the time. He mixed Calypso and Indian rhythms / Local Chutney music (songs of Sundar Popo). Which was actually the music blending African and Indian roots music. He called this new form of music "SOul CAlypso", but to make it short he called it SOCA.

A lot people are very confused and are thinking that the "Soul" in "Soul Calypso" came from Soul music in the "60s, but it wasn't. Lord Shorty just gave it the title of "Soul Calypso".

The meaning of Soca faded into the early '90s. Some artists were forgetting the actual meaning of Soca. The songs had the beat of Calypso in it but there was no Indian / Chutney rhythm in the songs. And currently, artists are blending Dancehall Reggae, American Soul/R&B, and even some elements of Hip Hop into Soca! The form of Soca of what the artists are calling it is "Ragga Soca" or sometimes just plain SOCA. Some artists are rapping, using "gangster-like" chattings, and sometimes even using cuss words in their songs.

I'm an Indo-Guyanese and I like the new things that are in the Soca music now (including Carnival songs), but the artists need to "bring back the Indian section of SOCA music", because that is what it was a part of.

If you can get chance listen to these few songs and compare it to Soca music of 2007. And try to identify the difference (if you have these songs):

1. "Gimme De Ting" - Lord Kitchener (1984) 2. "Om Shanti Om" - Lord Shorty (1980) 3. "Sugar Bum Bum" - Lord Kitchener (1978) 4. "Curry Tabanca" - Mighty Trini (1987) 5. "Nani Wine" - Crazy (1989) 6. "Sumintra" - Rikki Jai (1988) 7. "Buss Up Shot" - Baron (1985) 8. "Tiney Winey" - Byron Lee (1985 Jamaica) —Preceding unsigned comment added by DJ Rumshopmon (talk • contribs) 16:17, 27 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Some great comments here. I am myself a little dissapointed in this article.  In the past couple years in the Caribbean I have been listening to as much music as I can get my hands on, and the variety is tremendous.  Soca has certainly evolved a lot in a short span.  I certainly agree with the above editors mention of dance hall reggae influence in modern soca.  A lot of modern soca, especially in smaller caribbean nations is more and more relying on electronic music and beats and less on actual musicians.  This is almost a completely different music then soca of only a decade ago.  Some of todays Soca resembles its outside influences far more then it resembles its Calypso roots.  I would love to see this article greatly expanded to cover the variety of music labeled as Soca and greater detail put into its evolution and influences.  I am no soca scholar myself (and personally dislike modern soca, but love more traditional soca) I would love to be able to contribute but dont have the knowledge needed, I highly encourage people like the above editor to jump in and contribute to expand this article. Russeasby 00:13, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

WHAT IS SOCA?

Every Trini has the right to be proud of their country's contribution to calypso music, steel band and carnival!Ultimately, Trinidadians should also be proud of Soca. How did Soca come about is an entirely different question that simple common sense can answer based on a few facts (CSME oblige):Italic text 1. The late great Shorty was the first or among the very first to popularize a particular hit song as a "Soca": Fact! 2. That song contained lyrics in English and Creole: Fact! 3. The singer had prior to this stood in front of the then very popular Exile One band performing at a concert at Dominica's Fort Young Hotel: Fact! 4. That hit song does not have any traces of "soul" music or any "chutney", but is resolutely a combination of calypso and the Creole music created by Exile One called "Cadence-Lypso": Fact! These facts do not however deny another fact that Trinidad is the home of Soca and has been a major contributor to the development of the genre.


 * I would suggest the DVD documentary titled "Calypso @ Dirty Jim's Swizzle Club" ISBN: 1565805127 which talks about the history of Calypso and Trinidadian music as it changed from Kaiso and so on to Calypso and now Soca. It talks about the first calypso song which was about Conga Barra, who was an African in Trinidad that was jailed for singing a Kaiso asking for freedom for the slaves.  CaribDigita (talk) 21:30, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

"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 was embraced because of its ability to reflect the desires of a society that 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 (Jah music) in the late 1980s."

As far as I can tell, this whole thing needs to be reworked. Firstly, it doesn't make sense saying that "Lord Shorty" got dissatisfied with soca and THEN moved to Piparo. He either moved first, or changed his attitude first, and considering the type of music he made before, we need context for why he did that. Secondly, anyone who knows the Jamoo CDs that Ras made and the music that his children sing now will be aware of the fact that Ras, despite his name and his hairstyle, became a CHRISTIAN. Jamoo CDs sell in gospel stores, his music is about Jesus Christ, and he used to appear at gospel concerts. Why would Jamoo be part gospel if he was a Rasta? Thirdly, I think the small rant about sexual repression is NOT objective. Even if it is true, the way it appears in there it seems like Ras was part of the repression problem which is unacceptable. The man had his views and didn't force them on anyone. Fourthly, CALYPSO music was an expression of sexuality through metaphor long before soca even existed. Soca just updated that expression for the current generation. 190.213.145.92 (talk) 00:01, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

All true just saying thanks guys love my Trinidad and Tobago and my pan and soca Rawle 55 (talk) 00:21, 27 February 2018 (UTC)

A list of 24/7 soca music genre radio station.
Could we piece together a list of the 24/7 radio stations that play soca music?

In Boston we have:
 * (unknown) 99.7 FM (some soca)
 * Big City 101.3 FM
 * Choice 102.9 FM.
 * WAVE 103.7 FM (some soca)

NYC: I know WLIB is gone(long time) from New York City, so what else currently exists there for soca formatted radio? ] CaribDigita (talk) 00:41, 27 December 2009 (UTC)
 * One Caribbean Radio 97.9 HD2 [http://www.onecaribbeanradio.com/

Which is it?
from the Lord Shorty article: "Ou petit" (a calypso and cadence mix), which is considered the first recorded soca piece. and from the soca article: Soca is said to have been created in 1963 (see 1963 in music) by Ras Shorty I's "Clock and Dagger"  so which one is correct? --96.237.112.153 (talk) 07:02, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

A side note
This article is full of excellent information and was obviously written by those who love the genre, but the grammar and syntax is quite poor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2606:6000:6242:2800:A9FB:2B9D:BDD:2FBF (talk) 13:29, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Missing artists
Am missing Dutch/Surinam singer Lobo's 1982 hit single "Soca Calypso Party" as well as the international smash hit "Follow the Leader" from Suriname based The Soca Boys in 1998. 83.85.143.141 (talk) 20:33, 19 October 2016 (UTC)