tell me about Soca

it's hot hot hot

don't scratch my soca

Short for Soul Calypso. But actually has much faster, less subtle beat than traditional calypso.

It's a carnival music, so generally aimed at making wasted crowds dance a little bit more. When you start listening, annoying brass stabs and melodies sound horribly cliched, but persevere and you will learn to love. Also theres a dancehall reggae / ragga influence creeping in that makes things interesting.

Search :

Chutney Soca : which grafts indian wedding songs, sitars, harmoniums, indian melodies and bhangra / bollywood moves onto straight soca.

Square One : Ragga influenced soca.

Kindred : "aghen again" . Personal favourite, a minimal bass heavy track.

Machel & xtatic : "Big Truck" ... kind of fun!

Dady Devo : "Trini Slam"

My soca favourites include the Mighty Gabby, the Mighty Grina (Get Out De Way might be my favourite), David Rudder (especially Madness), Tambu (Free Up) and the Mighty Sparrow. Note that not all Mighty acts are soca, viz Wah, Diamonds, Bosstones, Mighty, Lemon Drops, Clouds Of Joy, etc.