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'''Soca''' is a style of music from [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian [[calypso music|calypso]], through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music in the United States and Caribbean – ([[Soul music|soul]], [[funk]], [[disco]], [[electric blues]], [[hip hop]] and [[rap]], and [[zouk]] from the French Caribbean islands of [[Martinique]] & [[Guadeloupe]], as well as [[reggae]] (specifically from [[deejaying]], known as ''toasting'' in Jamaica in the 1970s), and the more melodic form of modern Jamaican [[dancehall]]. Strong elements are also taken from the rhythms of [[chutney music]], which is popular music originated in Trinidad and Tobago's large minority Asian Indians (around 40% of the total population). Soca was originally nothing more complicated than a combination of the melodic and rhythmic lilting sound of calypso and insistent [[kadans|cadence]] percussion (which is often electronic in recent music), and the East Indian rhythms of chutney music.
'''Soca''' is a style of music from [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian [[calypso music|calypso]], through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music.

Soca music is also popular in [[Puerto Rico]], [[Panama]], [[Costa Rica]], and the [[Dominican Republic]].


The nickname of the [[Trinidad and Tobago national football team]], the ''[[Soca Warriors]]'', is a reference to this musical genre.
The nickname of the [[Trinidad and Tobago national football team]], the ''[[Soca Warriors]]'', is a reference to this musical genre.

Revision as of 18:14, 17 October 2011

Soca
Stylistic originsCalypso - Indian music - Cadence
Cultural originsEarly 1970s, Trinidad and Tobago
Typical instrumentsBass - drums - guitar - vocals - trumpet - trombone - drum machine
Derivative formschutney music
Fusion genres
Chutney soca - Rapso - Kuduro
Other topics
Music of Trinidad and Tobago - TEMPO Networks Flagz Radio

Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music.

The nickname of the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, the Soca Warriors, is a reference to this musical genre.

Prominent broadcasters of soca music include TEMPO Networks & Flagz Radio.

Origins

Soca is said to have been created in 1963 (see 1963 in music) by Ras Shorty I's "Clock and Dagger" from calypso music. Shorty added Indian instruments, including the dholak, tabla and dhantal. A prolific musician, composer and innovator, Shorty experimented with fusing calypso and the East Indian rhythms of chutney music for nearly a decade before unleashing "the soul of calypso,"...soca music. Shorty had been in Dominica during an Exile One performance of cadence-lypso, and collaborated with Dominica's 1969 Calypso King, Lord Tokyo and two calypso lyricists, Chris Seraphine and Pat Aaron in the early 1970s , who wrote him some creole lyrics. Soon after Shorty released a song, "Ou Petit", with words like "Ou dee moin ou petit Shorty" (meaning "you told me you are small Shorty"), a combination of calypso, cadence and kwéyòl. Soca reached its modern form by the early 1970s under the influence of American soul, disco and funk music, which reached Trinidadian artists when they began recording in New York City; by this time, most of the Indian-derived elements had been removed from the genre. Shorty's 1974 Endless Vibrations and Soul of Calypso brought soca to its peak of international fame.

History Misconception

Many people think that soca music was created by the blending of calypso and soul music. Many people believe this misconception because it is stated that Lord Shorty called soca "soul calypso". What Lord Shorty meant to say [citation needed] was that soca was the "soul of calypso", but to make it short he called it "soca", which blends the first two letters of "SOul" and "CAlypso". Soca music evolved from a fusion of calypso, cadence, and Indian instruments. (dhantal, tabla, etc)

Soca music has evolved like all other music over the years, with calypsonians experimenting with other caribbean rhythms.

some examples are the following:

  1. Rapso : Eastern Caribbean dialect hip-hop with smooth calypso melody and bold lyrics
  2. Chutney Soca: Original Soca performed with a more Chutney styled form; mainly performed by Chutney musicians
  3. Ragga Soca: A fusion of Jamaican Dancehall and Soca (Chutney music replaced with Dancehall music) so it is Dancehall and Contemporary Calypso, which is an uptempo Calypso beat with moderate bass and electronic instruments. A Trinidadian form of performing Dancehall Reggae.
  4. Parang Soca: A combination of Calypso, Soca, and Latino music. Parang originated in Trinidad and is most often sung in Spanish.
  5. Steelband-Soca: Steel Pans are types of drum often used in Soca and Calypso music; it became so popular that it became its own musical genre—Steelband. The steel pans are hand-made, bowl-like, metal drums that are crafted so that different sections of the drum produce different notes when struck. Steelbands are groups of musicians who play songs entirely on steel drums. There are many different types of steel pans, each with its own unique set of pitches.
  6. Bouyon Soca is a style of Soca music from Dominica and Saint Lucia. It uses more prominent elements of Bouyon music.
  7. Rockso: a futuristic-sounding, North America- and Trinidad-based 'mutant' style of calypso. It recontextualizes elements of calypso instrumentation, with a heavy focus on a wide range of lyrical 'flows' (delivery) and topics, various song structures, bass-heavy drum patterns, quirky sound effects, and an urban music sensibility. Unlike soca, its exponents gear it less for seasonal competition and more for general, year-round play, while promoting such calypso standbys as 'extempo' (lyrical freestyling).
  8. Groovy Soca is the name of a growing style focusing on melody in soca, partly due to criticism of soca's ubiquitous 'jump and wave'-only lyrical and musical content. It features sensual vocals over mid-tempo soca rhythms, and very often, elements of ragga soca.

Soca has also been experimented with in Bollywood films, Bhangra, and new Punjabi pop, as well as Disco music in the United States.

Instrumentation

Soca music is based on a strong rhythmic section done by a drum set. Like many other styles of music, today many Soca drum sections are recorded using synthesized drum sounds and then sequenced inside computers, however, for live shows, the live human drummer emulates the recorded version and often triggers the same sound samples via advanced technological configuration (like MIDI). The drum and percussion is often loud in this genre of music and is sometimes the only instrument to back up the vocal. Soca is indeed defined by its loud fast percussion beats. Synthesizers are used often in modern soca and have replaced the once typical horn section at 'smaller' shows . Electric and bass guitars are found very often and are always found in a live soca band. A horn section is found occasionally in live soca bands mostly for the 'bigger' shows. It usually consist of two trumpets and a trombone with saxophones being part of the section from time to time.

While the Trinidad-born steel drum is known as the official instrument of the Caribbean, its waning presence in soca music, along with its coopting by other nations, has many soca and calypso purists concerned, and has prompted an occasional presence in the music, particularly in the slowed-down, melodic Groovy Soca and production-focused Rockso genres.

Hit songs

Some soca songs that have become worldwide hits:

Some R&B, hip-hop and pop songs said to have been heavily influenced by calypso include:

In media

  • Television - Soca music videos are played on a several television channels including CaribVision, Centric, Synergy TV, and Tempo TV
  • Radio Stations dedicated to Soca Music - Flagz Radio - Plays Soca Music with no talk 24hours a day 365 days a year - Playing music from all the islands and countries
  • Video Games- Soca music game is available to play for free on Facebook's Platform. The game is Called Jamtap and features many soca as well as reggae songs. http://jamtapgame.com

See also

References

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