where's d'scene? rolling soca, chutney, jab & other caribbean pop

I'm leaving the year off because Carnival season doesn't follow the regular calendar anyway and the last couple threads didn't quite justify dedicated annual threads--hopefully this one will get massively unwieldy and I'll regret it. Also making the thread remit open to basically any Caribbean pop music that isn't already covered in the dancehall and reggaeton&c. threads, though the emphasis will still likely be on Trinidadian music.

Kes's ode to Queen's Park Savannah, "Savannah Grass," seems like a great place to start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXXq4RBKhtc

Also enjoying the Tingin' riddim this afternoon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eazfwcqabpo

I desperately need a pre-season mix though, if anyone has any recs.

(repost) Just for the pleasure of having Bunji Garlin with spanish-style guitar again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzPJNUe5mkA

That's really nice, it has a Carnival Tabanca vibe to it.

Yeah, nice one. For the uninitiated (=me): who is the original “Carnival Tabanca” by? I see lots of songs (cover versions?) with that title.

Bunji, i think?

"Tabanca" as a concept is used a lot though - it's basically longing for something that has passed so in this context generally means post-carnival comedown.

yeah I meant the Bunji tune:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiYTfkvdtNg

one of my favorites

Soca Monarch semi-finalists are out btw:

http://www.looptt.com/content/soca-monarch-semi-finalists-named

I haven't gone through them properly yet (though in true Trini style, i haven't gotten around to listening to my Carnival 2018 compilation CDs yet, so it may be a while).

wow I don't think I know *any* of the Power finalists

I do know most of these finalists but it’s great to have the songs listed like this. Thanks!

Dumpa Truck goes HARD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqe3PYxmq8s

I think longneck might have posted this on the previous thread, but man I love Bunji's See Meh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLFnIPxjH-A

On Badang he's meta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lciBiSpQvQ4

^Olatunji and Machel are also great on that if you missed it earlier like I did

Speaking of Bunji Garlin, I really enjoyed this - as well, of course, as everything I've found lurking here for the last decade or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeGRongJI8k

that bangs! underpopulated rolling genre threads are a great way to de-lurk imo, just saying

haha, true dat

can't remember if I posted this on last year's thread, but I like this very much.

Juby - Look She Dey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXKo0qEBU0M

What can you lot tell me about Zouk and French-Antillian / French-Caribbean music? Is it still a thing? I remember Kassav' and Zouk Machine being on TV in France a lot as a kid

Ha I ate pancakes at Riley's in December! Great tune too.

Sadly I know rien about French-Caribbean music. fwiw, I think the stray tracks that have crossed my radar were all basically dancehall. LargeUp was never perfect but it definitely sucks there's no good source for general Caribbean music now

This power soca tag team development is worth noting:

Skinny, Machel, and Bunji / "Famalay"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD4lqYEwmiI

Erphaan, Nailah, and Sekon / "Brave"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwXoxYOqb9Y

The Juby is great. Loving the brass and the breakdown at the end. In heavy rotation now.

Some fresh jab from Slatta (or “Slätta”, as Spotify likes to call him, as a result of interference with a Danish band of that name). I had a wild musical fling with him last year, and he’s back!

Slatta • Unbothered:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmn5pPqY1ik

(this one makes me so so giddy)

Merzy ft. Slatta • Doh Fraid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-_Nu6ntsRc

(the instrumental track of this one is absolutely bonkers!)

The Cigar Puff Riddim has Slatta, but also this: Big Red • Typa Way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOHFSg-ApQU

As it happens, these are all produced by Xpert Productions, who also did Bunji’s “Wet” upthread.

In case it wasn’t abundantly clear yet: Jab is by far my favorite kind of soca.

Question: I say “jab”, because that’s how people call it here (I think), or is “jab jab” the (only) correct name for this genre?

I say Jab but I'm by no means an authority. think 'Jab jab' means devil which is the root term

Either is fine.

That’s settled then, cheers!

The Toco Loco Riddim (posted at the tail end of the previous thread) is a great way to start the day. Make the shower your carnival!

Jab MADNESS

'Pick up something - Run wid it!'

https://www.facebook.com/MrKilla/videos/2171317776455741/

This is Mr Killa - Run Wid It. I think it's mandatory to pick up something when this comes on

http://www.looptt.com/content/more-criticism-mr-killa-over-soca-monarch-win

Sour grapes re Grenada’s Mr Killa?

I like Mr. Killa from Grenada’s “ Run Wild it.” His speedy ennuncation and the percussive rhythms. He’s gonna be in DC Sunday.

http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/238717/killa-slays-iwer-ism-crown-goes-grenada

Listening to David Rudder’s Catharsis album from a few years back. I like his lilting melodies, socio-political lyrics, and rhythms that aren’t quite as fast-tempoed as most soca hits

https://newsday.co.tt/2019/02/08/wheres-the-lyrical-artistry-in-soca/

Rudder, a singer/songwriter who won the Calypso Monarch and Road March titles in 1986, answered first.

Each generation reflects where we are in society, he said. Recalling that he had come up as a calypsonian in the tradition of Zandolie and Kitchener, the “Lyrics Man” said working with 2016-18 Soca Monarch Voice showed him that young writers see rhyme and lyrics differently from the older generation of calypsonians. He and Voice have a 2019 release called Madness....

...Calypso emerged from the songs of enslaved Africans in Trinidad and came of age in the poor, black, urban jamette culture of the early 20th century. Its anodyne lyrics often disguised subversive or vulgar double meanings.

There is no need to disguise such meanings any more, Rudder said. “It’s not by chance. It’s a very raw time.”

70-something Calypso Rose from T & T is performing in NYC tonight. Wish she’d come farther south to my locale

xp my Chutney-loving mate made the case for parallels between that style and country music. so many songs about break ups and alcohol abuse

Maybe so

From Martinique (and from 2016, but new to me, so yeah):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuFnsdjtCeU

M.O.B • KoKoLeCheL

This is from this year, slightly different title, completely different track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAgu-Bj-dtk

M.O.B • KoKéLécheL

(Spotify has them as by “Mob” and “M O B” respectively, but it’s the same guy)

https://www.okayafrica.com/how-afrobeats-global-rise-is-changing-carnival-rigid-genre-conventions-soca/

Interesting stuff. How come nobody ever told me about that Jamaican ”Mad Over You” rip?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUCTrcSGvsU
Ding Dong • Lebeh Lebeh

(sure, it belongs on the dancehall thread, but since everybody’s mashing things up anyway...)

Lebeh Lebeh is cute, but it's always bugged me that it cuts some of the best bits of "Mad over You" (which I adore)

breastcrawl, have you checked out the Walshy Fire album? I haven't gotten around to it yet myself but it's all stuff like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdCmVgPVT_Y

Mad Over You always reminds me of just how much I love music.

rob, I listened to the Walshy Fire album, several times in fact. I’m not too crazy about the Alkaline/Runtown track you posted, I like second single “Call Me” with Eazi and Kranium much better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsUlpNgvgvs

The dancehall-leaning tracks don’t do too much for me (a bit stodgy and waaaay too much Ice Prince - they must be very good friends). The fun is in the lighter tracks, notably “Outside” (Adekunle Gold/Nailah Blackman) (is this afrosocapop?) and “Amazing” (Timeka Marshall/Stonebwoy) with its wonderful steel drum coda, my favourite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?dWy7lxVK30Y

“Amazing”, again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWy7lxVK30Y

Afro-Caribbean collaborations that are at least as interesting:

How about some “palm whine à la bamba”? https://youtu.be/QNb0WlPe73Y

Juls ft. Agent Sasco • Slow Down

And this reggaeton bombshell, produced by Legendury Beatz: https://youtu.be/HcwEyLhwL54

J Balvin & Bad Bunny ft. Mr Eazi • Como Un Bebé

Reposting this from the Rolling Dancehall & Reggae thread, where vcrash posted it yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6-tSYzqnXI
Bush Tea • Wiyah Waist

(She’s from the Virgin Islands)

has anybody had a chance to hear this soundway comp ?

Body Beat: Soca​-​Dub and Electronic Calypso (1979​-​98)

curious to hear a perspective from ilxors who have been keeping tabs on contemporary soca

sounds good on a quick spin. what would you call the high points on that collection?

yeah it's quite good. i mean, it's got very little to do with current soca sounds, but it's entertaining as a time-capsule in the way a lot of outernational music compilations can be. there's some nice crossover with funk and house music. well worth a spin

Not really listened enough times to pick faves.

Quite like D'Jab Jab Dance (Bad Lad Mix) which is the aforementioned housey tune

yeah, i haven't spent enough time with the comp to pick a favorite, nor do i feel qualified to point out the high points. that's why i posted here. you tell me !!

Fucking love that “D’Jab Jab Dance” track, but then it seems I’m genetically predisposed to like anything jab.

Case in point: two new (and very different) tracks from/with my to-go-to jab guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk6CVVyfYzo
Xpert Productions ft. Slatta • Wukking High

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcnpykSJ0Ac
Slatta • Bwa Neg Mawon

Miss Naija House Niniola crossing the Atlantic for some soca light:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVa0GSCvzg
Niniola • Pocket

On the same Bittersweet Riddim:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9sbVvFHU7A
Nailah Blackman x Konshens • Slow Wine

Nailah's on a ton of collabs now. Love this one with Olatunji:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1upH9vnmR68

this is rad; one for the horrorcore soca fans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMf-XgHpv88

(Blaxx, "Douen")

if you're into that, check this too: https://youtu.be/z140_ZhGhEQ

I was totally out of the soca scene in 2019 and feel like I need to catch up. What did I miss? And was there anything pollable outside of Run With It?

yes: Famalay, At Large, Trouble In The Morning being just three (I think they came out in 2019 or maybe late 2018)

Thanks! As long as they're Soca Season 2019 release dates are not a problem.

New thread, cos why not:

'We're Jamming Still!' - rolling Soca, Chutney, Dennery, Jab and the rest 2020

Why not— uh, read Rob’s intro to this one:

I'm leaving the year off because Carnival season doesn't follow the regular calendar anyway and the last couple threads didn't quite justify dedicated annual threads--

i'm interested in what's happening now. i detest history

but yeah, point taken. too late now

my approach didn't exactly stimulate posting so I have no objection to this!

reviving this thread for this superlative floaty track from Martinique:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8UJl665mPM
70 SHIINE ft. Nacho • Domino

(courtesy of D-40 on the [cruel, cruel] Summer Jams thread)

you can’t stop the flow:

🀄️🀄️ Martinique to the world: 70 SHiiNE x Nacho • DOMINO 🀄️🀄️

https://www.nts.live/shows/death-is-not-the-end/episodes/death-is-not-the-end-9th-august-2020

Trini Calypso from the 1920s to 1940s .

https://nhcarnival.org/

Notting Hill Carnival August 29-31
Digital style

Don't often think of soca in a live band context, but Kes have released an excellent live album called 'We Home'. It's great to hear some absolute classics like 'Hello' and 'Savannah Grass' in this context

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djlSmc9RYXs

haha, I'm only now watching the video and didn't realise it was 'live in the studio' but that would make sense

Another French overseas department in the house - je kiffe trop!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsFckB9WXVw
Poplane ft. Momo Wang • Mo Lé

Poplane is from French Guiana, I see him referred to as “le Wizkid guyanais”. Appropriately enough, the video was shot in Africa (in Senegal, to be precise).

starting my Friday with this loveliness

bump for this fun track from Aruba that I just happened across:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvLB6ngRaPQ
Ataniro ft. Steve Andreas • Dios Para Den

Tekisha Abel bringing the Suriname slackness, leaving a nation in disarray:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC6CrT1rIjU
Tekisha • Lolo Bal

I like this older one as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU75s_HgGFo
Tekisha Abel • Krin

enjoying this! don't get to hear much from suriname. i guess it's more reggae than soca?

not lolo bal though. wow, i love this.

could have posted it on the dancehall thread ad well, but preferring to spice up this thread with the non-Jamaican goodness.

did you check out the Aruban banger I posted last month?

yeah, it's a banger!

t’is an Aruban banger!

added the most recent tracks posted here to this integrated Rolling Spotify playlist for all the Caribbean music threads (soca, dancehall, reggaeton/dembow/urbano, Martinique, other caribbopop). we’re 75 tracks in, feel free to follow:

ILM rolling Caribbean vibes 🥁🥁🥁

Thanks

new Tekisha Abel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaItVfBwHGI
Tekisha Abel • Né Krooi

https://newsday.co.tt/2021/07/14/brother-resistance-dies/

RIP Trinidad rapso pioneer Brother Resistance

I'd never heard of Brother Resistance before he died (I've never really attempted to fully grasp TT music). Grateful for this overview of BR/rapso by David Katz: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jul/21/rapso-discover-the-pride-and-power-of-trinidads-rap-soca-music

Now I'm listening to his debut and it's totally excellent: https://brotherresistance.bandcamp.com/album/rapso-take-over

The Kindred track in that Katz piece also sounded rad

RIP Brother Resistance

RIP Jacob Devarieux , guitarist from zouk band Kassav from Covid

http://tt.loopnews.com/content/gi-retains-chutney-soca-title-ramrajie-prabhoo-wins-queen-chutney

Chutney soca winners in T & T

seeing in twitter and IG that legend David Rudder just did a gig the other night in T & T

I tried a '22 soca mix the other day. I have to admit I wasn't super into it as a mix, but a few tunes caught my ear:

Kes x Dwala - Jolene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZWZWV8hGyk

GBMnutron - Down Dey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pTeX_43Ttg

Keshav - Move

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVG5IEu4SEQ

Nailah Blackman x Mical Teja - Dingolay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OffaL6SeiJE

I really really really like this one. feel it could have across-the-board appeal. should do well in a decade poll in fact:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FWHavH6IQw

thanks for posting these updates!

Yes thanks. I am also liking German-born, Barbadian vocalist Rupee's "First Wine" 2022 single. He's been around a bit and has a pop-soca and reggaeish feel on some cuts. He and Kerwin Dubois recently were in DC at a festival

xp I appreciate that, sean!

That is pretty nice, curmudgeon, thanks. I think you might be into this Trini-Haitian collab (so might we all in fact):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeMko3n-U7c

Kes x J Perry x Michael Brun - Liki Tiki

And speaking of Barbados, one thing I learned from my brief survey the other day was that this slice of Caribbean weirdness is apparently super popular:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WlQ-7QjBGc

Father Philis - Brawling

been a while since I treated myself to fresh soca sounds, so I’m very happy with this selection. the only one I was familiar with was “Jolene”. “Liki Tiki” is an instant favourite too, J Perry’s Kreyòl part in particular makes it.

that Father Philis track is intriguing. he’s got a new one out, “Face Beat”, that’s even bigger than “Brawling”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKg6b_Hezb0

Nailah Blackman just made a track with him (and Salty) as well, called “Teknique (Bum Bum Bum)”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDazGrOgJE

I found some of the tracks posted last week on the Get Soca 2022 compilation on Spotify, and listened to the whole fun thing.

a couple of highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8CFjp6JMuc
Boyzie • Stage In Life
(on the Chips and Dip Riddim by jab masters Xpert Productions - Slatta and Lil Kerry are on it as well)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym1sqSc1414
Blaxx ft. Linky First • Rum Ina Me Head
(another jab track by the sound of it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2KrqgzksD8
Raymond Ramnarine ft. Vicadi Singh • Mind Yuh Business
(which has clear Indian inflections - does that mean this is “chutney”?)

but my favourite discovery is this guy Umpa, who’s from Guadeloupe but is equally at home in the Anglophone and Francophone vernacular:

the sparse “Plat” (which leans slightly more Kreyol) was on that comp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS0j2yb0XQ0

…but then there’s also his most recent one, the maximalist “Bap” (mainly in English): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQYNZP9PxEQ

it sounded exhilaratingly familiar and then I realised: it could have been a Ball J Beat! Ghanaian azonto producer extraordinaire of tracks like “Lapaz Toyota” (as well as “Pooley” after he had adapted his style)

(the man had that where’s my Grammy?!!!?!!! tag on his records long before Burna even entertained such notions (speculation, your honour!), let alone voice them)

I'm pretty out the loop for decent soca. Feels like 2020/21 were bumper years but even my soca-nerd pals seem more interested in stuff like amapiano and cruise-beat these days. What's good?

Don’t know. Here’s some random Bermuda dj’s Spotify playlist from earlier this year

Droppin' this here again for the ppl that need it this week 👍🏾😆

My 2022 Soca Top 20 Playlist https://t.co/gNykE8rocM

— DJ Rusty G (@djrustyg) June 13, 2022

cheers!

Awesome Machel Montano February 17 soca and afrobeats and more Carnival show in Trinidad

I want to go to Trinidad for this awesome February 17 carnival show with soca and afrobeats artists . Saw Machel Montano do an incredible show @ the since shutdown Crossroads in Bladensburg once or twice & have seen a few of the others but not all. pic.twitter.com/WcqzQGA3Wz

— Steve Kiviat (@SteveKiviat) February 11, 2023

Flyer for the show in the tweet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cINEwJkzFSs

It's carnival season!

I'm loving both the amapiano version AND the soca version of Machel Montano x Hugh Masekela's* The Meeting Place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJLkvKVkaMs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDDL_hr_n-c

*I know, right?!

Haven’t listened to DJ Private Ryan latest soca mix but a New York Times mention of it is my reminder to listen

Bunji's Hard Fete is the definitive soca of the year for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97bq9Kjmr3E

Yeah it's an instant classic that one

I’m not quite ready for that road yet, but I’m pretty sure I prefer the “N.M.G. Roadmix” to the original version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91PtPvDgtE

IG is showing me an ad for Soca Gold 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/22/well-play-until-our-teeth-drop-out-the-long-remarkable-lives-of-britains-windrush-era-musicians?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR3kxUo678ukrRMUY7Bs2J30fY_t-tsq0HO7KnPYt4qZL4yg5AG1DEgqhK8_aem_th_AV9d3cRWfGL5S8Cevm0MShCRgVjBJgy_qXP-X5xmiuTlOFWtpHd3hZ_jQP1AAACA-nM&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Article is about Immigrants to UK still playing music and their legacy

BRINGING TOGETHER THE BIGGEST NAMES ACROSS THE GENRE, “CARIBBEAN MUSIC AWARDS” UNVEILS FIRST SET OF PERFORMERS
====
ALISON HINDS, JADA KINGDOM, DEXTA DAPS, KRANIUM, NAILAH BLACKMAN, DING DONG, RUPEE, LILA IKE SET TO HIT THE STAGE FOR CARIBBEAN MUSIC’S NIGHT OF CELEBRATION WITH CONFIRMED APPEARANCES BY SPICE, BABY CHAM, TONI-ANN SINGH AND MORE
===
REGGAE LEGEND BERES HAMMOND TO BE HONORED WITH AN ELITE ICON AWARD
===
“CARIBBEAN MUSIC AWARDS” WILL TAKE PLACE LIVE FROM THE RENOWNED KINGS THEATRE IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK THURSDAY, AUGUST 31 AT 8 PM ET
HOSTED BY 3x GRAMMY AWARD-WINNER WYCLEF JEAN

I have been sleeping on Ding Dong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UwKrek6gks

Have liked Alison Hinds for a while, still need to catch up on many others in soca world

Super Blue just did a late night, poorly advertised gig in DC area .

http://tt.loopnews.com/content/denyse-plummer-has-died-calypso-world-mourning-again

RIP Denyse Plummer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FKMW-9DvC0

Fallon “ What do want Santa” posted on YouTube a year ago ,

Actually “Wey yuh want Santa” parang

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/made-in-trinidad-screening-with-filmmakers-natalie-hill-adele-bertei-tickets-736828272197?aff=ebdsshios&fbclid=PAAaYNqTa_prkW7lQHewckmuceJztgcuNCJCslKBozXuWDr8zZj7v0tcoy5LU_aem_AZaL0mJ5NxVkkfOYJj8HOo9thpm0b32VA-6vLBd4Fycu-osMndTBS9uGNnEuAgwf50Q

Natalie Hill and Adele Bertei for a very special screening (1st in decades!) of Made in Trinidad
Made in Trinidad (First Screening in Decades! Filmmakers Natalie Hill & Adele Bertei in Person!)
The Philosophical Research Society proudly welcomes producer and directors Natalie Hill and Adele Bertei for a very special screening of MADE IN TRINIDAD, their barely seen, incredible documentary on Trinidad’s Carnival celebrations. Produced in 2001, their film toured the festival circuit to acclaim, but did not receive distribution – a casualty of the early aughts film industry’s unfortunate indifference towards ethnographic filmmaking. Now, twenty-two years later, PRS is excited to share a rare screening of this wonderful film!

That’s Feb 17 in Los Angeles for that soca in Trinidad film screening

Vivien Goldman article on the assassination of Trinidadian Rebel Sixx , who she first started listening to while living in Jamaica during Covid

https://pioneerworks.org/broadcast/vivien-goldman-jamaican-bass-bad-mind

I still need to finish the article

https://www.bam.org/film/2024/one-hand-dont-clap?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_content=film-onehand-ig-o-post&utm_campaign=film

Restored doc One Hand Don’t Clap about soca and calypso showing in Brooklyn through Thursday March 14

Has there been any remarkable soca this past year? Trying to catch up....

I'm putting on a soca night in Bristol on Saturday, so I hope to hear some good stuff.

I've fallen off with soca recently. I omky really know Hard Fete and Anxiety from the last season

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ZRPtvSdjBvqTHqbW0gUCG

https://www.caribbeanlife.com/machel-montano-crowned-2024-tt-calypso-monarch/

Ooh nice thanks for this!

Machel Montano just recorded an npr Tiny Desk but I don’t think it’s online yet

I saw Montano years ago live and he and his band were great. I didn’t splurge for his pricey 50th birthday tour gig last night at the Kennedy Center and now after watching IG story clips on his page I wish I did. Oh well .