Soca Pop

tagStarted 2003Peak 2004-2014Last big hit still active

Trinidad's soca, high-energy carnival music with driving four-on-the-floor kick, bright horn stabs, fast hand percussion and call-and-response chants, smoothed into pop hooks and clean vocal production. Euphoric, propulsive and party-driven, it trades soca's frenetic tempo for singable choruses while keeping the wining, jump-and-wave carnival pulse.

History

Kevin Lyttle's 2003 'Turn Me On' broke soca into the global Top 10, proving the carnival rhythm could carry a pop ballad. Machel Montano, Kes and Bunji Garlin pushed soca's international reach, while Calypso Rose's 2016 collaborations brought the sound to world-pop audiences decades after soca's 1970s birth.

Defining artists

Kevin LyttleSpotify YouTube
Machel MontanoSpotify YouTube
KesSpotify YouTube
Bunji GarlinSpotify YouTube
Patrice RobertsSpotify YouTube
Alison HindsSpotify YouTube

Essential listening

Turn Me On — Kevin LyttleSpotify YouTube
Wotless — KesSpotify YouTube
Differentology — Bunji GarlinSpotify YouTube
Fast Wine — Machel MontanoSpotify YouTube
Roll It Gal — Alison HindsSpotify YouTube

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Sources

NPR: Long live soca!
GRAMMY.com: Essential Soca Artists
Wikipedia: Soca music