"Digital Madness!": A Look at The Absence of Soca Music In The Digital Age

"Don't tell me 'it's coming'. Don't tell me 'hold on'"
'Open The Gate' by Shurwayne Winchester

I find it so interesting that almost every time I read articles in regards to CD sales, the numbers are becoming bleaker and bleaker, but it certainly doesn’t appear that the music industry as we know it is going anywhere. In terms of Reggae music, specifically, I remember last year all the talk about some of our biggest and brightest names such as Mavado, Tanya Stephens, Lady Saw and others had gotten to the point where actual physical CD sales were in digits of the very low thousands and, more usually, the high hundreds and nothing more and everything I’ve heard from 2010 thus far, with names like Capleton, Busy Signal, Buju Banton and Luciano, seems to suggest that the trend has continued. But again, it certainly doesn’t seem like Reggae music as we know it is headed anywhere either. Quite the contrary - Each and every week I see more and more labels popping up and more and more music being made in different corners of the world.

What these labels seem to have in common (amongst other things) is that - Being that I pay a TON of attention to the area - They all seem to be quite good and consistent with making their materials available worldwide through the digital medium and I don’t even think I need to tell my readers just how wonderful and convenient the ability to be able to not only buy pretty much whatever you want with just a few clicks is, but also to be able to pick and choose on a particular album with what you want and don’t want. When you were a child, you DREAMED of such a day and while mankind is seemingly still working on perfecting that ‘flying car’ thing, the age of ‘press button music’ is here and it is amazing, isn’t it? Almost every genre has thrived within the new arena and I’m sure it will continue to grow, even with Reggae as there’re not only more and more music making companies popping up constantly, but more and more companies who are lining up to distribute the work of these labels (and specifically these labels) digitally throughout the world (biggup Zojak).

Of course, I also pay attention to a few other genres such as Zouk (generally included in that ridiculous “World Music” category) and Zouk has definitely flourished on the digital scene as well. I always think that I underestimate the genre, as a whole, and I still think that I do because every remotely interesting Zouk album that I’ve come across is digitally available and, in some cases, is available in multiple editions. But I try to remind myself that not only is the music popular in the Caribbean, but seemingly in various other places such as, of course, France, portions of Afrika and even Portugal and the States which are all hotbeds for the music and stops along the tours of the genre’s biggest names (and apparently Japan loves Goldee as well).

So, with Reggae covered and Zouk covered, what’s left??? Soca. Soca, Soca, Soca . . . I have a number of theories as to exactly why one of my favourite genres of music has yet to develop into the digital market and seemingly isn’t on the fast track to doing so. The first and most prevalent, in my opinion, is the fact that the music itself, although less so these days, is ‘seasonal’. Soca music accompanies Carnival and most unfortunately Carnival isn’t technically year-round, so what happens (or at least the assumed perception of what happens) is that you get the REALLY big songs from almost every relevant artist at the same time of the year which probably isn’t going to be too attractive to a label - Having to, essentially, compete with itself if it locks up more than one artist (while competition is apart of the basis for the music and the season). And also there is the issue of the songs being released timely, but at this point if you grab them in the same year, I don’t think that’s much of an issue at all. What most likely is a concern, on the other hand, is the growth of the music. Soca music, as a whole, has yet to make the same consistent progress as Reggae has and, in retrospect, neither did/has Calypso and it seemingly exists as more of ‘underground’ genre.

Destra Garcia - They call her Bacchanal

But that’s SHIT! If Soca actually is ‘underground’ (and it is in the global sense), then it is BY FAR the most developed of underground genres that we have today - Oh and it is fucking wonderful! Not only that but with names such as Machel Montano, Alison Hinds, Bunji Garlin, Iwer George, Destra [pictured] and Fay-Ann Lyons, just in Trinidad, it has STARS with star qualities and star appeal which is routinely exhibited and not only in the physical, but within the music as well. And the music! I am a Dancehall head at heart and hopefully when they bury me (or do whatever they’re going to do with me after I die) I will still be so, but I have to admit that there is not a single greater adrenaline rush of SOUND than that which is found in Soca music. The music also has a future and the one thing which does seem to grow within it is the talent level of its artists as you find names, younger and younger who seem to that start potential within the music.

But with all of that being said Soca has been all but invisible on this growing digital scene. Okay - There’re problems today, but if I can get a most random and obscure Sizzla album from a decade ago when this ‘whole digital thing’ was still in the “damn wouldn’t that be so nice” stage, then why can’t I get one from just a few years ago from someone like Destra. And not only that but let’s look in the current:

By my own (hopefully reliable, but certainly passionate) research, just taking a look at Road March Winners (hopefully you know what that is) over the past decade - of the last ten Trinidad Carnival Road March champions, only three of them [Fay-Ann’s ‘Get On’ (2008), ‘Display’ also by Fay-Ann (2003) and ‘Trinidad’ by Naya George] are widely available digitally and ALL of those come via VP Records’ ”Soca Gold” series. Of course that also means that only one Road March winning song from the past seven years on the biggest stage the genre has to offer, TnT Carnival, is widely available and that (even if I’m off with my count) is WRONG! Similar searches for all of the Soca hotspots (with the exception of Barbados) reveals similar results and usually worse (far far worse). Just this year we had a breakout winner, ‘Palance’ from JW & Blaze which is/was wildly popular and, in my opinion, that is the basis for the being able to go into the ‘pick and choose’ type of shopping offered by the digital medium - Getting these REALLY BIG songs and it is nowhere to be found - Neither are ‘Meet Super Blue’, the jewel of Fay-Ann’s magical 2009 season, any of Machel Montano’s nor Shurwayne Winchester’s mid 2000’s work.


Montano’s case is really interesting because, as I alluded to, he is one of the genuine stars of the genre and his lengthy career has seen him make collaborations with international stars such as Wyclef Jean, Lil’ Jon and Pitbull from the Hip-Hop world and many others as well. Still, the only widely available material of his ended in the Xtatik years with the albums ”Heavy Duty”, ”Footsteps” and ”Any Minute Now” from VP Records more than a decade ago. The same label is behind the only two available from Bunji Garlin, ”Revelation” from 2002 and the relatively recent ”Global” from five years later. And in both cases, their digital absences aren’t from a lack of available material as Bunji has now eight albums to his credit (having released one every year from 2001-’08) and Machel’s activity can be best summed up with the title of his most recent release, ”Album 34”. Shurwayne Winchester does have one album available of his several ”Under My Spell” which originated in 2002 and the Tobago native has since had at least six releases with his last three being fairly high profile. My beloved Destra? None of her four are anywhere to be found, none of Iwer’s (I don’t know how many he has) are either and Fay-Ann Lyons has yet to even bless us with a collection of her work.

I would, in contrast, like to speak of the good things to be found in the digital world of Soca (as tiny and shriveled as it is) because there have been a few artists and occurrences relatively recently which have made rather shocking appearances. Most recently, of course, there was rising Tortola star, Jalena, who kind of turned into an entrepreneur and put out her own album, ”The Jam Sessions”. The move was similar to those made by the likes of Nadia Batson with her album ”Caribbean Girl”, former Vincy Road March King, Bomani with ”Deep” and the "Method to The Madness” from the big Antiguan band, Taxik, as well. Furthermore, there have been label releases for the likes of Berbice from out of Grenada, Lil’ Rick and most recently (and probably most surprisingly too) Trini lyrics machines, Ms. Alysha. Alysha’s case is interesting because her album came via Da Mastamind who is EXTREMELY active with multiple digital releases each and every year. There’s also Alison Hinds who has both of her albums, ”Soca Queen" [pictured] and 2010’s ”Caribbean Queen” available now and have been available from since they were both released, and a bit of other material as well (like three singles). What I don’t like about that, at least in theory, is that it is so random that it’s almost a matter of LUCK and being in the ‘right place at the right time’ which brings these about. Certainly FAR more people know of Alison Hinds than ant of these other artists that I’ve named but, as I just said, the artists on her level haven’t had the same success (and neither has her former group, Square One).


Perhaps the most active and successful Soca act in terms of making their material digitally available has been Bajan Soca super group, Krosfyah. The band has managed to make the vast majority of its large discography instantly available across the globe and, to my knowledge they did so with one of the very few entities (and maybe the only) which exist to take Soca music into the ‘new world’, Faluma. The German based (I THINK) label will always have my respect (despite the fact that they absolutely refuse to give the world the "Rocket Launcher") for what they’ve done with just a small portion of the music. Besides dealing with Krosfyah, they’ve done similar things for one of my favourite acts, Tizzy and the boys of El-A-Kru, the legendary Mighty Sparrow and former Montserrat Soca Monarch, Scrappy. They also have a shop where you can buy their releases and although it isn’t the finest, they do distribute the music readily and it is available on iTunes, Amazon, Juno etc and, at least in my opinion, they managed to release arguably the most important digital release in Soca in 2010 in ”Carnival 2010” which was an obviously just thrown together compilation which featured absolutely nothing but MAGIC from both Bunji Garlin’s and Fay-Ann Lyons’ 2010 singles (including both of their biggest hits, ‘Brave’ and ‘True Lies’, respectively, which would have both been lost to the digital world otherwise, without a doubt).


In terms of online shops specializing (or merely dealing with) Soca music, if you’re REALLY looking one can definitely find some great material and do so at three places in particular. The first is, Trinidadtunes.com. As far as I know, it is the digital site of one which has been one of my favourites for years to research, Trinidadmusicstore.com. Trinidad Tunes is THE place to go if you want brand new Soca and you want it RIGHT NOW. They have other things as well (even a pretty nice Reggae section), but to make the point - If you wanted a copy of ‘Palance’, ‘Meet Super Blue’, Machel’s and Patrice’s ‘Band of De Year’ (and the album named after it), it is ALL available at Trinidad Tunes as are quite a few of Bunji Garlin’s albums AND others from the likes of Winchester, Dawg E. Slaughter and even Destra’s two most recent albums ”Hott” and ”Soca Or Die”. That is the place to go. There is also a relatively new site, Iribbeantunes.com, which has different things, but still very new and fresh. For example, Krosfyah released two albums just this year, ”The Experience”, which is their new album and the greatest hits compilation, ”20th Anniversary Special Edition”, both of which are available on the site (and maybe exclusively) right now. They’re far more in the norm in terms of commercial sites, as opposed to Trinidad Tunes (which is completely legit as far as I know) who kind of puts together very attractive purchases whether or not they exist in any pre-planned sense. And the third site to check is NuMusicZone.com (which I think has some type of ties to Dominica for some reason), which isn’t even a Soca specific site (and neither is Iribbean Tunes, for that matter) but does have various nice and exclusive pieces such as the 2010 album from reigning two time Antigua Soca monarch, Tian Winter (and it also may be the only site in the world to offer an Aima Moses album digitally as well).

Going forth, the best possible thing would be a project which takes the best of all three of these sites: The musical accessibilities of Trinidad Tunes and Nu Music Zone and the ‘commerciality’ of Iribbean Tunes (and the wide reach of Faluma, as well) - Which would be the absolute best for the genre and perhaps the mere fact that they all do exist and have for quite some time (seemingly successfully) is a great thing. But, with as far as the music has developed ‘on its own’ and with the great deal of BEAUTY and EMOTION and PAGEANTRY it possesses, you can’t help but think that it should have already passed where it is. Or maybe that’s just me, but there’s just something about this . . . Momentous vibes that make millions and millions of people jump for no earthly fucking purpose other than just because it seems like the thing to do. There’s something so special about that and I wonder if people can imagine just how helpful it might be to the music if someday someone from the UK and someone from the States can logon to the “Soca” pages of iTunes or Amazon and the faces of Machel Montano, Destra Garcia and Bunji Garlin plastered up with their discographies on sale.

What a beautiful day that will be. But for now, it still seems far off.