Here are my 2cents: The main problem is that soca music is too unknown and also a very small market. Nobody is hating on the Caribbean, soca is just not important enough. The fact that some artists get paid 3000$ for a 15min show in Toronto doesn’t mean that there are significant album sales figures. How many artists are actually doing a full album? 5? 10? (per season/country).. well here you have the main point: the quantity.
Also most of the soca artists who have some chart entries are promoted as r&b or sunshine pop - which is not too bad cause usually that tracks don’t breathe the spirit of the Carnival anymore.. but not really helpfull in promoting the label “soca”.
Still, there are good reasons to have a “soca”-category: soca is the music of a whole region, so it would be nice to have at least a “Caribbean”.
Doubles in Trinidad is now 4$ - wonder how much they are in Tobago. - See a video of the panist Duvone Stewart (with NFM Pantasy) playing Shurwayne’s “Dead or alive” in Canotier, France. [pan-jumbie] - Carnival Corbeauxstill fires against the “William Monroe Show” aka Fantastic Friday and this years Soca Monarch Bunji Garlin. - Vincean soca artist Maddzart is planing a “The Madd Symphony Carnival” show for this year.[via cyanwait]. The world’s biggest bootlegger for Caribbean music, Audiomaxxx is taken offline after police raid..ehm just make sure to write down his adress. And finally, there is another intersting weblog dedicated to soca music: (Nurse) Karin is based in Toronto and has a podcast also.
This is an interesting article of Trinidad Express printed in January, but I just found it again on Caribbean Brass Connection. Naya George says that he stepped out of the music game to make space for youngers:
Everybody just want to hold on to their space, so the youths who are coming into the industry, brimming with talent and bursting with energy have no where to go. [..] We need to bring young people in the game and move the industry forward.
This Carnival a “digital” version of the national instrument was presented by Salomon Cupid. See a demonstration of the new e-Pan:
I am not sure if this is a synthetic or a sample based player, but in the end the sound must convince the players. In the demonstration Mr Cupid says the sound of the pan is “mimiked”, but I have some doubts if it is really possible to have a authentic pan sound without samples.
There is a discussion going on in Trinidad to move the Festival to April for marketing reasons. Read the article in Trinidad Express here. Read also Keiths comment on this topic and five reasons against it on CFR.
Those of you who want to have a deeper insight in the music, should head over to the ProudFlesh Journal. In Issue 3 (not the latest, but still relevant) there are some Calypso-related articles:
Descendants of a Sharp-Tongued Dialectic: Calypso and the Chantwell, Allyson Samuel, Michigan State University, MI, USA
Intimidation of Calypsonians by the UNC Gov’t of Trinidad & Tobago, Lynette M. Lashley, Indiana University-South Bend, IN, USA
Bottom in de Road: Gender and Sexuality in Calypso, Maude Dikobe, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana
As reported in March by the TnT Guardian, Rapso newcomer Rizon was working on a video for his smashing debut single “Reach”, which was released back in November 2k6 for last carnival. Now here it is, directed by Stephan Jones. The tune also made it onto the ‘Best Of The Best Soca Grooves 07′ sampler, available @ Faluma.
The auditions for the this years season of Synergy Soca Star started in Port-of-Spain.
The contestants lined up for a chance to get into the competition, with crash courses in voice echniques and image-grooming. Successful contestants also participate in a series of training sessions including band practice, money management sessions and public relations training.
The winner will collect a prize of a Dhatsui Terios as well as automatic entry into the Soca Monarch Finals.
Past winners have gone on to success on the soca scene. Fireball, as the first season’s winner and last year’s winner Umi Marcano have received a lot of airplay for their debut soca tracks:
First season winner Fireball’s collaboration with Bob Sinclair.
Bajan Alison Hinds releases her solo debut album, titled “Soca Queen” (1720 Entertainment/Black Coral) on November 6, 2007.
“Soca Queen” is produced by Salaam Remi (Amy Winehouse, Nas, Fugees), Shelshok (Wyclef Jean, Machel Montano, Maximus Dan), Chris Allman (Rupee, David Kirton) and Nicholas Brancker (Shabba Ranks, Simply Red, Rob Flack).
The “Roll It Gal” video has now been added to MTV Jams and VH-1 Soul.
