Soca Music

Is a fusion of Soul and Calypso music.  It adds an infectious burst of energy using traditional templates of calypso beats.

As this music form developed in the mid – seventies it remained true to its original form of giving a social commentary using lyrics with punch and bite.  Be careful! The truth will be sung.

Calypso Music

This is the musical root of Carnival in the United Kingdom.  Calypso is based on the idea of story telling to a beat. Calypsonians of Carnival, using their wit and satire expose the naked truth on subjects as diverse as personal rants, political philosophy to thoughts on banning religious symbols in French schools and or the rise in our council taxes to fund the drinking habits of our local councillors.  If you are interested in a pre-Carnival taste of Calypso music you might want to visit the Caribbean Sports and Social Club or Jalgos Sports and Social Club, where you will hear original calypso music.

Reggae

The origins of Reggae can be traced back to the many forms of folk music that were popular in Jamaica in the 1950’s.  It grew on the first recorded music in Jamaica called Mento and was often referred to as Jamaican Calypso, however only some of the more up tempo Mento tunes sounded similar to Calypso.  The influence of Rn’B evolved into Ska and remained all the rage through the 1960’s into the mid 1970’s.  Ska remained popular and was further developed by the youth of West KingstonJamaica, developing their own version of Ska which was referred to as ‘Rude Boy Music.  Out of this came the slower, cooler more refined sound of ‘Rocksteady’; the result of various Soul styles also popular at the time.

Flourishing until the last 1960’s Rocksteady evolved into what is now labelled ‘Reggae’.  Reggae became a term, which encompassed the many developing styles of Jamaican music characterised by the trademark ‘skank’ (a dance style).

Another off shoot came in the early 1970’s in the form of Dub, and is now used throughout the world of dance music to describe a remix, originated in Jamaica, initially done for the quest for Sound Systems exclusively.

Soul

Soul music came about in the early 1050’s and was rooted in American gospel and performed almost exclusively to black audiences.  At a time when there was an enormous struggle for racial equality, soul music played a major role in black pride.

Disco

Disco music originated from the New York gay scene, discotheques and clubs only playing music which one could dance to.  This music created and spawned the highly rated DJ who would play two of the same 7-inch singles in order to extend the playing time.  As DJ’s developed this art form, new music producers further enhanced this classic disco era style into the late seventies.

Urban

Urban is a term given to music of the 1980’s and 90’s.  The urban sound was very slick be it a fanatic up tempo dance track or a romantic ballad.

Sound Systems

Throughout the Caribbean in the 1940’s, the phenomenon known as the ‘Sound System’ began to replace live musicians, principally because it was cheaper.  This is what will be found in every Caribbean Carnival across the United Kingdom.  Some sound systems are static and can be found at strategic locations along a carnival procession route (normally outside a public house) or on vehicles in the procession.  Each sound system will attract hundreds of followers.

If you are a first timer at Caribbean Carnival it is a little difficult to describe. Imagine being on the Carnival procession route; You are lounging around outside with the sun on your back and a cool set of sunglasses adorning your face.  You’re listening to (and feeling) powerful music rumbling through the biggest Sound Systems massaging every nerve in your body – just go with the flow!.  It is estimated that up to 60% of people come to Carnival simply to check out the Sound Systems cranking out every kind of music from reggae to soul to rap to soca to underground Rn’B.