Have you ever stopped and wondered about luck? I was born in the Island of Trinidad in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and to be honest because of our cosmopolitan nature I think that we had the best luck of all the Caribbean Islands culturally - a mixture of races that have brought about genius, especially musical genius.
Calypso, Soca, Chutney music, parang and the sensational steelpan are some of the magical music given to the region and World at large by our little republic. However, it appears, at times, that we seen to be lost and take for granted our musical luck. We have people saying that Calypso was not started in Trinidad and even some saying that in the Island of St. Vincent they were playing pan long before Trinidad claimed the creation of these magical instruments that make up the steel pan orchestra. Soca seems to be the sole property of the rest of the Caribbean region with the late great Lord Shorty being called a liar and in some circles people saying that he really created chutney music and not Soca. It does not matter the explanation given of Solka being mispelt as Soca and the birth of a musical evolution of calypso that came out of the creativity of Mr. Garfield Blackman aka Ras Shorty I. We never went after the detractors and put them in their place - show some respect!
Then again we have to blame ourselves for not being proactive and promoting our musical culture properly. For this brief article I placed the same song at the top and bottom of the article for emphasis and to promote the music from the top to the bottom.
The song that is the key to this post was written by a prolific songwriter and musical artist, Miss Nadia Batson. She created a groovy love song by fusing calypso with East Indian instrumentation that some may call a chutney blend but is covered under the umbrella of Soca. The name of the song is 'Love of my Life' or as some may say 'Meri Zindagi' and it was released in 2008. I talked about our luck earlier and after listening to the song, the music, the sweetness of our African and East Indian musical elements coming together so smoothly with a soothing sweetness that is sultry at the same time. Only in Trinidad can you love someone to the point where 'she wants to be chunkayed'. Where else could these elements come together other than in Trinidad? The song is a gem and Nadia sang so sweetly! It is representative of Trinizagada's view of our country. I see this song as a 'potpourri of cultural fascination' that is chisled in words and music that represents the vibe of this blog!
No other Island in the Caribbean region has this imprinted on their music DNA. They sing calypso and a form of music that is labeled Soca. Almost all new uptempo Caribbean music seems to fall under the umbrella of Soca and is referenced as such. Now when you listen to "Love of my life" you can immediately hear and feel the difference. It is sweet, it is soothing, it is groovy, it is magic.... It is the music of Trinidad and Tobago and it is distinctive!
Artist..................: Nadia Batson
Album................: Caribbean Girl 14 songs
Year...................: Released December 18th.2007
Song...................: Love Of My Life aka Meri Zindagi Track #3
Genre.................: Soca
Click Play to listen to the song (small triangle in circle)