The following was taking from an article written by Baz Dreisinger for NPR Music and published on March 4, 2011. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Carnival season on the Caribbean island of Trinidad boils down to one thing: fresh soca music. Consider it Red Bull for your ears, or music with a purpose.
"The intention of the energy of soca music is to really uplift people; really make them smile; keep them happy; make them celebrate even in the toughest times," says Machel Montano, soca's biggest star. "The economy is down — you hear some soca music, you're gonna want to go out and party, even if you have to borrow the money."
Soca stands for "soul of calypso," and it was pretty much invented in the 1970s by Trinidadian artist Lord Shorty, who claimed that the soul of calypso was as multicultural as his island's African and East Indian descendants. To set this post-colonial hybrid to music, Shorty sped up calypso and gave it an Indian twist.
The following is an audio clip that presents the information above. Listen to the audio feed and hear some of your favorite artistes giving their views about Carnival and Soca.