Yawn, here we go again! Trinidad and Tobago had one its best years for new music in recent years yet we are burdened with this annoying Soca-Switch that takes place every year as Ash Wednesday dawns. This has to stop!
In years past it was a religious thing... it was sacrilegious to play Calypso then later on Soca music from Ash Wednesday. After all, one has to atone for our carnal Carnival sins! Ensure that the memories of all those sweet wining memories are washed away with the mark of the cross on our foreheads. Ashes and the mark of Ashes on our forehead means that we are asking for forgiveness. Now having said that, what is the reason for the radio stations switching mode from Carnival music to R&B, Soul and Dancehall? Is it the work of the radio personalities or radio station policy?
The radio stations can't complain that they don't have enough music to play. After all they can play all the music that they paid little attention too because they limited their play-list to the big name artistes or just the most popular songs. There are hundreds of songs that they refused to pay attention to during the carnival season... play them now.
Calypso, oh you didn't realize that there were a few hundred Calypsos released for Carnival 2019... they too need to be played. The advent of the Soca artiste and party music cause the Calypsos to be relegated to the point where they are simply ignored. Kudos to WACK Radio 90.1 FM for giving these artistes and songs a voice on radio.
Format is everything and while we love what WACK Radio does the advertising dollars are not there to help programming changes on that station. We want two things changed. The Soca-Switch must not happen. The mainstream radio stations should continue playing the Soca and Calypso (the Calypso thing will never happen with the mainstream radio stations). We really need a station that addresses the culture of the nation 24/7/356 with limited interruptions. WACK tries but some of the daily programming is boring. We need an online service pumping Calypso, Soca and Steel Band music all day!
Does the music become stale? Why should it? The music is sweet and there are always new music releases all year from Trinidad music artistes and from upcoming Carnivals in the Caribbean. Saint Vincent, St. Lucia, Crop Over (Barbados) and Grenada all produce new Soca and Calypso... there is no need to cry about a lack of music! The Caribbean is producing enough new music to keep these radio stations busy.
It is a crap shoot and a crying shame that Trinidad and Tobago radio station do such an injustice to our music, our artistes, our culture. Then again most of us understand that the problem is a national issue. The radio stations share the blame but it is the people who are equally culpable regarding the lack of play for Soca music after carnival. The love their foreign music and think that Calypso, Soca and Steel band music has a season and once the season is over the tune out the culture until the 'feel that vibe and get excited all over again'.
Just take in Sonny Bling in the video as he exposes the behavior of Trinidadians just one day after feting all day on the road! The truth hurts but Sonny got this one right... so what can you do to keep the love for the music and culture going all year? Tell us what you think and how we can solve this problem.
Just take in Sonny Bling in the video as he exposes the behavior of Trinidadians just one day after feting all day on the road! The truth hurts but Sonny got this one right... so what can you do to keep the love for the music and culture going all year? Tell us what you think and how we can solve this problem.
Trinis had enough of SOCA and now want something else... Shame, shame, shame, what a crying shame!