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Intro
The 2010s in a lot of ways has been a period of significant growth for the soca artform, elevating it from a regional phenomenon to the cusp of international status. It’s no coincidence that within this decade megastars like Drake and Justin Bieber took a short drop on the soca train to arrive at huge billboard success. By contrast, the 2000s was all about burying the umbilical cord of calypso. If you listen to soca from the late 90s, a lot of it sounds like calypso after a few expresso shots.
In the 2000s, soca became a teenager with new found freedom – taking any and all influences from genres such as dancehall, RnB and Pop and stumbling giddily, knocking over past expectations and pissing-off elders. During that period, Soca ingested the chanting lyricism of early Bunji and Treason (3 Suns?) and sipped on the sweet RnB vibes from Destra that also came laced with the sweetest wine. Not satisfied, it ate some frisky flying fish courtesy the Bajan invasion featuring Alison Hinds and co. and snacked on foreign deserts courtesy Machel with his endless collaborations ranging from Red Rat to Doug E. Fresh. This set soca on a new path and sounded the death knell on calypso as a mainstream product.
But then came the 2010s. The most immediate feature of this decade has definitely been the unmistakable sheen and polish on the music productions. From a raw engineering standpoint, the music just sounds better. Of course it is expected that things continuously improve, but when you compare soca to other genres, the uptick in sound engineering quality over this same period is stark. Listening to the entire top 100 list on Apple Music, it’s amazing that even within this decade how much soca productions have improved year on year. A decade ago, the difference in quality between a soca production and a billboard pop production was night and day. We are now at the point where a soca song doesn’t sound softer, feature muddier vocals or have a less banging bass than any song on the billboard 100. To quote Machel, we ready to bring “Soca to the universe. Now on to the list.
100) Uncle Ellis – I Doh Mind
For the real bubblers, this song is certified…when you loose like goose 6 am in the Jouvert and you hear “They say Iz a mad man…” is all over. Most importantly, this song has also blessed us with an iconic and trending dance, I watched Ellis perfect it for years right on Broadway. People laughed at his initial lack of coordination but when he turned the slight off timing into a feature, they gathered round to watch. From homelessness to my top 100 list. You can’t get better than that.
99) Subance and Uncle Ellis – Back Bend Remix
Subance is one of the early flagship holders of the St Lucian Bashment/Dennery segment style. The icing on this cake is really Uncle Ellis’ voice. Like an elite NBA role player, Ellis emerges from the bench like Lou Williams and shuts down the track – “Hand pon your knees and Bend! Bend! Bend! Bend! Bend! Bend!”. What else allyuh want from Ellis?
98) Blaxx – Gyal Owner
The concept for this song is an interesting one. On the surface it’s a female empowerment song but the most memorable line in the song is “Somebody go touch it for you”. What?!? And as these things tend to go, it quickly morphed into becoming a hornerman anthem. But it’s the best hornerman anthem.
97) Bunji Garlin – Truck On D Road
This is one of the hardest soca beats ever created and the second best soca song about trucks. After Differentology, Bunji was on the clock for a followup. Truck On D Road didn’t quite live up but we still got a song that won Jouvert Road March in 2014. What is that you ask? Something that should exist. Credit me when it becomes a thing.
96) Turner – She Bad
What if Bob Marley sang soca? This seemed like an odd thought before 2017 when Turner burst onto the soca scene. The way he puts his soul into singing about this “bad” girl makes you think every man should stop looking for wife-material and find a bad ting instead.
95) GBM Nutron – Practice
If Issa Snack didn’t exist, Practice would have been the best wining song of 2019. Ladies, GBM wants you to know on behalf of all men that the hard work you put into practicing your wine is appreciated.
94) Kes – Thief a Wine
This song is the anthem for the men who know how to thief a wine smooth smooth like Jergens provide sponsorship. It features some of the best vocals from Kes and that’s saying plenty. When you thief a wine like this, it’s like inception – the girl thinks the approach was her idea. When you thief a wine like this, as soon as the song done, the girl asking you what you drinking.
93) Kimba Sorzano – Over You
Kimba has been MIA the last few years despite having an underrated song in 2019 with Day Time Party. With his good looks and smooth voice it has been somewhat confusing he hasn’t progressed more career-wise but with this song in 2012 everything connected. The girls were feeling the chune and the fellas wasn’t vex either. It was the perfect combination of what we wanted from a good groovy soca; RnB type feels without interrupting the wine. After all, the best way to get over one gyal is to buss a wine on a next one right?
92) Lil Rick – Go Dung
Lil Rick is a big artist in Barbados and is often considered the Machel of BIM. After all, he won several Road March titles and built his reputation as a winer boy. In Trinidad, before 2010 we wasn’t really checking for him like that. This chune was the turning point. Chune was so bad, the monk himself had to jump on the remix.
91) Machel Montano x Bunji Garlin – Busshead
Some people found this song to be a disappointment – “Big artist like that and is not even Road March?” Those people were missing the point. This is one of finest jouvert songs ever, it’s one that extracts the best synergy between two very different artists. Also, we got one of the best soca verses of all time from the Viking…how you go vex with that?
90) Iwer George – Come To Meh
First thing you should know about this song; it was supposed to win the Soca Monarch crown in 2011. As a Machel fan I telling you, he get thief. Second thing, it gave “Advantage” a good run for its money for Road March. Put some respek on this chune.
89) Angela Hunte – Mon Bon Ami
This is one of the sweetest set of melodies you will ever hear in soca sparkling on a beat of pure confectionery perfection. This chune could give you diabetes. A wine when this chune playing does make you forget your bills, your problems and your ride home. With this chune, no one can ever call Angela Hunte a one hit wonder – not on my watch.
88) Swappi – Bucket
Swappi has found a great niche, teaming up with the Ultimate Rejects to dust off and apply updates and patches to ancient calypso classics. His re-brand has been successful as a new-school, lothario, calypso sagaboy. However, in 2012, after his Kartel-imitation phase, he hit his stride and a nice balance was found. In that year he dropped the underrated “Bubble on a deejay” and then quickly followed it up with “Bucket”, momentarily convincing people with no history of mental illness to abandon coolers and carry drinks in a bucket – it was subsequently abandoned for practical reasons. Either way, it’s still his best work.
87) Machel Montano – Illegal
In 2011, Machel was still dominant enough that his throwaways were still better than other artiste’s best treasures. This is the kinda chune to give you a stitch if you waist eh oil down properly. Inspiration for all top winers – “You could get charge, for wining like that.” Send me straight to jail.
86) Kes – Where Yuh From
Prior to “Wotless”, Machel passed the torch to Kes by accompanying him on the Electro Lights riddim. And in repayment, Kes blew his chune out the water.
85) Machel Montano – Showtime
Around 2017, Motto and the Dennery Segment/Bashment were low-key running soca. Shal was on the wave early doing his best Machel impression on “Dip“, which is a fine song in its own right, just missing this top 100. “Showtime” is Machel performing an OS upgrade on “Dip”, the rare kind that improves your phone speed from dead bolt to Usain Bolt. It also features one of the all time best opening Soca lines – “You! you gyal over there, time to make a movie.”
84) Voice x Wuss Ways x Travis World
This song is probably ranked too low but only because it’s still early – it was released one year ago. I preeing the scene in some fetes and boat rides recently and I have a sneaking suspicion it will be regarded at least 30 spots higher in time. The beat from Travis is pure epicness, skirting the EDM line as usual but still dropping in some iron for the downtown flex while Thunda’s voice booms triumphantly. It’s a huge encouragement seeing what Voice can achieve outside of his comfort zone, I hope he does more like this.
83) Machel Montano – Witch Doctor
Just riddim section and Machel’s voice. In 2012, the monk didn’t need much to conjure steady waistline movement.
82) Machel Montano x Kerwin Du Bois – Possessed
So many things could have gone wrong when Machel dreevayed to Africa and linked with the Ladysmith Black Mambazo group (popularized by a legendary skit in Sesame Street) for a soca collaboration. In retrospect, Machel couldn’t have chosen a better co-pilot for this adventure than writer extraordinaire and upcoming challenger to the throne Kerwin Du Bois. Kerwin’s production and writing pulled everything together in a way that is nothing short of genius. And he still found time to give himself the best verse:
“Taking over me, taking over mih soul
Is the kind of feeling that I cannot control
Messing with me body, messing with mih mind
Every time it hit mih man I does start to whine…”
The melody on “whi….iiii….iiiine”…gets me every time. Beautiful melody.
81) Ravi B – Ah Drinka
The true genius of this song is that it’s a rum song that isn’t really about rum. It’s about accepting me the way you met me. Let’s face it, that message is deeply resonant to us all. We all want to be accepted…doh try change mehhhh. That’s why it’s still his most popular song.
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