Trinidad Culture, Soca Growing Fast In Jamaica - Not All Jamaicans Happy

There Has Been Some Push-Back Against Soca and Carnival in Jamaica

Timeline of Events 

In April 2016, popular Jamaican dancehall producer Skatta Burrell calls for a ban on Carnival and Soca music in Jamaica, as the threat of Trini culture which he labels as "not our own" was being accepted more by factions of Jamaican society over their own dancehall and reggae music. See Video

In January 2017, dancehall music key industry players accused corporate Jamaica of

Soca fans in Kingston, Jamaica enjoy
Trinidad's Caesars Army
 "Ambush Fete"

siding with soca against dancehall. With the previous month cancellation of their popular 'Sting' show due to lack of sponsorship still fresh in their minds they were appalled to see how corporate Jamaica easily found the funds for Soca and Carnival events as Carnival season approached. Read here

In April 2017, right before Jamaica Carnival weekend, the push back against Trinidad culture infiltrating into Jamaican society reached the Television airwaves. In this video footage you clearly see the two opposing arguments being argued by a panel of Jamaican culture stakeholders

Trini Soca Star Kes performs at
2018 edition of "I Love Soca"
in Kingston, Jamaica 

In March 2020, In a push back against growing Soca season in Jamaica, a new 'dancehall' Road March was launched in Kingston. In a nut shell it is a carbon copy of Trinidad's Carnival road march with the intention to showcase dancehall instead of soca but still using the magic of Carnival,  masqueraders parading the streets in dancehall influenced costumes alongside music trucks on the road playing dancehall music. The event manager who is  Jamaica's original dancehall Queen, Carlene Smith made a public statement to her Jamaican audience during the launch ceremony saying "We own dancehall, it is our genre, our music and culture", highlighting the subliminal theme of 'our music first'  Read Here

In between the above mentioned events there have been an outcry among many in Jamaica, especially players in the dancehall music industry who have argued on social media and through their individual platforms to their fans that soca which is foreign is being more accepted than their own dancehall music in Jamaica. However despite the push-back, we see more and more soca events each year in Jamaica with many young Jamaicans flocking their venues to fete and party like they have seen on the internet from different parts of the world. Some of Jamaica's bigger soca annual events are "I Love Soca - Jamaica" and also "Xamayca International"

There is no question that both countries, despite similar colonial histories and shared political interests still gave us two very different cultures which are shared and loved around the world

For more on Soca music visit Soca Music Tv on Facebook

By Jason Diaz
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