Soca music is a dynamic mix of calypso and Indian music. The rhythm and rhythms of the soca are played with a lot of different Indian rhythmic instruments such as the dholak, tabla and dhantal. It is most popular in the Caribbean, but it also has a worldwide following.

Garfield Blackman, better known as Mr shorty and Ras Shorty I, was the innovator of Soca music. When Shorty was a kid, he always listened to Calypso or Indian music around him. He created Soca music by combining Indian and calypso music, and added a lot of rhythms with a lot of Indian rhythmic instruments. Lord Shorty first called this new musical style Solca, which represents the true “Soul of Calypso”. Solca became popularly known as Soca. Lord Shorty wanted Soca to “lift the spirits of the people.”

Soca swept across the world like a hurricane after several hits from Soca’s artist Arrow, including Hot Hot Hot.

Soca numbers by various other artists are also very popular. Soca continues to evolve towards new musical forms.

Jamoo

Jamoo is a mix of reggae and gospel, with a modest following. It was started by Lord Shorty after he stopped performing Soca. Jamoo spreads a message of kindness and spirituality, as Lord Shorty had originally wanted Soca to do. But Lord Shorty came to feel that the Soca artists were spreading bad messages in stark contrast to their original purpose: “to lift people’s spirits.”

A little about Shorty and her childhood

Garfield Blackman, who would become better known to the world as Lord Shorty and later Ras Shorty I, an extraordinary Calypso singer-songwriter who invented Soca Music and Jamoo Music, was born in Trinidad on October 6, 1941. During his childhood in Trinidad, Shorty was exposed to a sea of ​​music: Caribbean music from Calypso, music from West Africa, and music from the East Indies. As a child, Shorty “was inspired by his older brother George, who played the oral organ, and was so talented that he soon mastered the organ and the guitar,” recalls a cousin. Garfield Blackman AKA Lord Shorty AKA Ras Short. I started singing Calypso songs before I was seven.