Soca is a modern form of Calypso with an upbeat tempo. There is a popular misconception that Soca is a fusion of American soul music and traditional Calypso.

Hence the name “so-ca”, soul/calypso. Though this sounds plausible, it is not true. Soca music originated as a fusion of calypso with Indian rhythms, combining the musical traditions of the two major ethnic groups of Trinidad and Tobago.

Garfield Blackman, born October 6, 1941 in Lengua Trinidad, created the Soca rhythm. Blackman began singing Calypso at the tender age of seven. Performing under the name “Lord Shorty”, he rose to fame in 1963 with the recording of Cloak and Dagger. The name “Lord Shorty” belies his imposing height of six feet four inches.

It was the thought that calypso was dying and reggae was the new ting that prompted Lord Shorty to experiment with the calypso rhythm for nearly a decade. He combined Indian rhythm instruments (particularly the dholak, tabla and dhantal) with traditional calypso music. The result was a new energetic musical hybrid called soca.

In 1973, Lord Shorty introduced Soca to the world with his hit song “Indrani”. The release of his 1974 album Endless Vibrations prompted dozens of musicians to adopt the new soca style.

Lord Shorty initially referred to his musical hybrid as “solka”, representing the true “soul of calypso”. The name was later changed by a music journalist to the word “soca” as we know it.

The “indianisation” of calypso brought together the musical traditions of Trinidad and Tobago’s two major ethnic groups, the descendants of African slaves and the indentured labourers from India.

Today the music has spread and is popular in Guyana, the Caribbean and the world over.