All A Wi Contributing to the Genre

Pile and Driving New Music into the Industry

It’s been awhile since I’ve written but we are in a very busy period with a lot of new songs and the news of an onslaught of events coming up. While Miami and Cayman get ready for their carnivals (we’ll discuss THAT later), I’m more focused on the new music, more specifically from Jamaica.

As it isn’t foreign to see that Jamaican artistes have released soca songs, it’s definitely more evident in the last couple years that more and more artistes are “putting dem foot” in the soca scene. With the release of Konshens’ 2020 album “Soca Virgin” and Zj Sparks “So Crash Riddim” released April 2021 featuring our very own Teejay and Brush1 Chromatic, it’s obvious that Jamaica is creating its own space in the soca industry with our own unique flavour.

As I said before, Jamaicans producing soca riddims or singing soca songs is not something new. Some of our favourite riddims have either been wholly or partially produced by a Jamaican like Upendo Riddim (2018), Toco Loco, Yard Jam, Fourth Quarter Riddim (2019), Super Soca (2020) and Candy Shack Riddim (2021); and to be honest is nuff Jamaicans dabble in soca from Beenie Man and Munga to Ding Dong, Shenseea, Charly Blacks and even Vybz Kartel (Yes people, it’s more than just Bicycle Ride Remix). Shoutout to Klassik Frescobar and Brush1 for holding down the fort for Jamaica consistently.

I believe we should specifically keep our eyes on Brush1 as by himself as a young entertainer, he has shown that Jamaicans deserve a space in the soca scene. Not only has he emceed at Carnival in Jamaica, Trinidad Carnival, CayMas (Cayman Carnival) but he also has a small arsenal of soca songs such as All A Wi (2020) and Pile and Drive on the So Crash Riddim. I had the pleasure of interviewing Brush on Carnival Curfew at Newstalk 93fm (Check it out on Saturdays 1-3 p.m) and we not only spoke about Pile and Drive but his views on Jamaicans and soca.

When asked about Pile and Drive and inspiration for the song, Brush said that the idea for the song just came to him in the moment. In the video on the right Brush1 explains a part of his thought process behind "Pile and Drive".

When the topic of what pushed him to release a song during the pandemic, he said it’s about keeping the genre alive. We play and sing it because we love it. As Erphaan said we’re trying to push the soca global just like reggae. It’s not seasonal, the music is needed all year round. He followed up by saying he’s happy that the soca artistes are still putting out music because as we can all remember when the pandemic just came upon us music output definitely slowed down and even now it’s still less than usual but he said he’s happy that they’re still trying to keep the genre alive and relevant.

Following up with talk about Mr. No Seasons we asked Brush how he would push soca, he said it’s about the small things. Small linkups and gatherings like Savannah for those that would know. He also said he believed people are more likely to try it if they see more hard-core dancehall people vibing to it.

All in all, although we don’t necessarily have a name for the Jamaican Soca subgenre right now we can definitely agree that we should look out for more from Brush1 and Jamaica on a whole in the soca scene with our unique sound and vibe as we continue pushing the soca internally and externally.

- JaCarnivalist