3. Lord Shorty, “Shanty Om” Endless Vibrations 1974 (Trinidad)
The dude who actually invented soca, Lord Shorty openly declared it a vehicle for his vision of racial unity between Trinidadians of Indian and African descent–and this anthem is the perfect embodiment. Ironically it was banned briefly in Trinidad under pressure from Indian religious groups who objected to the Hindu sentiments being treated in a carnival song. Nobody objected to the monster Bollywood hit that followed a few years later, though: