Words by LargeUp Crew
Photo by Colin Williams
No matter how you slice it, 2015 was a sweet year for soca. The usual suspects (Machel Montano, Kerwin Du Bois, Destra) made some of their best music yet, while newer names like Olatunji and Lyrikal made moves towards a place in the genre’s top rung. Barbados and smaller islands like Antigua, St. Lucia and tiny Carriacou made their mark, too, with top-flight anthems that traveled far beyond their local Carnivals.
We’re so hyped on this year’s crop of soca that we had to go extra long, with 15 (actually, 16) picks, just to scratch the surface. And we couldn’t even pick one No. 1. After much debate, we found two tracks were equally worthy of top status, so in the tradition of International Soca Monarch’s dual crowns, we’ve got two “winners” this year.