Toppa Top ’16: The Best Soca Singles of 2016

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December 17, 2016


HONORABLE MENTION: Runtown featuring Machel Montano, Wizkid and Walshy Fire, “Bend Down Pause” (Remix)
benddownpause_carnivalremix-copy

Nigerian Afrobeats star Runtown’s “Bend Down Pause” wasn’t necessarily “a soca” when it first dropped but when Machel Montano joins the party in the middle of the Trinidad Carnival season, well that’s what it becomes, dammit. Released amidst hype over the arrival of Afro Soca — Soca with an African accent, or Afrobeats with a Caribbean twist — “Bend Down Pause” gets grouped with Afro-themed soca hits like Olatunji’’s “Ola” and “Oh Yay,” although rhythmically it pulls more from a dancehall tradition. In the end, the beauty of this song was how seamlessly it defied category, becoming a truly international anthem, exhorting girls from Trinidad to Jamaica to Nigeria to do exactly as the title says. — Jesse Serwer

Various Artists (St. Lucia) – Wahalla Riddim

Various Artists (St. Vincent) – Rebel Panda Riddim

Mr. Killa x Jus Now – Bam Bam

Lil Rick – Break Down De Fence

Scrilla – Gyal Drop

Machel Montano – Temperature

Destra – Dip and Ride

Nikita – Bun It Up

Ricardo Drue – Stamp Yuh Name