IslandMix

why since sean pual blow up an elephant man gettin noticed now everybody all of ah sudden again wah soca make it mainstream to what is mainstream in allyuh definition that musse go put food on yuh table who gives ah flyin fack.i think the problem is that allyuh caribean ppl want the world to just know is not jamaicans alone in the caribbean cause up to this day i may go out an the first thing if ah talk with ah accent is are u jamaican,live with it jamaica is popular an they always been popular to foreigners due to bob marley marcus garvey an others live with it ,soca good right way it is i eh worried bout seeing soca on bet no time soon that eh benefittin me:

personally... I always wanted soca to go mainstream... before sean paul buss on the "american circuit". I always wanted people to knw my music and appreciate it as much as i do... this has NOTHING to do wit reggae.... for me this is about sharing and letting people know my music. If soca go mainstream or not, i still have bills to pay and i still stressed.. but atleast i know a few more people hearing my music and loving and buying it

i not sayin nothing as reggae i just sayin ppl see now reggae get ah lil light an they all of ah sudden jump back on the soca mainstream talk ,i want other ppl to appreciate my culture but soca goin mainstream aint the only way

I can understand why people want soca music to go "mainstream"...I think they jus wan hear it more pon de "FM" stations regularly. However, "mainstream" in the radio industry usually means a larger white audience, and therefore every soca group would be in danger of becoming the Baha Men (no offense to my bahamian people). The white folks love them and "Who let the Dogs Out" was their #1 tune...they even made a techno version of it. Besides soca compilations, if you go into any of the "big" record stores the only artist they really carry is the Baha Men. I don't think their music is that hot..do you? That group will probably continue to try make those kinds of records from now on. However, that's what being mainstream does for you. I think soca is fine where it is and I'd be fine if it went mainstream without becoming watered downed for the masses.

I don't think it has anything to do with Sean Paul or Elephant Man, ppl are just tired of listening to de seniors choice *lib...& with (NO DISRESPECT) Vibe, de fire station & bashment going down all of the time, it's a little frustrating to only be able to listen to hip hop stations or watch "BET" & not be able to listen to "our" music...or even when it comes to the awards, why isn't there a soca category, I think that soca is just as creative as hip hop, country, reggae, rock...so why can't they recieve these big awards also, it's not about who's putting food on my table, because, that is taken cared of, but, I LOVE MUSIC!!!

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Stop fighting the next man down & try building yourself up!

If soca going mainstream means coming wattered down like sean paul then i say forget it soca is good where it is right now. that baha men sh*t is terrible and does embaress me everytime i hear it in public. that is NOT soca, the anslem tune was the original we all know that. anyway, sean paul just got on and is already getting watered down with things like that beyonce song he have. Soca is what it is but what we really need is a FM station that can pick up all about the tri state area. bashment and vibe and all them dont see this... but if other non west indian people start flipping through their stations and hear soca, they might say hmm this sounds interesting, kind of like reggae, a little more up tempo and a little happier sounding, and they might start to listen to it. thats how it would get more popular, by bringing it to the people by our OWN radio station. we arent going to get anywhere by hoping a soca record gets played on hot 97 or 105 or z100 or any of those other corny stations. so this is what needs to happen if soca is to go mainstream.

point-man, thanks for bringing this topic up. I was baffled by the all this talk of soca going mainstream and still I can not figure it out. I think everyone brought up good points on this issue. I'm not sure it would be such a great thing if soca went mainstream. There is a good chance the music would become watered down. Now that doesn't mean that soca lovers shouldn't be able to hear the music on the radio and there most definitely should be a soca category at awards shows. My question is how many soca lovers actually buy cds and why are there no soca videos on MTV and BET.

ok alyuh know wat......stop dis mudda hell talk..as black ppl we all shud juss support all black music :) hip hop rap reggae calypso zouk soca,bet shud play all black music cause its a black channel...all music does sound good...if dem give soca a chance it will make it juss it need to be open out more...how i know it will make..look i was in school and dis white fella from Turkey.,dat country far far around russia side..if he cud here it and like de musice cud make it..juss dat ppl like to put down de music, music is music any den again black ppl juss ignorant. yea yea sneaky juss puttin down some words of wisedom.... :) love all black music cause all ah we come from mother africka

hahahaahahahha sneakkkkkkkkkyyyyyyyyy whamnin yuh in hiding these days ahwah

wham soldier i dey hoss juss kool playinde fool..was de scne how dem woman and dem goin....point like yuh busssin yuh draws jed

i agree with you...
i aint black, but i guarantee in NYC 5 boroughs at least, as well as many new jersey cities, a good percentage of black people have west indian roots. Because of this, BET should run a daily/weekly show or something about west indian culture and music. something like caribbean riddims, but not as terrible. that show really sucked, it became SO wattered down i wish they would stop running it. they played shaggy videos, thats how bad it is.
--and jus because i aint black it dont mean i dont support "black music".. trinidad chutney aint all dat. i love meh soca music 100% to the fullest

I love soca music where it is right now. We know our soca artist as if they are our family or friends. We can book them w/o the competition from american promoters. People are only hype on reggae right now, but let Sean Paul make a song that isn't #1 on the charts and watch the american public call reggae a fad, something that isn't popular anymore. Take what Beyonce did to Sean Paul at the MTV awards, not allowing him to sing his part in the song. They don't care for the caribbean artist. They just want to use us for their own benefit.

operation stealth heat meh boy silent killer force recon 22th mar div hahahahaha

I think our sweet soca music deserves as much air time on all the radio stations and music television networks just like everyone else music. We paid our dues and we also deserve music awards just like everyone else. Anyway, I plan to be one of the peeps helping to make it happen for some of our very talented soca artist:

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Yes I'm the chick who's work has been featured and quoted in the NY Times, NY Daily News, NY Post, Carib World News, Fox, Fashion Leadge Magazine, JA Gleaner, Star, Trinidad Express, the Punch and countless other media sources. My "A" list clients make over $500K per event. So I'm not accepting "volunteer" applications. Don't Hate The Playa Hate The Game B!tches. While your biggest claim to fame is an internet attention whore and President of yuh Imix Bulla men Bacchanal club.LOL

THIS TALK SEEMS TO ALWAYS COME AROUND WHEN A DANCEHALL ARTIST MAKES IT MAINSTREAM. COUPLE YEARS AGO IT WAS SHAGGY AND WE HOPING THAT MACHEL OR SOMEBODY WAS GOING TO DO IT FOR SOCA. NOW SEAN PAUL MADE IT MAINSTREAM AND WE HAVING HOPES AGAIN WITH KEVIN LITTLE AND THE BIG TIME ARTISTS OF TODAY.

BUT AS LONG AS I KNOW , SEE AND WITNESS THE MERRYMENT AND JOY THAT SOCA MUSIC BRINGS TO WE OR SOME OF WE CARIBBEAN PEOPLE...IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER TO ME MUCH IF SOCA MAKES IT BIG TO THE MEAN STREAM OR NOT.

WHAT REALLY SHOULD MATTER TO US IS TO LOVE IT AND KEEP LOVING IT AND MAKE SURE THAT IT REMAINS OURS OR AH FU WE TING!.

NOW IF IT MAKES IT MAINSTREAM, IT WOULD BE GREAT BUT WE MUST BE MINDFUL OF THE VULTURES THAT OWN D MAINSTREAM. IT COULD END UP BEING A PASSING FAD LIKE LATIN MUSIC WITH RICKY MARTIN OR WHAT GOING ON CURRENTLY WITH DANCEHALL, EVENTHOUGH I WOULDN'T COUNT DANCEHALL OUT YET.

NOW, IF SOCA MAKES IT MAINSTREAM, MY HOPE IS THAT WE HIT THEM WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT STYLES THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO REALLY SIT DOWN AND TAKE NOTICE.

SOCA HAVE BEEN KNOCKING ON THE DOORS FOR A LITTLE WHILE NOW. A FEW TUNES HAVE TAPPED INTO THE MAINSTREAM ALREADY THOSE BEING HOT, HOT, HOT BY ARROW AND WHO LET THE DOGS OUT BY ANSLEM DOUGLAS.DENISE BELFONE 'S WORK HAD SOME AIR PLAY ON SOME MAINSTREAM STATIONS IN NYC. BURNING FLAMES' ISLAND GIRL WAS ON A MOVIE SOUNDTRACK AND DAVID RUDDER HAD A TUNE ON ANOTHER MOVIE (DON'T RECALL ITS NAME) AND SPARROW HAD SEVERAL TUNES PLAYED IN CLUB PARADISE AND WHO KNOWS HOW MANY OTHERS.

BUT AS LONG AS SOCA CONTINUE TO KEEP WE HAPPY THE WAY WE LIKE IT THAT IS ALL THAT SHOULD MATTER TO WE. AND WE MUST LOVE WE CULTURE FOR WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT DOES US. IF THE REST OF THE WORLD EVER HAS THE OPPURTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THAT FEELING...LOOK OUT!