Soca Season 2020: all the hits for Trinidad carnival 🇹🇹🇱🇨🇧🇧🇬🇩🇩🇲🇦🇬🇧🇸🇰🇳🇻🇨

The innovative, radical soul of Guadeloupe explored across thirty years of contemporary gwoka music.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As Guadeloupean vocalist and composer Marie-Line Dahomay writes in her liner notes to the compilation, gwoka is more than a style of music, it is “a way of living and thinking.”

Rooted in the social, musical and ritual practices of enslaved African people and their descendants on Guadeloupe, gwoka has always sought to express the spirit of independence and resistance authentic to the island.

Building on its traditional call-and-response form and the ideas of pivotal figures like Gérard Lockel and Christian Laviso, modern gwoka evolved throughout the second half of the twentieth century to include funk, jazz and electronic influences.

Defined by its propensity for innovation and experimentation, this compilation charts the most radical changes to modern gwoka, capturing a sensory riot of traditional répertoires, rhythms and makè techniques fused with a rich seam of genre-defying experimentation.

Whether heard in the deeply cosmic, spiritual music of Dao, Freydy Doressamy and Gaoulé Mizik, or the jazz funk inflections of Gui Konket and Horizon, the music here is united by the feeling of santiman ka, crucial not only to gwoka music but the identity of Guadeloupe at large.

As co-curator Cédric Lassonde writes: “What unifies these selections is the depth of the compositions, the experimentation around the santiman ka, and the spirit of resistance and liberation against slavery, be it modern or ancestral. With a thirst for innovation typical of the island’s creole culture, the ka spirit is deeply rooted in collective history and in a quest for identity.”

Co-curator Brandon Hocura continues: “The creative energy of these musicians is powerful and demonstrates a universal pursuit of resistance, freedom and identity. Their voices are distinct, but the chorus rises high and carries their message far across the sea.”

Released on double LP, L’Esprit Ka: New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010 is the first compilation of its kind to bring the sound of modern gwoka to a wider audience, with many of the musicians features still active today.

Presented with typical attention to detail, the release features a specially commissioned essay by Guadeloupean musician Marie-Line Dahomey, and extensive liner notes from Cédric Lassonde and Séance Centre’s Brandon Hocura. 

True to the hybrid nature of the music, the compilation seeks not to provide a definitive sound, but express the variety of contemporary forms gwoka has grown to take. Just as Guadeloupean trailblazers Kassav fused gwoka with funk and cadence to create zouk, so did the musicians on this collection push gwoka in new directions rarely heard beyond its shores.

In the words of Gérard Lockel, “gwoka is the soul of Guadeloupe”.

Lèspri Ka : New Directions in Gwo Ka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-201

Gui Konket - Kimbé Rèd!

X-Treme Riddim

Glue Riddim

Jungle Warrior Sound(vs Maverick): Chapeltown, Leeds, UK - 1988.....
Wicked mix of dubplate specials, plastic + live deejays from Jungle Warrior...
Featuring : Dando, Goldfinger, Gappy, Brixton, Prento, Judge Dean, Banton, Mr Ling, Yankee, Squashy & Kushi Banton....
**LISTEN OUT FOR THE WICKED LITTLE CLARKIE DUBPLATE SPECIAL !**
This is the first ever Jungle Warrior Sound audio published online....
Jungle Warrior Sound started around 1979 in the Chapeltown area of Leeds, UK - and are still playing as a sound system today - check out this recent interview with the Jungle Warrior crew by Hoppa Hendrickson here :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZKPfHhRSqM
Big Respect goes out to Blacka Brown for digging out this tape from the archives & for all the HARASSMENT I've given him over the years for tapes !!
Big Respect goes out to Guvna Gregah for converting the tape onto digital format and enhancing the audio so that it could be shared online....
The photo accompanying this audio shows some of the Jungle Warrior crew from 1982 .....

Jungle Warrior Sound (vs Maverick) : Chapeltown, Leeds, UK - 1988

Famine Riddim

A l'aube de la finale de la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 2024, Afro FC et Trap Africa célèbrent la fin de la CAN du siècle avec une discussion et des dj sets !

Rinse France Podcast

La CAN à Paris : Takeover avec Afro FC & Trap Africa - 10 Février 2024

Who here likes POWER SOCA?

A mixtape for the masqueraders, who’ve been on the road for 24 hours already! Sun-soaked, rum-delirious, tired feet and full hearts, who need those extra BPMs and emotions in the music to get them over the carnival finish line.

Released online for Trinidad & Tobago Carnival Tuesday 2024 (and broadcast on Saturday 10th Feb on Ujima Radio 98 FM). 

>>>>>Tracklist>>>>>
Melick - Stick
Lyrikal - No Other
Swappi - Bike
Skinny Fabulous - Shameless
Problem Child - Rum Sweet
Kerwin Du Bois - Benderella
Mical Teja - DNA (Official NMG Road Mix)
Hey Choppi, Chalmer John, Raw Lyfe - Saga Boy
Skinny Fabulous - Fully Bad
Bunji Garlin - Carnival Contract (Travis World Road Mix)
Ultimate Rejects - Firefly
Skinny Fabulous x Asa Bantan x Mr Killa - Do What You Want
Bunji Garlin - Jump Up
Nailah Blackman - Round & Rosie
Trinidad Killer - Riot
Mr Renzo ft Jeico, Beivor, Gregor Style - Sube Las Manos
Bunji Garlin - Links
Preedy - Beatin Road
Travis World - Hell Yeah (Instrumental)
Skinny Fabubous - Hell Yeah
Yung Bredda - Heart Attack
Patrice Roberts - Anxiety (Madness Muv, Marcus Williams Road Mix)
Bunji Garlin - Today
Nailah Blackman, Pumpa - Born to Fly
Voice, Patrice Roberts - Carnival Day
Bunji Garlin - Hard Fete (DSM League X Marcus Williams World Mix)
Destra - Devotion (Razorshop Roadmix)
Skinny Fabulous, Lyrikal - Hurricane
Terra D Governor - Bag Ah Sugar
Bunji Garlin - Entering Greenzland
Kes, Tano - Miracle
Zeek - Rum Please
Dat-C DQ - Cock Back
Muddy & Squeezehead, Lil Natty & Thunda - Freedom

Las Lap Mix

Rinse FM Podcast - The Heatwave - 27th July 2015

Broadcast on London's Capital Radio & Jamaica's JBC on 23 Feb 85, just as the Sleng Teng riddim was taking off - loads of exclusive dubplates

Capital Radio 23 Feb 85

David Rodigan vs Barry G - Reggae Soundclash

Paying homage to arguably the greatest dancehall producer of all time. Fifty Dave Kelly records to mark his 50th birthday.

Dave Kelly is the man behind genre-defining riddims such as Pepperseed, Showtime and Joyride plus huge crossover hits like Action, Dude and Ghetto Story. His innovations have spawned a thousand imitations and his pioneering productions have powered dancehall’s progress over the past three decades.

Much more than just a riddim builder, Dave Kelly’s songwriting and artist development shaped the careers of countless collaborators including Cham, Bounty Killer, Wayne Wonder, Buju Banton, Spice, Terror Fabulous, Beenie Man, Daddy Screw, Spragga Benz and Lady Saw.

Follow The Heatwave
instagram.com/the_heatwave
twitter.com/theheatwave
facebook.com/theheatwaveUK

Dave Kelly 50/50 | Vinyl Splash on NTS | October 2019

Check Out Rinse on Youtube:

Kano with SK Vibemaker - smarturl.it/kanointerview
IZCO with Jkarri & Dochi - smarturl.it/Izcojkarridochi
Grime Originals - smarturl.it/grimeoriginalsrinse1
Logan Sama - smarturl.it/logansamarinseyoutub

The Heatwave - 13 February 2020

Rinse FM

Recent comments

The Heatwave

Related tracks