SOCA in JAPAN

Soca in Japan is a thing now and, after seeing the way dancehall has embedded itself into Japanese culture and vice versa over the last 20 years, you must think this connection will only keep growing.

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This deepening exchange between Tokyo and Trinidad inspired superproducer squad Precision Productions in the making of their second riddim release for Trinidad Carnival 2019, Osaka. Yesterday, we debuted the video for the first single on Osaka, “Personal” by 5-Star Akil, which also happens to be the first video ever shot in Japan by a Caribbean artist (You can see what a video from a Japanese soca artist looks like here, though!).

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The response to “Personal,” shot in Tokyo during last month’s Japan Soca Weekend, was phenomenal, so now we’ve got the entire five-track release to share with you. Up-and-coming vocal group LFS Music are up second with the feting anthem “Start It,” followed by Kerwin Du Bois’ “Right For Somebody” — the biographical track is sort of like a soca version of Biggie Smalls’ “Juicy.” Rounding out the release are anthems from Preedy (“Warm Up”) and the reigning, three-time International Soca Monarch Voice (“Alive and Well”).

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“It is surreal knowing you are creating indigenous music in the Caribbean and seeing people on the other side of the world, from a different culture, who don’t speak English, having fun and singing along to your music,” Precision Productions’ Kasey Phillips told us of the idea behind Osaka. “It made me want to work harder and keep doing all I can to spread my culture to the world.”

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Some big, ambitious tracks here: It will be interesting to see which ones catch on the most.

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Well if yuh ready, leh weh go!