Soca music has finally been given its own category in the Grammy Awards. This was announced on Friday at a gala cocktail reception for the International Soca Awards at the Trinidad and Tobago Consulate in New York.
By Wayne BowmanSonata Smith, a member of the Grammy Awards Voting Committee, said that beginning with the 2006 Grammy Awards, there will be an award for Best Soca Recording. She said the final arrangements came through too late for this to happen in 2005, but gave the assurance that everything has been put in place for voting to begin next year to select the songs that would be nominated for the first Grammy for soca music.
"Yes everyone, it is true. Soca now has its very own category at the Grammys. I now wish to encourage all who are involved in the recording industry to become voting members of the Grammys. This is it folks. We are on our way, but you all have to get involved by becoming members and voting. The next step is to get soca music playing on every radio station across the United States and the world," Smith said.
Smith is from Aruba and has been a fan of soca and other Caribbean music forms all her life. In 1999 she began an internship at the Grammys and began trying to convince the organisation to establish a category for soca. She travelled to Los Angeles to make a presentation to the executive committee. Smith said they were impressed with the research she had gathered and, after taking a vote, it was decided that the time had come for soca music to be officially recognised by the Grammys.
"I had to do a lot of research, which included going to the various islands collecting data and music. They had to know that the music was creating some sort of impact, at least within the Caribbean community. They did not know about the music and there was really nothing about it out there to make them sit up and take notice on their own. The song that I used as a sample was "Trini To The Bone" by David Rudder and Carl Jacobs, so you can see that Trinidad was given the recognition as the birthplace of the genre. I want everyone to get online and find out how to become a voting member of the Grammys. It is easy. All the information and how to access the forms are right there," Smith said.
The International Soca Awards, meanwhile, will be held today.
