Soca Queen Destra Garcia Is Ready To Shake Up Pop
Soca imbues the listener with a sense of freedom and puckish abandon, but for those that make a living off it, the genre’s never-ending fête can sometimes be creatively limiting. The annual carnival in Trinidad, and the tour of international carnivals that follow through the rest of the year, require a steady stream of reliable hits from soca artists: formulaic songs that are full of countdowns to jump, crescendos to let your waistline loose, and sing-songy choruses perfect for chanting whilst drunk on rum.
Destra Garcia is one in a handful of Trinidadian soca singers who have successfully claimed their spot in an industry dominated by men, but the constraints of the genre have grown frustrating.