BACA not happy with quality of Bashment soca

President of the Barbados Association of Creatives and Artistes (BACA), Sean Apache Carter, has issued a strong call for improved standards and lyrical content in Bashment Soca, even as he acknowledged the genre’s growing influence in Barbadian culture.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY, Carter did not mince words in expressing concern over the quality of some recent releases.

“There’s a ton of Bashment Soca that is just trash,” he stated frankly. “As president of BACA and BACA as an association, we don’t support it, we don’t condone it. We think that Bashment is something that is somewhat unique to Barbados, just as Spouge was, and if it’s unique and you’re using this thing to promote your culture, to promote your nation, to promote your festival, then better needs to be done. You can’t reward trash.”

Carter’s comments come on the heels of recent public criticism of artistes King Bubba’s and Faith Callender’s 2025 releases, for their controversial lyrical content.

Carter contrasted the efforts of veteran artistes with those of some newcomers; he noted that while seasoned acts like King Bubba and Faith have long-established brands, their efforts to expand into the Bashment soca arena, like a lot of newcomers, show a lack of serious intent with regards to the genre. He highlighted especially deficiencies in writing and production.

He said, “You have newer artistes who are coming out and they’re coming into the Bashment Soca thing and they say we’re doing this just to see if we get food. People don’t see King Bubba and Faith in that light; they see them as more seasoned entertainers, seasoned soca artistes, persons who have built their brand, who have made a name for themselves, and therefore, they don’t need to go there.”

He noted that Bashment Soca has emerged from a subculture into a more mainstream genre.

“But I think it’s laziness,” he said. “I think a lot of the artistes, whether they’re newer artistes, emerging artists or established artistes, I think the same thing that was said, that was said last

year and previously as it relates to the Pic O De Crop writers, the same thing applies to the Bashment Soca artistes as well. If this thing is uniquely ours, then there needs to be some standards that are put in place if this is what is raising the flag for Barbados.”

On a more optimistic note, Carter highlighted positive developments leading up to the 2025 Crop Over season. He confirmed that as of the May 15 deadline, all calypsonians participating in this year’s Pic-O-De-Crop competition have been registered, with tents already moving into the rehearsal phase.

He also commended efforts by the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) and producer at the NCF, Adisa Aja Andwele, for organising a series of writers’ workshops well in advance of the festival season, particularly in light of criticism levelled last year at the quality of some songs.

A review of last year’s Crop Over led the NCF’s CEO Carol Roberts to inquire why the calypsonians were not coming out to the writers workshops, since in her opinion the songs left much to be desired. “It was for two reasons; one it wasn’t advertised well enough, and two, it was too late. By the time the NCF was having these workshops, men were already done writing their songs. It didn’t really make sense for a lot of people to attend the workshops at that point in time because the process was already completed,” Carter noted.

“The NCF heard that, the NCF responded with good, adequate time to advertise the workshops, and then the workshops came earlier this year,” he said.

Among the facilitators were acclaimed regional and local talents, including Trinidadian writer Brian Landon, Barbados’ own Red Plastic Bag (RPB), and Eric Lewis. (SB)