Soca Artist Profiles

Ras Shorty I (Lord Shorty)

Ras Shorty I (Lord Shorty)

Ras Shorty I (October 6, 1941-July 12, 2000) was a soca musician, known as the Father of Soca and The Love Man. He was born Garfield Blackman in Lengua, Trinidad and Tobago, and rose to fame as Lord Shorty with his 1963 hit "Clock and Dagger". He started out writing songs and performing in the calypso genre. In the 1970s, he began experimenting with calypso by blending it with the local chutney--- the music of Trinidad's East Indian population-- using instruments such as the sitar and tabla. The style was dubbed soca.

Lord Shorty, as he is still known, released his hit song "Indrani" in 1973, which is considered the first recorded soca piece. The following year's Endless Vibrations earned him a devoted fan base, and a following of musicians who began performing in his style. His fame continued to grow throughout the 1970s, and he became one of the country's top performers. He recorded tracks such as Kim and Money Eh No Problem, which was a stinging political and social commentary based on the words of Trinidad's then Prime Minister, Eric Williams of the People's National Movement. Money Eh No Problem was used in a political advertising campaign in 2000 for the United National Congress.

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