Soca music, Carnival anthems and Caribbean party classics
Trinidad and Tobago · Chutney Soca
Regarded as the mother of chutney soca.
“Dulahin (Prod. By StarBlu Entertainment) '2014 Trinidad Chutney Soca'.” Official video via JulianspromosTV (verified promoter channel).
Drupatee Ramgoonai is regarded as the mother of chutney soca: her 1987 crossover tune “Chutney Soca” gave the genre its name, and she is credited with bringing tassa drumming and Indian musical traditions into the Carnival mainstream. Born in Penal in 1958, she sang in the mandir with her mother, trained in Indian classical singing, and won local song categories on the Mastana Bahar cultural pageant in 1983 and 1984. Her 1988 hit “Mr Bissessar (Roll Up de Tassa)” was a Road March contender and made her an international name, and she followed it with songs like “Pepper” and “Hotter Than a Chulha.” As the first woman of Indian descent to sing calypso and soca in the tents, she faced scandal and resistance — and opened the door for every chutney soca artist after her. In 2025 she received the Hummingbird Medal Gold.