3. Marz Ville feat. Snap Brandy, “Bang Bim”
(Honorable Mention: Stiffy, “Tek Off Something”)
Bashment soca is a distinctly Bajan fusion of soca and vintage dancehall or, as one YouTube commenter put it brilliantly, “soca music that does mek ya wuk up stink stink with ya face push up and one leg in the air.” Although it’s been bubbling in Barbados since at least 2010, when Lil Rick’s “Go Down” became a massive hit, the sound really made its presence felt this year. LargeUp even produced a Bashment Soca mixtape with Barbados’ Jon Doe, bottling the raw energy of this growing sub-genre. The breakout song out of the Crop Over was Marz Ville’s “Bang Bim,” an exuberant anthem delivered over the infectious energy of DJ Spider’s One O’Clock riddim. One O’Clock is chock full of what Bajans might call dibbiness, like Stiffy’s “Tek Off Something,” which actually won the inaugural Bashment Soca Monarch competition — and belong just below “Bang Bim” as an honorable mention. But “Bang Bim” was literally unstoppable, hitting all the post-Crop Over Carnivals (New York, Miami, etc.) like a runaway Carnival truck. This is the song to “get on bad” to right now. — Jesse Serwer