2025: A Watershed Year for Soca
2025 has been a watershed year for soca.
From a purely musical standpoint, the parallel rise of The Greatest Bend Over and Dansa, in separate but complementary lanes, is particularly significant. Both records are pacing at levels historically associated with long-term soca classics, occupying a space somewhere between Tempted to Touch and Turn Me On in terms of sustained replay value and global familiarity. Very few soca songs have ever approached this tier.
Beyond streaming milestones, including the growth of groovy soca and Jab Jab, the genre saw major touring and stadium sold-out shows generating hard ticket sales and, several Soca songs earned sync placements in major movies and TV, showing that the genre’s reach is growing beyond traditional Carnival and festival circuits, 2025 represents one of the most consequential years for soca in the modern era. Many of these developments are firsts, or near-firsts, and they point less to a peak than to a potential acceleration heading into 2026.
The data suggests that Soca has the potential and quietly is no longer growing in a single lane, but across multiple, reinforcing fronts.
Top Songs of 2025
This is a data-driven Year-End Top 28.
Methodology
The Soca Source Top Songs of 2025 ranking is determined by aggregate performance across all major platforms including but not limited to, Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Audiomack, Deezer, Tidal, Pandora, Shazam, TikTok, and Radio Airplay, weighted by cumulative consumption, chart longevity, and geographic spread.
Eligible songs were released between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025.
#1 Soca Song of 2025
The Greatest Bend Over – Yung Bredda, Full Blown
Produced by Full Blown
Released: Early December 2024 (Big Links Riddim)
The Greatest Bend Over finishes 2025 as the #1 Soca song of the year. This was not simply the #1 song of the year; it is a permanent addition to the Soca canon. Its unmatched consistency across the entire calendar year was driven by sustained listener demand, cultural resonance, and repeat consumption. As a result, it now stands as Yung Bredda’s most-streamed song across all platforms and one of the clearest examples of a Soca record. transitioning from seasonal success into long-term catalog relevance.
From its late-December 2024 debut through year-end 2025, the record remained a constant presence at the top of the genre’s listening ecosystem, setting new benchmarks for sustained consumption in modern Soca.
The track entered the Soca Source Worldwide Chart in mid-December 2024, and never left the chart for the entirety of 2025. Within weeks of its release, the song secured the #1 on spot on Apple Music’s All Genres chart in Trinidad & Tobago, holding the top spot for 52 consecutive days, an unprecedented streak for a contemporary soca release (SocaRecords.com, “A Historic Streaming Run”). From the onset, the track was establishing itself as a significant Soca release, it would eventually spending 21 weeks on the Soca Source Worldwide #1, alongside 12 straight weeks of uninterrupted leadership, and the entire year inside the Top 5, the highest sustained upper-tier residency of any record in 2025.
In its first calendar year, the track generated approximately 14 million Spotify streams, the highest single-year total recorded in at least the past six years for a Soca release. That equates to nearly 37,000 Spotify streams per day, a level of sustained consumption more than ten times what previously defined top-tier Soca performance. The track is now a modern companion in streaming to the classic Turn Me On, which generates over 50,000 Spotify streams per day.
By year’s end, daily Spotify plays remained more than three times higher than legacy classics such as Tempted to Touch, while surpassing current Spotify totals of some of the biggest tracks in recent Soca history, including Too Real (2014: 14M), Mind My Business (2021: 12M), and Savannah Grass (2019: 11M).
Geographically, the scale of adoption was unprecedented for a first-year Soca release. The Greatest Bend Over charted in 147 countries on Apple Music and iTunes, reaching the Apple Music Top 100 in 33 countries and hitting the #1 position in 17 of them. Across Apple Music and iTunes Reggae charts, the song reached #1 in 54 countries, while Deezer placements included a #1 ranking in Jamaica and sustained chart presence across multiple African and European markets. On Spotify, the record appeared on Viral Charts in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, and held prolonged positions on Local Pulse charts in cities such as New York and Toronto. TikTok and Shazam data further confirmed the song’s cross-platform resonance, with measurable activity spanning North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Listener distribution data reinforces this global profile. Monthly listener concentrations in London, Toronto, New York, Nairobi, Auckland, Sydney, and Port of Spain illustrate a balance between potential crossover markets and core Caribbean audiences. This pattern suggests organic adoption across culturally distinct regions rather than dependence on a single market or viral corridor.
The cumulative data across platforms, markets, and time ultimately places The Greatest Bend Over at #1 for the year. The song demonstrates Soca’s capacity for global scale, extended lifespan, and international relevance when supported by both organic momentum and strategic amplification.
#2 Soca Song of 2025
Dansa – Klassik Frescobar
Produced by DJ Kalli & Boogy Rankss
Released: Late January 2025
Dansa finishes 2025 as the #2 Soca song of the year. Its year-end position reflects a late-forming but sustained surge in global listener demand, driven by repeat consumption and organic international discovery.
Over the course of the year, that momentum transformed the record from a quiet release into one of the most widely consumed independent Soca tracks of the streaming era. As a result, Dansa stands as a clear example of how Soca records can achieve long-term relevance outside the traditional Carnival-first release cycle.
Overlooked by the Soca community deep inside the Trinidad Carnival element during much of Q1, Dansa did not appear on Soca charts in its initial release window. By early Q2, it began to surface organically, accelerating sharply in the second half of the year. The track is now set to close 2025 just shy of 10 million Spotify streams, with projections pointing toward 11 million by its first birthday, achieved almost entirely through independent momentum.
From July onward, Dansa became one of the most consumed Soca records globally, generating nearly 8 million Spotify streams in five months. Growth was driven largely by African markets, particularly Kenya and Nigeria, placing the track on a fundamentally different trajectory than traditional carnival-first Soca releases. This allowed the song to gain international prominence before fully circulating in Caribbean festival circuits.
On average, Dansa generated approximately 28,000 daily Spotify streams, a consumption rate 2x that of long-standing classics such as Tempted to Touch, an early indicator of long-term durability. Within a year, the track entered the Top 20 most-streamed Soca songs of all time on Spotify, positioning itself between legacy hits like Machel Montano’s Like a Boss and Bunji Garlin’s Big Bad Soca, despite those songs having an eight-to-ten-year head start.
The track also became the most-streamed song for Klassik Frescobar, surpassing Klassik’s prior breakthrough Too Much with Marzville, itself a major hit with four additional years to accumulate streams. Notably, the official music video arrived months after the song had peaked, reinforcing that Dansa succeeded primarily through audience-led adoption, modern digital tactics, and street-level promotion rather than traditional rollout mechanics.
As documented, Dansa penetrated multiple African markets, peaking in Nigeria’s Spotify Viral Top 100 and maintaining sustained engagement in Kenya, Uganda, and Gambia, a rare international footprint for a Soca release (SocaRecords.com, “Dansa by Klassik Frescobar: Unlocking New Audiences for Soca”). Its impact extended to France, Belgium, and other regions outside the Caribbean, illustrating a blueprint for global Soca expansion.
By year’s end, Dansa had charted in 120 countries, reflecting platform-wide expansion that began outside the Caribbean and consolidated globally.
Early traction emerged across African markets, where the track entered Audiomack’s weekly Top 100 in 11 countries, 80% of them in Africa. Momentum peaked with a historic run on Spotify’s Viral Nigeria chart, where Dansa reached #2 and remained charted for 57 days, the longest Viral-chart residency in Africa ever recorded for a Soca release. Parallel Viral appearances in the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and the Netherlands, alongside a prolonged Local Pulse presence in Toronto, signaled that the song’s reach was no longer market-specific but structurally global.
As discovery accelerated, additional platforms reinforced the same pattern. On Deezer, Dansa peaked at #9 in Jamaica while entering the Top 100 in Romania and Thailand. On YouTube, it reached the Top 100 in Kenya, while TikTok activity surfaced across South Africa, Nigeria, the UK, Belgium, Portugal, France, and Lebanon. Shazam data mirrored this expansion, placing the track among the most identified songs in cities such as New York, London, Toronto, and Paris, while also entering the Top 200 in multiple African and European countries. Apple Music and iTunes data further underscored this durability, with Dansa appearing on the Top 200 charts in 41 countries.
In 2025, Dansa carved out a distinct lane. Its independent rise, African market penetration, and unconventional trajectory mark one of the strongest finishes in Soca history. The track demonstrates that even without a label or its exposure tied to a specific carnival, a song with authentic audience engagement and modern digital strategy can achieve extraordinary global reach.
#3 Soca Song of 2025
Cocoa Tea – Kes
Produced by Tano
Released: Mid-November 2024
Cocoa Tea finishes 2025 as the #3 Soca song of the year. This placement reflects more than seasonal success; it marks a clear inflection point in the evolution of the Kes/Tano catalogue. The record held attention well beyond its release window, maintaining consistent engagement across platforms as listeners returned to it throughout the year. In doing so, Cocoa Tea demonstrated how an Artist with an established fan base can generate long-term streaming demand, not just seasonal traffic, within today’s consumption cycle.
By its first birthday, the record generated approximately 9 million Spotify streams, marking a clear step forward not only by Soca standards, but within the Kes/Tano catalogue itself. In a single year, the track surpassed prior career highs such as Tack Back (2023: 6.5M) and Jub Jub (2022: 6.3M), achieving in twelve months what earlier releases did not reach in over two years.
Importantly, this performance was achieved without a traditional music video. Beyond lyric visuals, Cocoa Tea relied entirely on the song’s musical and lyrical imagery, reinforcing the strength of the record itself rather than visual-driven promotion. The track was also the first major release of the season to debut at #1 on the Soca Source charts, establishing early leadership that carried through the Carnival period despite not being positioned as a high-energy fete record. Instead, its groovy composition aligned with broader global listening preferences, demonstrating the continued strength of that lane within modern Soca.
Platform data reflects a familiar but powerful Kes footprint. Cocoa Tea charted in 137 countries across platforms. On Audiomack, the track entered the weekly Top 100 rankings across much of the Caribbean. On Deezer, the track reached #1 in Jamaica and remained charted for nearly five months, while also entering the Top 100 in Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and Slovakia. Shazam activity concentrated across North America and the United Kingdom, consistent with Kes’ established global strongholds. On Spotify, the track went Viral in Canada and held prolonged Local Pulse positions in New York City and Toronto.
Cocoa Tea’s performance reflects a different, but equally important, model of global reach, one rooted in a mature, loyal listener base that continues to grow year over year. While its momentum was supported by Trinidad Carnival, the song’s success was not defined by fete culture, underscoring the breadth of Soca’s appeal beyond seasonal energy records.
Viewed in context, a #3 finish in 2025 is anything but marginal. When coupled with Kes’ broader trajectory, including sold-out arenas across Canada, record-setting hard-ticket sales, and expanding placements in film and media, Cocoa Tea reinforces a multi-year trend. Measured year over year, the Kes/Tano partnership expanded at roughly three times its previous growth rate, signaling sustained audience expansion. Daily Spotify consumption for Cocoa Tea now exceeds 20,000 streams per day, currently more than triple the pace of Tack Back and Jub Jub, and comfortably above long-standing genre benchmarks such as Tempted to Touch.
Over the past three seasons, Kes and Tano have consistently delivered among the strongest-performing songs of the year, helping to redefine both the sonic direction of Soca and the ceiling for its global streaming and exposure.
#4 Soca Song of 2025
Good Spirits – Full Blown
Produced by Full Blown
Released: Early December 2024 (Big Links Riddim)
Good Spirits finishes 2025 as the #4 Soca song of the year. This placement reflects more than seasonal impact; it marks a significant milestone for Full Blown as artists and producers stepping into the spotlight. Its performance across the calendar year was driven by sustained listener adoption, repeated plays, and steady engagement across multiple global markets.
The track achieved a truly global footprint, charting on over 100 platforms and in more than 30 countries on Apple Music and iTunes alone. On Deezer, it reached top positions in Jamaica and Saudi Arabia, while Spotify placements included Local Pulse charts in New York City and Toronto, reflecting engagement in key diaspora hubs. Shazam activity confirmed the song’s popularity across North America and the UK, and TikTok recognized it on the UK Popular chart.
Within its first calendar year, the track crossed 6 million Spotify streams, doubling what had previously defined elite performance for a Soca release. In doing so, it surpassed benchmarks set by Like Yuh Self (2023: 5.8M), Come Home (2022: 5.5M), and DNA (2023: 4.3M), achieving this level of sustained consumption without a Road March campaign.
Averaging roughly 17,000 Spotify streams per day, Good Spirits performed at a level comparable to Tempted to Touch, underlining the scale of audience engagement for Full Blown’s first explosive major single as performing artists. The song’s consistent consumption and cross-platform visibility position it firmly within the upper echelon of modern Soca releases.
The success of Good Spirits also helped to solidify the Big Links Riddim as the most impactful riddim project of the year, demonstrating how a well-executed riddim release can compete with, and in some cases exceed, the reach of traditional marquee singles. For Full Blown, long respected for their songwriting contributions to some of Machel Montano’s most prominent Road March winners and other classic Soca tracks, 2025 marked their transition from behind-the-scenes creatives to artists with a public footprint.
By year’s end, the track’s performance confirmed its significance: sustained engagement, wide-reaching adoption, and diaspora resonance combined to establish Good Spirits as a modern standard for what a production-driven Soca record can achieve when embraced by the community itself.
#5 Soca Song of 2025
No Sweetness – Kes
Produced by Full Blown
Released: Early December 2024 (Big Links Riddim)
No Sweetness finishes 2025 as the #5 Soca song of the year. Its performance underscores Kes’ continued ability to deliver music that resonates across core caribbean markets and international audiences. With steady global engagement and rising streaming totals, the track has become a part of Kes’ catalogue and stage set, further solidifying the Big Links Riddim as a dominant force in the year’s Soca landscape.
No Sweetness charted across platforms in 82 countries. On Deezer, it maintained a position in Jamaica for over 40 days, while Spotify placements included Local Pulse charts in North America, particularly New York City and Toronto. Apple Music data shows the track spent an average of six months on charts and hit the top 200 across 22 countries, primarily in the Caribbean with additional presence in Kenya, Gambia, and select other African markets.
With just over 3.3 million Spotify streams, No Sweetness lands at #5, a total that would have comfortably topped year-end lists in prior cycles. The track averages just over 8,000 Spotify streams per day, roughly twice the rate of comparable releases in previous years.
The track has been added to Kes’ live sets, resonating strongly with female audiences, and demonstrating how multiple releases within a riddim can achieve standalone success. No Sweetness, no video, no Road March, no problem, the track delivered exactly what listeners wanted, giving the ladies their moment and securing Kes’ another hit from the Big Links Riddim, firmly placing the song among 2025’s top-tier Soca releases.
2025 Wrap Up
Among the top five, the diversity of 2025’s Soca hits is clear. Two tracks featured official videos, three came from the Big Links Riddim, two were Kes releases, and three achieved top-tier status without any video at all. Two songs gained traction through TikTok, while one reached global audiences without the platform. Viral Spotify runs across African markets, combined with sustained engagement in core Carnival territories, including diaspora hubs like New York City, Toronto, and the UK, illustrate a year defined by repeated audience adoption, measurable growth, and the continued expansion of Soca’s global footprint.
Among the next 22 of the Top 28, five tracks came from Grenada, a remarkable achievement for a country roughly ten times less populous than Trinidad & Tobago, representing one-fifth of the year’s top songs. Grenada’s standout entries included Jab Decisions, which would have been comfortably inside the Top 10 if not for the two Greatest Bend Over remixes taking space on the chart.
Additionally, it is important to note that the original Eskimo was taken down from streaming platforms for most of H2 but still secured a spot within the year-end Top 28; had it remained available, its placement would have been measurably higher.
While some popular charts exclude remixes, we have included these to make the full Top 28 list complete, hence the Top 25 + 3 (remix).
Check out the playlist for the rest of the Top 28, and look out for a more in-depth Soca “State of the Union”, which will address these milestones, market trends, and notable shifts in global engagement in detail.
