by Steven Seedo
PARAMARIBO — “It has been almost thirty years since I was in Suriname with my band Square One for a performance. I am very excited to perform on November 24 during Soca 2 Di Bone – Neon Edition, especially to perform ‘Faluma’.” With these words, Barbadian singer Alison Hinds, also known as the ‘Queen of Soca’, looks in conversation with the True Time looking forward to her return to Suriname. With Square One, Hinds became one of the most famous soca acts in the Caribbean.
In 1996 the debut album ‘Full Bloom’ was released, including ‘Faluma’ and ‘Ragamuffin’. ‘Faluma’ became a hit, also outside the Caribbean. It is a cover of the hit of the same name by Sisa Agi (the late) and the Surinamese kaskawi and kawina group Ai Sa Si, which was popular in the 1990s.
“I am very excited to perform at Soca 2 Di Bone – Neon Edition on November 24, especially to perform ‘Faluma’”
Alison Hinds
Hinds and Square One then gave the song new life within soca music. Her performance underlines the musical connection between Barbados and Suriname. The song became an important part of Hinds’ repertoire and contributed to her international fame. For her, the performance in November will be a special return to a country with which one of her best-known songs has a direct musical connection.
Foreign at the request of fans
Raynel Dalen of Xeno Events Suriname, the organization behind the Soca 2 Di Bone party, says that Hinds was chosen in the effort to take the soca scene in Suriname to the next level. “We always worked without a foreign actor during the first four editions of Soca 2 Di Bone. We have received the recognition and appreciation of the soca fans and enthusiasts, but they have also always asked us to bring a foreign artist to Suriname,” he says. the True Time for.
Dalen met the soca singer in Curaçao in 2024. “Even then she said she would like to perform in Suriname again.” With the arrival of Hinds, Xeno Events Suriname wants to respond to the wishes of the public and at the same time give a new impetus to Soca 2 Di Bone.
Career
Hinds has been making waves in the music industry for decades. At the age of seventeen, she became the lead singer of the band Square One, breaking not only musical boundaries, but also the traditional division of roles within the then male-dominated soca scene. “I was the first woman to come to prominence, have hits and lead a band,” Hinds said in a 2011 interview.
According to her, it was common at the time for women in a band to mainly be background singers or only sing a few songs. Hinds didn’t let that stop him. Together with her band members, she wanted to innovate Barbadian and Caribbean music and she succeeded.
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Her distinctive voice and energetic stage presence and her catchy lyrics made Hinds a striking appearance in the soca world. Her music moves between soca, reggae and dancehall. Her colorful and exuberant stage costumes are also characteristic of her performances. With the international hit ‘Roll It Gal’, Hinds then took an important step in her solo career. The song reached number 52 on the Billboard R&B chart in 2006.
She also made history during the Crop Over Carnival in Barbados. She won the prestigious Road March title twice: in 1996 with ‘Ragamuffin’ and the following year with ‘In the Meantime’. This makes her one of the striking female names in the history of the Barbadian Carnival. In addition, Hinds became the first woman in Barbados to win both the Party Monarch and Road March titles in the same year.
