Veterans Riddim – Various Soca Artists

Mid-2000s soca had plenty of party riddims, but Veterans Riddim keeps it nice and direct: seven cuts, seven artists, and no wasted motion. General Grant’s “Dutty Hand” and King David’s “Buss Meh Gun” do the heavy lifting here, both leaning into the rowdy, waistline-ready energy that made these 2008 carnival-season releases hit so hard, while Gailann’s “Feeling Nice” and Qpid’s “Take It Like A Man” push the sweeter, more playful side of the set. It’s a various-artists package with no single producer credit attached, which gives it that loose, community-mix feel you got a lot in soca around that time. Released in 2008, it sits right in that era when the genre was mapping out its modern carnival sound track by track.