Wherever We Bring Our Music, We Bring the Soul: Melissa Rose Cooper’s Soca Passport to Malta
Her story proves that Black joy travels exceptionally well—and that it never needs permission to take up space.
There is a special kind of joy that comes with experiencing a destination for the very first time. For contributor Melissa Rose Cooper, that meant following the rhythm of the 2024 Ibiza Soca Festival all the way to Malta. In her new two-minute visual piece, My Soca Passport Took Me to Malta, she navigates this Mediterranean backdrop through the deeply personal lens of culture, connection, and celebration.
Watch Melissa’s journey online in our CULTURE section:
At IN THE WAKE TV, we believe that an arts and culture story is ultimately about identity, memory, and imagination. Melissa’s first-person journey captures exactly that, exploring what it means to show up fully—as Caribbean, as Black, and as joyful—in a new country and in spaces where we might not always be seen.
Through vibrant moments of jouvert, boat rides, spontaneous laughter, and late-night food runs, her film proves that Black joy travels exceptionally well—and that it never needs permission to take up space. This piece is a beautiful reminder that wherever we bring our culture, our community, and our music, we bring the soul, too.
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