Chutney musíc derives elements from soca and Hindi film songs. The chutney artist writes lyrics in either Hindi or English and then lay it on top of beats that come from soca and Hindi film songs. Some of the current chutney artists are Anand Yankaran , Rikki Jai , Adesh Samaroo and Terry Gajraj . Among the best examples of chutney music are Sundar Popo's Poulaurie Beena Chutney, and Samaroo's Dhal Belly Indian and Rum Till I Die. Chutney music is mostly popular among the East Indian community in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and also the East Indian diaspora community in Toronto, Canada and in the New York metropolitan area.

Chutney is an uptempo song, accompanied by dholak, harmonium and dhantal , played in rhythms imported from filmi, calypso or soca. Early chutney was religious in nature, though this is now rare outside of the Sai Baba Movement. Chutney is unusual in the predominance of female musicians in its early years, though it has since become mixed.

The year 1970 would mark perhaps the biggest turning point in East Indian music. In this year, a young man out of Barrackpore, Trinidad by the name of Sundar Popo lept to fame with the song "Nana & Nani." The song, almost comical in nature described the affairs of a grandfather and grandmother, perhaps his own. Sung in Hindi and Trinidadian creole, and backed up with the music of the dholak and dhantal as well as that of the more western Guitar and synthesizer, the song instantly became a #1 hit in Guyana & Trinidad (Popo, 1972). Sundar soon became known as the King of Chutney, the name given to this new popular form of music. The word Chutney was derived from the Hindi word that was used to describe a hot peppery mix. "Nana & Nani" became the biggest selling Chutney single of its time. Sundar's lyrics of "Nana drinkin white rum and Nani drinkin wine," were heard just about everywhere, from the wedding houses of Berbice, Guyana to the rum shops in San Fernando, Trinidad.