Theo Semper
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Remember when Calypso was Calypso? Back in the day when calypsonians used to give themselves names like Black Stalin, and they would sing songs about getting a job with St Peter at the “pearly gates” deciding who should burn in hell or not. Remember when Calypso Monarch was the biggest competition during carnival. Remember when calypsonians used to make extravagant stage performances on Calypso Monarch night and it was the biggest thing to be crowned Calypso King?
What happened to that? What happened to calypso? What happened to Kaiso?
What is calypso?
I did some extensive research. Dug deep into the Internet and YouTube for some old school calypso. One thing that became immediately apparent is that calypsonians are the most creative artists, not only in the amazing way that they blend lyrical content with rhythm, and melody but in the names they gave themselves.
The Mighty Sparrow, arguably the greatest calypsonian of all time, ironically chose to give himself the stage name that belongs to a tiny colorful, but otherwise unremarkable bird with an unremarkable song.
The Baron and Black Stalin went for names with a bit more grandeur.
David Rudder elected to perform under his real name, while McArtha Lewis became the greatest female calypsonian of all time, Calypso Rose.
Then there are names that just had no explanation – Gabby, Kitchener, Shadow (who would want to be a shadow?) and Rhadyo.
Then there is the borderline foolish names like Chalkdust, Sugar Aloes, Short Shirt, and Obstinate.
And off course the completely ridiculous—Red Plastic Bag, Salt fish, and Lord Everything Done.
So, again, what is calypso?
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated on Trinidad during the early to mid 20th century. It lays its roots in the West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and slaves from Dominica and Martinique…blah blah blah!
Calypso is the music of West Indian people. It is the music we use to express how we feel about everything. Calypsonians were the original social commentators, the original agitators, the original poets, story tellers and of course the original entertainers.
More importantly, calypsonians were the authors of our history. A particular song would tell you what was going on in the country at the time. It could tell you the mood the people were in.
Gypsy’s Sinking Ship was commentary about the negative economic turn of once oil rich Trinidad and Tobago.
Sparrow sang about the economic and social impact (on the prostitutes) of the closing of the Naval base in Jean and Dinah.
The Mighty Gabby shed some light on the expatriate’s control of the beaches in Barbados in his hit song, Jack.
David Rudder invited us to rally around the West Indies Cricket team.
And Black Stalin, the man whose name was derived from the leader of the Soviet Empire was naming who he thought were complicit in international wrong doings, naming Reagan, Queen Victoria, Columbus, and somebody named Cecil Roach amongst the people to be burned while he work at the pearly gates with St Peter.
All of these singers had the ability to preach to you, lecture you, educate you, and agitate for you while at the same time have you rocking, whining, jamming, or simply tapping your feet to a sweet rhythm. That is the power of calypso and the calypsonian. And the best of them have done so over the span of decades. The best of these calypsos have lasted for decades. Their relevance lives on. Their message blended in a sweet calypso melody lives on. Because the best of them are timeless.
And the soul of calypso lives on as well. Arrow, Leston Paul and what was then an ambitious new breed of artists and musicians, blended calypso with new beats, rhythms, and melodies and gave soca to the world.
So the soul of calypso lives on.
Editor’s Note: Theo Semper is an Associate Editor with MNI Alive: Global Caribbean Media
