Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles and Venezuela by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century.
It is characterized by highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals, and is most often sung in a French creole and led by a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian. As English replaced "patois" as the dominant language, calypso migrated into English, and in so doing it attracted more attention from the government. It allowed the masses to challenge the doings of the unelected Governor and Legislative Council, and the elected town councils of Port of Spain and San Fernando. Calypso continued to play an important role in political expression, and also served to document the history of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.
Calypso in the Caribbean includes a range of genres, including: the Benna in Antigua and Barbuda; Mento, a style of Jamaican folk music that greatly influenced ska and reggae; Ska, the precursor to rocksteady, and reggae; Spouge, a style of Barbadian popular music; Dominica Cadence-lypso, which mixed calypso with the cadence of Haiti; and soca music, a style of Kaiso/calypso, with influences from chutney, soul, funk, Latin and cadence-lypso.
Etymology
It is thought that the name "calypso" was originally "kaiso" which is now believed to come from Efik "ka isu" and Ibibio "kaa iso", used in urging someone on or in backing a contestant. There is also a Trinidadian term "cariso" that means "old-time" calypsos. The term "calypso" is recorded from the 1930s onwards. Alternatively, the insert for The Rough Guide to Calypso and Soca favours John Cowley's arguments in Carnival, Canboulay and Calypso: Traditions in the Making, that the word might be a corruption of the French carrouseaux and through the process of patois and Anglicization became caliso and then finally "calypso"; however, Cowley also notes that the first mention of the word "calypso" is given in a description of a dance in 1882 by Abbé Masse.Origins
Calypso music was developed in Trinidad in the 17th century from the West African Kaiso and canboulay music brought by African slaves imported to that Caribbean island to work on sugar plantations. The slaves, brought to toil on sugar plantations, were stripped of all connections to their homeland and family and not allowed to talk to each other. They used calypso to mock the slave masters and to communicate with each other. Many early calypsos were sung in French Creole by an individual called a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian.Modern calypso, however, began in the 19th century, a fusion of disparate elements ranging from the masquerade song lavway, French Creole belair and the calinda stick-fighting chantwell. Calypso's early rise was closely connected with the adoption of Carnival by Trinidadian slaves, including canboulay drumming and the music masquerade processions. The French brought Carnival to Trinidad, and calypso competitions at Carnival grew in popularity, especially after the abolition of slavery in 1834.
Recordings
The first identifiably calypso genre song was recorded in 1912, by Lovey's String Band while visiting New York City. In 1914, the second calypso recordings—including the first sung in English—were done by chantwell Julian Whiterose, better known as the Iron Duke and famous calinda stick-fighter. Jules Sims would also record vocal calypsos. The majority of these calypsos of the World War I era were instrumentals by Lovey and Lionel Belasco. Perhaps due to the constraints of the wartime economy, no recordings of note were produced until the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the "golden era" of calypso would cement the style, form, and phrasing of the music.Calypso evolved into a way of spreading news around Trinidad. Politicians, journalists and public figures often debated the content of each song, and many islanders considered these songs the most reliable news source. Calypsonians pushed the boundaries of free speech as their lyrics spread news of any topic relevant to island life, including speaking out against political corruption. Eventually British rule enforced censorship and police began to scan these songs for damaging content.
Even with this censorship, calypsos continued to push boundaries, with a variety of ways to slip songs past the scrutinizing eyes of the editor. Double entendre, or double-speak, was one way, as was the practice of denouncing countries such as Hitler's Germany and its annexation of Poland, while making pointed references toward the UK's policies on Trinidad. Sex, scandal, gossip, innuendo, politics, local news, bravado and insulting other calypsonians were the order of the day in classic calypso, just as it is today with classic hip-hop. And just as the hip-hop of today, the music sparked shock and outrage in moralistic sections of society.
Countless recordings were dumped at sea in the name of censorship, although in truth, rival US companies did this in the spirit of underhanded competition, claiming that the rivals' material was unfit for US consumption. Decca Records lost untold pressings in this manner, as did its rival, RCA's Bluebird label.
An entrepreneur named Eduardo Sa Gomes played a significant role in spreading calypso in its early days. Sa Gomes, a Portuguese immigrant who owned a local music and phonograph equipment shop in Port of Spain, promoted the genre and gave financial support to the local artists. In March 1934, he sent Roaring Lion and Attila the Hun to New York City to record; they became the first calypsonians to record abroad, bringing the genre out of the West Indies and into pop culture. Lord Invader was quick to follow, and stayed in New York City after a protracted legal case involving the theft of his song "Rum and Coca-Cola", a hit by the Andrews Sisters. He made his home there along with Wilmoth Houdini, and became one of the great calypsonians of the USA.
Early forms of calypso were also influenced by jazz such as Sans Humanitae. In this extempo melody calypsonians lyricise impromptu, commenting socially or insulting each other, "sans humanité" or "no mercy".
Popularity
The first major stars of calypso started crossing over to new audiences worldwide in the late 1930s. Attila the Hun, Roaring Lion and Lord Invader were first, followed by Lord Kitchener, one of the longest-lasting calypso stars in history—he continued to release hit records until his death in 2000. 1944's "Rum and Coca-Cola" by the Andrews Sisters, a cover version of a Lord Invader song, became an American hit despite the song being a very critical commentary on the explosion of prostitution, inflation and other negative influences accompanying the American military bases in Trinidad at the time. Perhaps the most straightforward way to describe the focus of calypso is that it articulated itself as a form of protest against the authoritarian colonial culture which existed at the time.Calypso, especially a toned-down, commercial variant, became a worldwide craze with the release of the "Banana Boat Song", or "Day-O", a traditional Jamaican folk song, whose best-known rendition was done by Harry Belafonte on his album Calypso ; Calypso was the first full-length calypso record to sell more than a million copies. The success of that album inspired hundreds of "Folkies", or the American folk music revival to imitate the "Belafonte style", but with a more folk-oriented flavor. The Kingston Trio would be a good example. 1956 also saw the massive international hit "Jean and Dinah" by Mighty Sparrow. This song too was a sly commentary as a "plan of action" for the calypsonian on the widespread prostitution and the prostitutes' desperation after the closing of the U.S. naval base on Trinidad at Chaguaramas.
In the Broadway-theatre musical Jamaica, Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg cleverly parodied "commercial" Belafonte-style calypso. Several films jumped on the calypso craze in 1957 such as Island in the Sun that featured Belafonte and the low-budget films Calypso Joe, Calypso Heat Wave, and Bop Girl Goes Calypso.
Robert Mitchum released an album, Calypso...Is Like So, on Capitol records, capturing the sound, spirit, and subtleties of the genre.
Dizzy Gillespie recorded a calypso album Jambo Caribe with James Moody and Kenny Barron.
Soul shouter Gary "US" Bonds released a calypso album Twist up Calypso on Legrand records, shortly after returning home from his military post in Port of Spain. Nithi Kanagaratnam from Sri Lanka sang calypso-styled songs in Tamil in 1968, which was a success and earned him the title "Father of Tamil Popular Music". Since Baila rhythm was popular in Sri Lanka, most of his songs were classified as Tamil Baila.
In the mid-1970s, women entered the calypso men's-oriented arena. Calypso Rose was the first woman to win the Trinidad Road March competition in 1977 with her song "Gimme More Tempo". The following year with "Come Leh We Jam", she won the "Calypso King " competition, the first time a woman had received the award. The competition's title was changed to Calypso Monarch in her honour.
The French and pioneer electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre released an album in 1990 called Waiting for Cousteau. The album has four tracks: "Calypso", "Calypso part 2", "Calypso part 3 Fin de Siècle" and "Waiting for Cousteau". It was dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau in his 80th birthday. This album had a special participation of the Amocco Renegades. In the first track is possible to notice a strong style influence. Calypso had another short burst of commercial interest when Tim Burton's horror/comedy film Beetlejuice was released, and used Belafonte's "Jump In The Line" as the soundtrack's headliner and also "The Banana Boat Song" in the dinner-party scene. Disney's song "Under the Sea", a calypso theme from The Little Mermaid won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1989 as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 1991.
Sociopolitical influence
Calypso music has been used by Calypsonians to provide sociopolitical commentary. Prior to the independence of Trinidad and Tobago, calypsonians would use their music to express the daily struggles of living in Trinidad, critique racial and economic inequalities, express opinions on social order, and voice overall concerns for those living on the island. The Black lower class in particular used calypso music to protest inequalities inflicted upon them under British rule and advocate for their rights. In response, calypso music came to exist as a form of musical protest.During the independence movements of Trinidad and Tobago through the earlys 1950s up until 1962 when the nation gained independence, calypso lyrics critiqued British colonial rule. Lyrics were made to express feelings towards colonialism as being immoral and oppressive to Caribbean people. In particular, during the movement to independence, calypso music would include common messages of freedom, anti-colonialism and empowerment of African descended people.
Neville Marcano, known as the Growling Tiger, became notorious for creating songs calling for independence of Trinidad and Tobago. In his song titled “Abraham Lincoln Speech at Gettysburg”, Tiger used inspirations from Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address to draw on values of liberty, equality and democracy. These three principles paralleled some of many ideas circulating during the nationalist movement in Trinidad and Tobago. His lyrics struck with those in support of an independent Trinidadian nation hoping to instill similar principles in their own free nation.
Lord Kitchener, a largely known Calypsonian, became noted for his politically critical lyrics in his music. Kitchener used calypso to shed light on the grievances of the windrush generation, a generation of Caribbean families migrating from the islands to England in response to increased labor demands after World War II. Kitchener’s 1948 song “Windrush” was written in two versions. The first version gained more global popularity as the lyrics expressed gratitude and appreciation of British rule. However, second version found greater popularity amongst Caribbean people themselves as the lyrics conveyed a story of exile, oppression and inequality living in England. Although Kitchener’s alternate version of “Windrush” did not gain as much commercial popularity, the duality of the two versions exemplify how calypso music was used as an outlet to challenge colonialism.
After Trinidad and Tobago gained independence in 1962, calypso music continued to be used as an outlet for political commentary. With Eric Williams serving as the first Prime Minister of an independent Trinidad and Tobago, calypsonian Mighty Sparrow released his song “William the Conqueror” where he praises Williams’ victory and prides the island in its new found independence. Sparrow sings:
I am no politician, but I could understand if it wasn’t for Brother Willie and his ability, Trinidad wouldn’t go neither come. We used to vote for food and rum but nowadays we eating all the Indians and them. And in the ending, we voting PNM. Praise little Eric, rejoice and be glad. We have a better future here in Trinidad.Calypso music has also been used by politicians to promote political agendas through Calypso competitions. The origins of calypso competitions dates back to the early 19th century post emancipation where formerly enslaved communities would hold calypso wars showcasing their singing and dancing. Later in 1953 Calypso competitions held the same showcasing nature, but became politicized as the People’s National Movement took over as the main organizer of competitions. The PNM used the competitions to combat social and class divisions by attracting participants of varying social status to participate and attend the competitions. The idea was to claim a national cultural identity and promote national unity.