Calypsonians have long been the people’s voice, keeping on the pulse of what was happening socially and politically and not mixing matters when it came to airing the government of the day’s dirty laundry.
With the election season upon us and the many unresolved social, political and economical issues still floating around, one can only imagine and anticipate the “lyrical cook-up,” to be unveiled. The public will have the opportunity to taste some of that stew at the upcoming semifinal round of the National Political Calypso Monarch competition to be held at Skinner Park, San Fernando.
The event was carded to take place last Sunday but was postponed, because the venue was flooded by heavy showers. It will now be held on Saturday, July 18, at the same venue.
The event is said to be a sticky showdown as no one will be covering his mouth this rounds. The T&T Guardian caught up with some of the calypsonians who will be competing and also guest starring, just to get their views on the quality of political and social commentary in recent times.
This is what some had to say:
Winsford “Joker” Devine:
“Most of the songs have been outrightly against the the present Government. I personally find some calypsonians are too one-sided. They always seem to go against one party. They don’t sing on the PNM at all. I admired people calypsonians like Chalkdust, Watchman and Kurt Allen sometimes, who sang on one side but just sang about what they saw. All the others like Cro Cro and them are too one-sided.”
Cro Cro:
“Most calypsonians speak about what they feel through their contributions. That is, of course, besides Aloes who singing for a food. I sing with my gut feeling. To really talk about the quality of social and political commentary and where it going is a daunting thing.
“To begin with, they are rarely played on radio and some calypsonians doing nonsense, because they keep hiding from the truth to get some money. But I don’t care. I am not singing no ‘she’s royal’, and I am not taking any of their money. Devine could talk that foolishness because calypsonians like he not serious about this. I don’t sing what they want me to sing. I sing the truth.”
Gregory “GB” Ballantyne:
“All I can say is that calypso is a mirror of the society. It mirrors the society very precisely. If there is a lot of arbitrary and radical things going on in the society, the calypsonians will reflect that in the content of their contributions. We are responsible for well informing the audience we expect to entertain.
“There is a serious socio-demographic at work by and large when it comes to the calypso arena. Calypsonians are mostly of afro origin and ironically, calypso is also largely afro-based. So there is a natural spin-off of anti-government songs because the PNM is in opposition.
“However, this does not necessarily impute any necessary bias on one side or the other. Calypsonians are still largely a mirror of society.”
Mr Shak:
“I believe the calypsoes that have been coming out, have been representative of what has been going on politically. And there are some who might say there have been a proliferation of calypsoes over the last few years, but the current political climate has been so pervasive and has affected society on many levels. And it should be understood (that) politics does not exist in a vacuum, so that the things that happen in the political sphere will affect the society globally, economically and socially.
So you find the calypsonian tries to keep his eye and his mind on what is going on.
“Noticing that the current political climate is so pervasive and unique in comparison to any other kind before it, even if the calypsonian wishes not to sing on blatant politics, if he has to make a social statement, naturally it will most likely implicate politics.
“So, I believe the political and social commentary we have been hearing over the years are indicative of the current atmosphere in the country and the calypsonian (is) just keeping his finger on the pulse of things. The calypsoes are fitting in chronicling the uniqueness of the political times we have been dealing with in recent years.
Bunny B:
“At a time like this when the country is in an election season, we ought to expect any contemporary calypso to reflect the highly political atmosphere. Calypsonians will look at the people in office and what is affecting the society and pen their contributions on that.
“What I can say of the quality of social and political commentary is that they are missing that satire and sarcasm mixed with humour. If you are singing about the Government, then make it palatable. The people already know what is going on, so you need to give them an angle that they do not see, and therein lies the creativity of a calypsonian.
“Fellas like Chalky and Luta knew how to do this well. So far, in the young calypsonians, I have to single out Chucky, I think he did an excellent job with his winning contribution this year.”