Music of Trinidad and Tobago
Encyclopedia
Calypso music
and steelpan
is what Trinidad and Tobago
is best known for, including internationally in the 1950s through artists like Lord Kitchener
and Mighty Sparrow
; the art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte
. Along with folk songs and African and Indian-based classical forms, cross-cultural interactions have produced other indigenous forms of music including soca
, rapso, chutney, and other derivative and fusion styles. There are also local communities which practise and experiment with international classical and pop music, often fusing them with local steelpan
instruments.
s, which were controlled by the Roman Catholic priesthood. The native population declined precipitously, and the Trinidadian government responded by welcoming white and non-slave African Roman Catholic settlers. French planters and their slaves emigrated to Trinidad during the French Revolution
(1789) from Martinique
, including a number of West Africa
ns, and French creoles from Saint Vincent
, Grenada
and Dominica
, establishing a local community before Trinidad and Tobago were taken from Spain by the British. A creole
culture was formed, combining elements of hundreds of African ethnic groups, native inhabitants of the islands, French, British and Spanish colonizers. European Carnival
had grew with the French. The slave population, fusing elements of West African masking rituals with European Carnival rituals, held their own canboulay
to coincide with the harvesting of the sugar crops. In 1834, emancipation observances and Canboulay celebrations began to be merged following the beginning of apprenticeship (1834) and eventual emancipation of the slaves (1838). Beginning in 1845, major influexes of indentured immigrants from India
and other parts of the world dramatically changed the ethnic composition of the islands. These indentured servant
s brought their own folk music, primarily from Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar
, to the creole mix, resulting in chutney music
. In addition to Indians, Syrians, Portuguese, Chinese and Africans came to the islands in waves between 1845 and 1917, and even after.
Stick-fighting and African percussion music were banned in 1880, in response to the Canboulay Riots
, where the colonial officials attempted to ban Carnival altogether. They were replaced by bamboo sticks beaten together, but these too were eventually banned. In 1937, however, they reappeared, transformed as an orchestra of pans, dustbin lids and oil drums. These steelpan
s are now a major part of the Trinidadian music scene, and are reportedly the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th century. In 1941, the United States Navy
arrived in Trinidad, and the panmen, who were associated with lawlessness and violence, helped to popularize steel pan music among soldiers, which began its international popularization. hi:L
) and French/European influences arose as a means of communication among the slaves; kaiso is still used today as a synonym for calypso in Trinidad and some other islands, often by traditionalists, and is also used as a cry of encouragement for a performer, similar to bravo or olé. Highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals characterized the music, which was most often sung in a French creole
and led by a griot
. As calypso developed, the role of the griot (originally a similar traveling musician in West Africa) became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian
. Calypso was popularized after the abolition of slavery and the ensuing growth of the Carnival
festivals in the 1830s.
and Boadicea made names for themselves by criticizing the colonial government. In 1912, calypso was recorded for the first time and the following decade saw the arrival of calypso tent
. During Carnival, calypsonians competed for awards like the Carnival Road March
, National Calypso Monarch, Calypso Queen, Junior Monarch and Extempo Monarch
in contests called picong
, when two performers trade bawdy and irreverent jibes at each other and the day's events. Soon, stars like Lord Invader
and Roaring Lion
grew in stature (the 1930s Golden Age of Calypso) and became more closely aligned with the independence movement. Some songs were banned or censored by the British colonial government, and calypso became a method of underground communication and spreading anti-British information.
si These early popular performers led the way for calypso's mainstreaming with artists like Lord Kitchener
, Harry Belafonte
and Mighty Sparrow
. Belafonte, a Jamaica
n-American singing in American English
, was by far the most popular internationally during this wave (his Calypso
album, Belafonte was the first artist to sell a million copies), but his music was also extensively criticized for watering down the sound of calypso.
1947 saw Lord Kitchener and Killer forming the renegade calypso tent
Young Brigade. The term Young Brigade soon came to refer to a specific group of calypsonians that used fictional narratives and humor with new, more dance-able rhythms. Kitchener was by far the most popular of the Young Brigade calypsonians, and he helped popularize calypso in the United Kingdom
and elsewhere. Mighty Sparrow
's first hit was Jean and Dinah
, celebrating the departure of American military forces from Trinidad; the song launched a new generation of politically active calypso music, which soon became associated with the People's National Movement
. Roaring Lion
was also a major part of this vanguard in calypso music, and he became known for a traditionalist style that he maintained throughout his career.
During the 1970s, calypso's popularity waned throughout the world, including the Caribbean. Derivatives include an uptempo version of Calypso music
mixed with musical styles from the India
ns in Trinidad and Tobago called Local (Chutney
) into soca
, and a hip hop
influenced style called rapso
both became popular in Trinidad and other islands. Soca was by the most influential in terms of international sales, since rapso's crossover appeal to mainstream tastes has been extremely limited. Old-time calypsonians and purists, however, preferred rapso's continuation of the lyrical ambidexterity that helped make calypso the world-famous, innovative art form it has become; many criticized soca's perceived watering-down of calypso, including veteran calypsonians like Chalkdust
, who asked "Are we to put water in the brandy, singing just two or three words [that mainstream audiences] can understand and dance to?" Indo-Trinidadian
s began popularising chutney music
during the same time period. In the mid-1970s, artists like Sundar Popo
made the music mainstream.
) by Ras Shorty I
's "Clock and Dagger" from Calypso music. Shorty added Indian instruments, including the dholak
, tabla
and dhantal
and soon rivaled reggae
as the most popular form of Caribbean music. A prolific musician, composer and innovator, Shorty experimented with fusing calypso
and the East Indian rhythms
of chutney music
for nearly a decade before unleashing "the soul of calypso,"...soca music. Shorty had been in Dominica during an Exile One
performance of cadence-lypso
, and collaborated with Dominica
's 1969 Calypso King, Lord Tokyo and two calypso lyricists, Chris Seraphine and Pat Aaron in the early 1970s, who wrote him some creole lyrics. Soon after Shorty released a song, "Ou Petit",
with words like "Ou dee moin ou petit Shorty" (meaning "you told me you are small Shorty"), a combination of calypso
, cadence
and kwéyòl. Soca reached its modern form by the early 1970s under the influence of American soul, disco
and funk
music, which reached Trinidadian artists when they began recording in New York City
; by this time, most of the Indian-derived elements had been removed from the genre. Shorty's 1974 Endless Vibrations and Soul of Calypso brought soca to its peak of international fame. Less lyrically revolutionary than traditional calypso, soca has remained mostly focused on good times throughout its history, though artists like Gypsy
(whose 1986 "The Sinking Ship" helped remove the People's National Movement
from the Trinidadian government) continued calypso's socially-aware traditions.
Soca's popularity grew through the 70s and early 1980s, finally becoming an international chart-topper after "Hot! Hot! Hot!", a 1983 release by Arrow
, who hailed from Montserrat
and not Trinidad. Arrow soon proved himself to be one of the most innovative soca artists of the 80s, incorporating zouk
and other influences into a series of best-selling singles. Other artists of the 80s put new islands on the soca map, especially Shadow
who was born in Tobago
and most influential in the drum and bass sound of soca, as well as Antigua
with (Swallow) and from Barbados
, the band (Square One Band), and added influences from African spirituals
(Superblue
), gospel
(Lord Shorty, under his new name Ras Shorty I), reggae
(Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
), Indian music
(Mungal Patasar) and funk (Lord Nelson). An important fusion was ragga-soca, which combined Jamaican ragga
with soca. Bunji Garlin
, KMC, Maximus Dan
and Machel Montano & Xtatik
were the most popular of the soca acts of the 1990s. In the last decade, Montano broke away to form Machel Montano HD, while a crop of new acts have emerged and dominated at the Carnival Road March
or been strong popular contenders: Faye-Ann Lyons Alvarez (daughter of Superblue
), Destra Garcia, Blaxx, among others.
and Pan-Africanist
thought spread in Trinidad. Lancelot Layne
is said to have invented the genre with his 1971 hit "Blow Away", while Cheryl Byron
brought rapso to calypso tents in 1976. The term rapso first appeared in 1980 on Busting Out, an album by Brother Resistance
and his Network Riddum Band. Rapso has currently become one of the most prevalent expressions of music on Trinidad itself, but is largely absorbed into calypso during Carnival celebrations and contests. The 1990s saw a more politically and spiritually-conscious form of rapso, which has been infused with soul and reggae music, as well as native J'ouvert
, an early introduction to Carnival which consists of percussionists using makeshift materials to hammer out a beat. The trio band 3canal is among the most popular modern proponents.
for the title of Extempo Monarch
the art form was first recorded in 1940s in Trinidad but it started long before this time,it was in the plantation where the slaves use to mimic the slave-drivers.(by keron luke)
, brass
bands have began to dominate the Carnival competitions. Brass bands had long been a part of Trinidad's cultural heritage, but Rudder popularized the genre and helped inspire the founding of the Caribbean Brass Festival in 1991. This festival has been discontinued since its last showcase at the "B2B Bunji and Brass" event in 1997.
Steelband
and pan music
have achieved great popularity in Trinidad, and was developed circa the 1930s in Laventille, Port of Spain
.
Latin American
-derived seasonal Christmas
music called Parang
traditionally involves singers moving throughout homes or districts playing staple instruments, such as the cuatro (a four-stringed guitar), the maracas (indigenously known as chac-chacs), and the guitar. Chutney Soca and chut-kai-pang
(chutney, Parang and calypso, mixed with Venezuela
n-derived rhythms) have also achieved popularity over the years.
became a massive force in Trinidadian music, arising from the island's India
n population. It has now become mainstream across the islands and elsewhere in the Caribbean.
With chutney music getting to be such a popular kind of music in trinidad, people are beginning to become more aware of the background and culture that Trinidad beholds. Many of the chutney artists that are known within the west indian culture are from and many still live in Trinidad. One of the most popular and up and coming artist who is really making a name for himself in the chuntey/soca world is Ravi B. Ravi B has taken this genre of music to the next level. The lyrics, melodies and fast-paced beats that Ravi B. and many other artists use in their songs, come from and are based on trinidian culture and household tradtions. Trinidad has a variety of different types of music that people all over the world loves to listen and dance to such as reggae, soca, calypso, and now chutney. The country of Trinidad has a lot of heart and values, and through their music people all over the world can learn about its cultural background.
and heavy metal
scene with many small shows being held throughout the year. The largest of such shows is the annual Pop Music Awards held at the Tsunami nightclub in Chaguaramas and the Samaan Tree Rock Festival in Aranguez. However, there is much hope that the standard of Rock music would increase in the nation and be recognized on a global scale as there are promising bands such as "Red Vellum Razorblades" who are making a name for themselves in the Rock community.
; the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine Campus); Central Bank Auditorium [under renovation as of August 2011]; Simon Bolivar auditorium; churches and cathedrals; and at the new National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), which completed construction in late 2009. Popular proponents of the Western Classical form include the Marionettes Chorale, Lydian Singers and UWI Festival Arts Chorale; the National Sinfonia and the National Steel Symphony Orchestra; and the Classical Music Development Foundation, among others.
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
and steelpan
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
is what Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
is best known for, including internationally in the 1950s through artists like Lord Kitchener
Lord Kitchener (calypsonian)
Aldwyn Roberts , better known by the stage name Lord Kitchener , was one of the most internationally famous calypsonians. He was the son of a blacksmith, Stephen, and homemaker, Albertha.-Life:...
and Mighty Sparrow
Mighty Sparrow
Mighty Sparrow or Birdie is a calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World," he is one of the most well-known and successful calypsonians...
; the art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
. Along with folk songs and African and Indian-based classical forms, cross-cultural interactions have produced other indigenous forms of music including soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
, rapso, chutney, and other derivative and fusion styles. There are also local communities which practise and experiment with international classical and pop music, often fusing them with local steelpan
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
instruments.
History
The modern music history of Trinidad and Tobago began with the arrival of Spanish settlers and African slaves who decimated the native Amerindian (Carib and Arawak) population, enclosing them in work villages called encomiendaEncomienda
The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....
s, which were controlled by the Roman Catholic priesthood. The native population declined precipitously, and the Trinidadian government responded by welcoming white and non-slave African Roman Catholic settlers. French planters and their slaves emigrated to Trinidad during the French Revolution
History of Martinique
This is a page on the history of the island of Martinique.-100-1450:The island was originally inhabited by Arawak and Carib peoples. Circa 130 CE, the first Arawaks are believed to have arrived from South America. In 295 CE, an eruption of Mount Pelée resulted in the decimation of the island's...
(1789) from Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
, including a number of West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
ns, and French creoles from Saint Vincent
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
, Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
and Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
, establishing a local community before Trinidad and Tobago were taken from Spain by the British. A creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
culture was formed, combining elements of hundreds of African ethnic groups, native inhabitants of the islands, French, British and Spanish colonizers. European Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
had grew with the French. The slave population, fusing elements of West African masking rituals with European Carnival rituals, held their own canboulay
Canboulay
Canboulay is a precursor to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The festival is also where calypso music has its roots. It was originally a harvest festival, at which drums, singing, dancing and chanting were an integral part...
to coincide with the harvesting of the sugar crops. In 1834, emancipation observances and Canboulay celebrations began to be merged following the beginning of apprenticeship (1834) and eventual emancipation of the slaves (1838). Beginning in 1845, major influexes of indentured immigrants from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and other parts of the world dramatically changed the ethnic composition of the islands. These indentured servant
Indentured servant
Indentured servitude refers to the historical practice of contracting to work for a fixed period of time, typically three to seven years, in exchange for transportation, food, clothing, lodging and other necessities during the term of indenture. Usually the father made the arrangements and signed...
s brought their own folk music, primarily from Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, to the creole mix, resulting in chutney music
Chutney music
Chutney music is a form indigenous to the southern Caribbean, originating in Trinidad. It derives elements from traditional Indian music and popular Trinidadian Soca music.-History:...
. In addition to Indians, Syrians, Portuguese, Chinese and Africans came to the islands in waves between 1845 and 1917, and even after.
Canboulay Riots
The Canboulay Riots riots by the descendants of freed slaves in the cities of Trinidad and Tobago against attempts by the British police to crack down on aspects of the celebration of Carnival. The riots occurred in February 1881 in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and in the southern...
, where the colonial officials attempted to ban Carnival altogether. They were replaced by bamboo sticks beaten together, but these too were eventually banned. In 1937, however, they reappeared, transformed as an orchestra of pans, dustbin lids and oil drums. These steelpan
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
s are now a major part of the Trinidadian music scene, and are reportedly the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th century. In 1941, the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
arrived in Trinidad, and the panmen, who were associated with lawlessness and violence, helped to popularize steel pan music among soldiers, which began its international popularization. hi:L
Calypso
Calypso music grew together with carnival. The music, which drew upon African (KaisoKaiso
Kaiso is a type of music popular in Trinidad and other Islands of the Caribbean such as Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados and St. Kitts & Nevis which originated in West Africa, and later evolved into Calypso. Kaiso songs are generally narrative in form and often have a cleverly concealed political...
) and French/European influences arose as a means of communication among the slaves; kaiso is still used today as a synonym for calypso in Trinidad and some other islands, often by traditionalists, and is also used as a cry of encouragement for a performer, similar to bravo or olé. Highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals characterized the music, which was most often sung in a French creole
French-based creole languages
A French Creole, or French-based Creole language, is a creole language based on the French language, more specifically on a 17th century koiné French extant in Paris, the French Atlantic harbors, and the nascent French colonies...
and led by a griot
Griot
A griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
. As calypso developed, the role of the griot (originally a similar traveling musician in West Africa) became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian
Calypsonian
A calypsonian , originally known as the chantwell is a musician, from the Anglophone Caribbean, who sings songs called calypso. Calypsos are musical renditions having their origins in the West African griot tradition...
. Calypso was popularized after the abolition of slavery and the ensuing growth of the Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
festivals in the 1830s.
Early performers
Early chantwells like Hannibal, Norman Le Blanc, Mighty PantherMighty Panther
Native to Trinidad, Mighty Panther is a "legend" of Trinidadian calypso music. He has shared the stage with numerous calypsonians including "Charmer", aka Louis Farrakhan . At the age of 11 he found a gold pocket watch and he carries it around his neck, believing it brings him good...
and Boadicea made names for themselves by criticizing the colonial government. In 1912, calypso was recorded for the first time and the following decade saw the arrival of calypso tent
Calypso tent
Calypso tents are venues in which calypsonians perform during the Carnival season. They usually are cinema halls, community centers, or other indoor buildings which have seating and stage arrangements to host the entertainers, guests and patrons; or outdoor shows which are held in parks or, more...
. During Carnival, calypsonians competed for awards like the Carnival Road March
Carnival Road March
The Carnival Road March is the musical composition played most often at the "judging points" along the parade route during Carnival. The Road March title is among the most prestigious titles in Trinidad Carnival. In Trinidad and Tobago the most Road march titles have gone to the Mighty Sparrow and...
, National Calypso Monarch, Calypso Queen, Junior Monarch and Extempo Monarch
Extempo Monarch
Extempo Monarch is the title awarded to the winner of an annual extempo competition held at the Trinidad Carnival.A number of contestants compete in preliminary rounds...
in contests called picong
Picong
Picong or Piquant is light comical banter, usually at someone else's expense. It is the way in which West Indians tease, heckle and mock each other in a friendly manner...
, when two performers trade bawdy and irreverent jibes at each other and the day's events. Soon, stars like Lord Invader
Lord Invader
Lord Invader was a prominent calypsonian with a very distinctive, gravelly voice....
and Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion was a calypsonian...
grew in stature (the 1930s Golden Age of Calypso) and became more closely aligned with the independence movement. Some songs were banned or censored by the British colonial government, and calypso became a method of underground communication and spreading anti-British information.
si These early popular performers led the way for calypso's mainstreaming with artists like Lord Kitchener
Lord Kitchener (calypsonian)
Aldwyn Roberts , better known by the stage name Lord Kitchener , was one of the most internationally famous calypsonians. He was the son of a blacksmith, Stephen, and homemaker, Albertha.-Life:...
, Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
and Mighty Sparrow
Mighty Sparrow
Mighty Sparrow or Birdie is a calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World," he is one of the most well-known and successful calypsonians...
. Belafonte, a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n-American singing in American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
, was by far the most popular internationally during this wave (his Calypso
Calypso (album)
Calypso is the 3rd album by Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor in 1956. The CD was released on April 28, 1992 . It is the first full-length gramophone LP to sell over one million copies...
album, Belafonte was the first artist to sell a million copies), but his music was also extensively criticized for watering down the sound of calypso.
1947 saw Lord Kitchener and Killer forming the renegade calypso tent
Calypso tent
Calypso tents are venues in which calypsonians perform during the Carnival season. They usually are cinema halls, community centers, or other indoor buildings which have seating and stage arrangements to host the entertainers, guests and patrons; or outdoor shows which are held in parks or, more...
Young Brigade. The term Young Brigade soon came to refer to a specific group of calypsonians that used fictional narratives and humor with new, more dance-able rhythms. Kitchener was by far the most popular of the Young Brigade calypsonians, and he helped popularize calypso in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and elsewhere. Mighty Sparrow
Mighty Sparrow
Mighty Sparrow or Birdie is a calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Known as the "Calypso King of the World," he is one of the most well-known and successful calypsonians...
's first hit was Jean and Dinah
Jean and Dinah
Jean and Dinah is a calypso from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean sung by calypsonian Mighty Sparrow which became an international hit in 1956. It was also his first of eight roadmarchs...
, celebrating the departure of American military forces from Trinidad; the song launched a new generation of politically active calypso music, which soon became associated with the People's National Movement
People's National Movement
The People's National Movement is the present-day opposition political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Founded in 1955 by Eric Williams, it won the 1956 General Elections and went on to hold power for an unbroken 30 years. After the death of Williams in 1981 George Chambers led the party...
. Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion was a calypsonian...
was also a major part of this vanguard in calypso music, and he became known for a traditionalist style that he maintained throughout his career.
During the 1970s, calypso's popularity waned throughout the world, including the Caribbean. Derivatives include an uptempo version of Calypso music
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
mixed with musical styles from the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns in Trinidad and Tobago called Local (Chutney
Chutney music
Chutney music is a form indigenous to the southern Caribbean, originating in Trinidad. It derives elements from traditional Indian music and popular Trinidadian Soca music.-History:...
) into soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
, and a hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
influenced style called rapso
Rapso
Rapso is a form of Trinidadian music that grew out of the social unrest of the 1970s. It has been described as "de power of de word in the riddim of de word". Though often described as a fusion of native soca with American hip hop, rapso is uniquely Trinidadian.Black Power and unions grew in the...
both became popular in Trinidad and other islands. Soca was by the most influential in terms of international sales, since rapso's crossover appeal to mainstream tastes has been extremely limited. Old-time calypsonians and purists, however, preferred rapso's continuation of the lyrical ambidexterity that helped make calypso the world-famous, innovative art form it has become; many criticized soca's perceived watering-down of calypso, including veteran calypsonians like Chalkdust
Chalkdust
Hollis Urban Lester Liverpool, better known as Chalkdust is a leading calypsonian from Trinidad and Tobago. He has been singing calypso since 1967 and has recorded over 300 calypsos....
, who asked "Are we to put water in the brandy, singing just two or three words [that mainstream audiences] can understand and dance to?" Indo-Trinidadian
Indo-Trinidadian
Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago of Indian or other South Asian ancestry.Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians has now become interchangeable with Indians or East Indians. These were people who were taken from India by the British either as workers or educated...
s began popularising chutney music
Chutney music
Chutney music is a form indigenous to the southern Caribbean, originating in Trinidad. It derives elements from traditional Indian music and popular Trinidadian Soca music.-History:...
during the same time period. In the mid-1970s, artists like Sundar Popo
Sundar Popo
Sundar Popo was a Chutney musician from Trinidad and Tobago. He popularised Chutney music, beginning with his 1970 hit Nana and Nani.-Biography:...
made the music mainstream.
Soca
Soca is said to have been invented in 1963 (see 1963 in music1963 in music
-Events:*January 1 – The Beatles start a 5-day tour in Scotland to support the release of their new single, "Love Me Do".*January 4 – At Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy, Dalida receives a Juke Box Global Oscar for the year's most-played artist on juke boxes....
) by Ras Shorty I
Ras Shorty I
Ras Shorty I was a soca musician, known as the Father of Soca and The Love Man.He was born Garfield Blackman in Barrackpore, Trinidad and Tobago, and rose to fame as Lord Shorty with his 1963 hit "Clock and Dagger" and took on the name Ras Shorty .He started out writing songs and performing in the...
's "Clock and Dagger" from Calypso music. Shorty added Indian instruments, including the dholak
Dholak
The Dholak is a North Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese double-headed hand-drum Madal. The name dholki may also refer to a slightly different instrument that uses high-pitch tabla style syahi masala on its treble skin. This instrument is also known as Naal or Dholki....
, tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
and dhantal
Dhantal
The dhantal is a long steel rod which was adapted from the axle used to connect the yokes of the bullocks that transported the cane-filled carts on the estates in Trinidad and Tobago. The metal horseshoe used on the estate's horses and mules was used to strike the dhantal. In this way the dhantal...
and soon rivaled reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
as the most popular form of Caribbean music. A prolific musician, composer and innovator, Shorty experimented with fusing calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
and the East Indian rhythms
Music of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
of chutney music
Chutney music
Chutney music is a form indigenous to the southern Caribbean, originating in Trinidad. It derives elements from traditional Indian music and popular Trinidadian Soca music.-History:...
for nearly a decade before unleashing "the soul of calypso,"...soca music. Shorty had been in Dominica during an Exile One
Exile One
Exile One is a legendary musical group of the 1970s from Dominica based in Guadeloupe. Gordon Henderson is the leader and founder of the famous musical group "Exile One" and the one who coined the name "Cadence-lypso" for a genre of music that revolutionized modern creole music worldwide....
performance of cadence-lypso
Cadence-lypso
Cadence-lypso, popularized as simply Cadence is a cultural music of Dominica based in Guadeloupe in the early 1970s. Cadence-lypso is a fusion of Dominican and Caribbean/Latin rhythms and has totally revolutionized the music scence in its genre, and it has now become the main dance Music of...
, and collaborated with Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
's 1969 Calypso King, Lord Tokyo and two calypso lyricists, Chris Seraphine and Pat Aaron in the early 1970s, who wrote him some creole lyrics. Soon after Shorty released a song, "Ou Petit",
with words like "Ou dee moin ou petit Shorty" (meaning "you told me you are small Shorty"), a combination of calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
, cadence
Cadence-lypso
Cadence-lypso, popularized as simply Cadence is a cultural music of Dominica based in Guadeloupe in the early 1970s. Cadence-lypso is a fusion of Dominican and Caribbean/Latin rhythms and has totally revolutionized the music scence in its genre, and it has now become the main dance Music of...
and kwéyòl. Soca reached its modern form by the early 1970s under the influence of American soul, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music, which reached Trinidadian artists when they began recording in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; by this time, most of the Indian-derived elements had been removed from the genre. Shorty's 1974 Endless Vibrations and Soul of Calypso brought soca to its peak of international fame. Less lyrically revolutionary than traditional calypso, soca has remained mostly focused on good times throughout its history, though artists like Gypsy
Gypsy (calypsonian)
Winston Edward Peters, also known by his sobriquet Gypsy is a Trinidad and Tobago calypsonian and politician and currently serves as that country's Minister of the Arts and Multiculturalism....
(whose 1986 "The Sinking Ship" helped remove the People's National Movement
People's National Movement
The People's National Movement is the present-day opposition political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Founded in 1955 by Eric Williams, it won the 1956 General Elections and went on to hold power for an unbroken 30 years. After the death of Williams in 1981 George Chambers led the party...
from the Trinidadian government) continued calypso's socially-aware traditions.
Soca's popularity grew through the 70s and early 1980s, finally becoming an international chart-topper after "Hot! Hot! Hot!", a 1983 release by Arrow
Arrow (musician)
Alphonsus Celestine Edmund Cassell MBE was a calypso and soca musician who performed under the stage name Arrow, and is regarded as the first superstar of soca from Montserrat.-Early years:...
, who hailed from Montserrat
Montserrat
Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
and not Trinidad. Arrow soon proved himself to be one of the most innovative soca artists of the 80s, incorporating zouk
Zouk
Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe & Martinique. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the...
and other influences into a series of best-selling singles. Other artists of the 80s put new islands on the soca map, especially Shadow
Mighty Shadow
Winston Bailey , better known by his stage name The Mighty Shadow or Shadow, is a calypsonian from Trinidad and Tobago. Bailey was born in Belmont, a suburb of Port of Spain in Trinidad, but grew up in Les Coteaux, Tobago with his grandparents...
who was born in Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
and most influential in the drum and bass sound of soca, as well as Antigua
Antigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
with (Swallow) and from Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, the band (Square One Band), and added influences from African spirituals
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
(Superblue
Superblue
Austin Lyons , better known as Superblue, Super Blue, and Blueboy, is a Trinidad and Tobago calypsonian, soca musician, ICON and lyricist.-Person:...
), gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
(Lord Shorty, under his new name Ras Shorty I), reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
(Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires are a Jamaican ska, calypso and soca band. The band played a crucial pioneering role in bringing Caribbean music to the world...
), Indian music
Music of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
(Mungal Patasar) and funk (Lord Nelson). An important fusion was ragga-soca, which combined Jamaican ragga
Ragga
-Origins:Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music's popularity was increasing globally. One of the reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical...
with soca. Bunji Garlin
Bunji Garlin
Bunji Garlin July 14, 1978 is a Reggae Soca artist from Trinidad and Tobago. His real name is Ian Alvarez. He is of saint Lucian and Venezuelan descent. He married fellow Soca artist Fay-Ann Lyons on December 23, 2006, daughter of legendary Soca singer Superblue...
, KMC, Maximus Dan
Maximus Dan
Maximus Dan is a soca / dancehall musician. He is also known by his former stage name Maga Dan....
and Machel Montano & Xtatik
Machel Montano
Machel Montano is a soca singer, record producer and songwriter based in the Trinidad and Tobago....
were the most popular of the soca acts of the 1990s. In the last decade, Montano broke away to form Machel Montano HD, while a crop of new acts have emerged and dominated at the Carnival Road March
Carnival Road March
The Carnival Road March is the musical composition played most often at the "judging points" along the parade route during Carnival. The Road March title is among the most prestigious titles in Trinidad Carnival. In Trinidad and Tobago the most Road march titles have gone to the Mighty Sparrow and...
or been strong popular contenders: Faye-Ann Lyons Alvarez (daughter of Superblue
Superblue
Austin Lyons , better known as Superblue, Super Blue, and Blueboy, is a Trinidad and Tobago calypsonian, soca musician, ICON and lyricist.-Person:...
), Destra Garcia, Blaxx, among others.
Rapso
Rapso has become the most influential of these two main descendants of calypso; it arose as Black PowerBlack Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
and Pan-Africanist
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a movement that seeks to unify African people or people living in Africa, into a "one African community". Differing types of Pan-Africanism seek different levels of economic, racial, social, or political unity...
thought spread in Trinidad. Lancelot Layne
Lancelot Layne
-Person:Lancelot Layne was born to a Ms. Ethel Strawn and raised in Gonzales, Trinidad, a village near Port of Spain. He had a start in many local singing shows and showcase forums in and about Trinidad...
is said to have invented the genre with his 1971 hit "Blow Away", while Cheryl Byron
Cheryl Byron
Cheryl Byron was a visual artist. She started her studies in her native land, Trinidad & Tobago. There she also studied dance with Neville Shepard and acted with the Caribbean Theater Guild....
brought rapso to calypso tents in 1976. The term rapso first appeared in 1980 on Busting Out, an album by Brother Resistance
Brother Resistance
Brother Resistance is a musician from Trinidad and Tobago.Born Lutalo Masimba, Brother Resistance became the lead singer of the Network Riddim Band, a Trinidadian soca ensemble, in 1970...
and his Network Riddum Band. Rapso has currently become one of the most prevalent expressions of music on Trinidad itself, but is largely absorbed into calypso during Carnival celebrations and contests. The 1990s saw a more politically and spiritually-conscious form of rapso, which has been infused with soul and reggae music, as well as native J'ouvert
J'ouvert
J'ouvert is a large street party during Carnival in the eastern Caribbean region. J'ouvert is a contraction of the French jour ouvert, or dawn/day break....
, an early introduction to Carnival which consists of percussionists using makeshift materials to hammer out a beat. The trio band 3canal is among the most popular modern proponents.
Extempo
Extempo, or extempo calypso, or calypso war, is a lyrically improvised (freestyled) form of calypso. An annual competition takes place at the Trinidad and Tobago CarnivalTrinidad and Tobago Carnival
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event celebrated on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is the most significant event on the islands' cultural and tourism calendar, with numerous cultural events running in the lead up to the street parade on...
for the title of Extempo Monarch
Extempo Monarch
Extempo Monarch is the title awarded to the winner of an annual extempo competition held at the Trinidad Carnival.A number of contestants compete in preliminary rounds...
the art form was first recorded in 1940s in Trinidad but it started long before this time,it was in the plantation where the slaves use to mimic the slave-drivers.(by keron luke)
Brass bands
Since 1986 saw the rise of David RudderDavid Rudder
David Michael Rudder is a calypsonian from Trinidad.-Career:David Rudder is one of the top calypsonians of all time. In 1977, he joined Charlie's Roots, one of the top bands in Trinidad and Tobago. He spent many years as one of the vocalists with the band...
, brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
bands have began to dominate the Carnival competitions. Brass bands had long been a part of Trinidad's cultural heritage, but Rudder popularized the genre and helped inspire the founding of the Caribbean Brass Festival in 1991. This festival has been discontinued since its last showcase at the "B2B Bunji and Brass" event in 1997.
Steelband and Parang
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
and pan music
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
have achieved great popularity in Trinidad, and was developed circa the 1930s in Laventille, Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
.
Latin American
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
-derived seasonal Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
music called Parang
Parang
Parang is a popular folk music originating out of Trinidad and Tobago, it was brought to Trinidad by Venezuelan migrants who were primarily of Amerindian and African heritage, something which is strongly reflected in the music itself. The word is derived from two Spanish words:'Parranda', meaning...
traditionally involves singers moving throughout homes or districts playing staple instruments, such as the cuatro (a four-stringed guitar), the maracas (indigenously known as chac-chacs), and the guitar. Chutney Soca and chut-kai-pang
Chut-kai-pang
Chut-Kai-pang is a style of music that is a cross between Trinidad’s traditional Christmas music, parang, sung in Spanish with Venezuelan rhythms, has merged with the calypso and chutney styles to create a form known as Chut-kai-pang....
(chutney, Parang and calypso, mixed with Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n-derived rhythms) have also achieved popularity over the years.
Chutney music
At the same time, chutneyChutney music
Chutney music is a form indigenous to the southern Caribbean, originating in Trinidad. It derives elements from traditional Indian music and popular Trinidadian Soca music.-History:...
became a massive force in Trinidadian music, arising from the island's India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n population. It has now become mainstream across the islands and elsewhere in the Caribbean.
With chutney music getting to be such a popular kind of music in trinidad, people are beginning to become more aware of the background and culture that Trinidad beholds. Many of the chutney artists that are known within the west indian culture are from and many still live in Trinidad. One of the most popular and up and coming artist who is really making a name for himself in the chuntey/soca world is Ravi B. Ravi B has taken this genre of music to the next level. The lyrics, melodies and fast-paced beats that Ravi B. and many other artists use in their songs, come from and are based on trinidian culture and household tradtions. Trinidad has a variety of different types of music that people all over the world loves to listen and dance to such as reggae, soca, calypso, and now chutney. The country of Trinidad has a lot of heart and values, and through their music people all over the world can learn about its cultural background.
Rock & alternative music
Trinidad and Tobago has an underground rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
scene with many small shows being held throughout the year. The largest of such shows is the annual Pop Music Awards held at the Tsunami nightclub in Chaguaramas and the Samaan Tree Rock Festival in Aranguez. However, there is much hope that the standard of Rock music would increase in the nation and be recognized on a global scale as there are promising bands such as "Red Vellum Razorblades" who are making a name for themselves in the Rock community.
Western Classical
There is a long tradition of western classical music, both instrumental and choral, dating back to the colonial era under the British. The Trinidad & Tobago Music Festival is a primary showcase for these art forms. Choral groups, steelband and traditional western orchestras, smaller ensembles, music schools and programmes, and others stage shows at venues around the country, particularly at the Queen's Hall in Port of SpainPort of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
; the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine Campus); Central Bank Auditorium [under renovation as of August 2011]; Simon Bolivar auditorium; churches and cathedrals; and at the new National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), which completed construction in late 2009. Popular proponents of the Western Classical form include the Marionettes Chorale, Lydian Singers and UWI Festival Arts Chorale; the National Sinfonia and the National Steel Symphony Orchestra; and the Classical Music Development Foundation, among others.