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Calypso Music

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CALYPSO MUSIC

Calypso is one of the most significant traditions in the Caribbean Music Industry. ‘Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana, daylight come and me wan’ go home,” are the words to a famous calypso song recorded by Harry Belafonte in 1956. The Free Dictionary defines calypso music as ‘a type of music that originated in the West Indies, notably in Trinidad, and is characterized by improvised lyrics on topical or broadly humorous subjects’. It can also be said that calypso is a certain style of music which incorporates rhythms that are typical of African music. This type of music is seen played during Carnival by Calypsonians, singers, who have prepared for the event all season long. These songs usually poke fun at anything and …show more content…

Calypso music was not actually over, but it just needed some new flavor. A great calypso player by the name of Lord Shorty, came along and added Indian instrumentation and rhythms to the African based instrumentation and rhythms of calypso. This was a natural progression for all because Indians and Africans where the main inhabitants of Trinidad & Tobago, which was also the home of Calypso Music & Lord Shorty. Through this process, that is how the new form of calypso music was formed: Soca (Farlex, 2011). According to (Romer, 2011), the increase of Indian instrumentation and rhythms were not the only influence on calypso music. Many other forms of music such as Jamaican reggae, R&B, and even rock influenced and are still influencing the world of calypso music today. Among many others, there are two internationally famous calypsonians who have impacted calypso music greatly. They are: Slinger Francisco, better known as ‘The Mighty Sparrow’ who won the calypso Monarch contest in 1956 at age twenty one and continued for decades to be the genre’s most unfailingly excellent perform, also known as ‘Calypso King of the World’, and Aldwyn Roberts, better known by the stage name ‘Lord Kitchener’ who has composed calypsos that cover every imaginable human experience, and social and political events. Slinger Francisco better known as ‘The Mighty Sparrow’ was born in a rural fishing village in

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