Caribbean Expressions

1. CARIBBEAN CULTURAL
EXPRESSION
Part 2 - Music

2. Music
 Caribbean music is global in its appeal.
 It is often a fusion of several cultural
elements with a heavy African base.
 According to one author, Caribbean music
has its roots in the culture of the
indigenous people and later, a
combination of African, European and
Asian peoples.
 Even some of the Asian music imported
by indentured Indians and Javanese into
the southern Caribbean shows signs of
blending or Creolisation e.g. chutney in
Trinidad.

3.  The strength of Caribbean music lies in
the ability of the performer to influence
the listening audience.
 Many theorists have argued that music
affects the construction of society
through its influence on its listeners.
 Like many musical genres around the
world, Caribbean music tackles a wide
array of subjects, including love, death,
tragedy, religion, belief and conflict.

4. Music in general plays the following
roles, including:
1. Stress reliever
2. Accompaniment to exercise
3. Spiritual empowerment
4. Entertainment
5. Celebration
6. Meditation

5. Calypso
• Calypso can be described as oral
tradition, possessing keen observation,
inspired social commentary and biting
satire.
• Concentrated in Trinidad and Tobago
and the Windward islands, calypso in the
1990s has transcended insularity and is
immensely popular in the entire region
and among the Caribbean Diaspora in
North America and the UK.

6.  Calypso music can be traced to the arrival of
the enslaved West Africans who used their
own kind of music and songs as a form of
communication and self-expression.
 Many early calypsos were sung in French-
Creole patois by a singer called a griot.
 The griot, who later became the chantuelle,
has in more recent times been called
calypsonian.
 Calypso has West African roots and it is
believed that the term originates from the
Hausa word kaiso which means bravo or well
done.

7.  Others believe that the term derives from
the Carib cariso – the war song of the
Caribs.
 During the period of enslavement,
calypsos were sung to jeer the enslavers.
 During freedom, the calypsonian was
seen as someone who acted as an
advocate of the poor and disfranchised as
he would ridicule and reprimand the
authority for their inadequacies in social
policies.
 As such, those in power disapproved of
the activities of calypsonians.

8.  The Mighty Gabby (born Anthony
Carter) is one of Barbados’ most prolific
songwriters/performers.
 One of Grenada’s and the Caribbean’s
most popular calypsonian is the Mighty
Sparrow. Sparrow, nee Slinger
Francisco was born in Grenada on July
9, 1935.
 Other widely acclaimed performers
include Lord Kitchener, Viper, Red
Plastic Bag, Lord Beginner and Lord
Invader.

9. Soca
 Soca originated in Trinidad and
Tobago
 It evolved from Calypso and had
Chutney influences
 Lord Shorty was a pioneer of Soca

10. Chutney
 Chutney emerging in Trinidad and
Tobago, is a kind of calypso sung to
Indian traditional musical
accompaniment and partly in Hindi.
 It is an up-tempo, rhythmic song,
accompanied by the dholak, the
harmonium and the dhantal. It derived
from traditional Indian songs.

11. Reggae
• While it is not clear where the term reggae
originated, the rhythms of the genre
emerged from ska in the 1950s and later
rock steady in the 1960s.
• Reggae is recognised as different from its
predecessors because of its spiritual
emphasis.
• The lyrics of reggae typically deal with
poverty, love, politics and Rastafari.
• There are different forms of reggae
including roots reggae typified by Bob
Marley, lover’s rock, dub and dancehall.

12. • Ska: Ska originated in Jamaica in the 1950s. It built on the
base of mento and combined calypso, jazz and rhythm
and blues elements. An example is: Don Drummond, Love
in the Afternoon.
• Rocksteady: Rocksteady became popular in Jamaica from
about 1966. Rocksteady differs from ska musically as the
tempo is slower and more relaxed. The Paragons were
influential.
• Dub reggae: A form of remixing in which an instrumental
version of a song was manipulated by adding special
electronic effects – was pioneered by Osbourne Ruddock,
better known as King Tubby. Dubs, which possess an
echo and reverberation effect, gave an eerie psychedelic
feel to the music as the DJ would then toast (talk or sing)
over the instrumental track. Daddy U-Roy’s Wake the
Town and Tell the People ushered in the era of dub
reggae.

13. • Reggae: Reggae developed in the late 1960s on the
heels of ska and rocksteady. Reggae is normally
slower than ska but faster than rocksteady.
• Roots Reggae: Roots Reggae is a spiritual form of
reggae. Recurrent lyrical themes include poverty and
resistance to racial and government oppression.
Some of the major artistes were Bob Marley and the
Wailers, Peter Tosh, the Abyssinians and Burning
Spear.
• Lover’s Rock: Lovers Rock was a counterpoint to the
mainly spiritual Roots Reggae. The themes were
about love and relationships. Some of the earlier
proponents were Ken Boothe, Gregory Isaacs, and
Dennis ‘Emmanuel’ Brown.

14. • Dancehall reggae is currently popular and
came on the scene in the 1980s.
• Popular artistes include the DJs Tiger,
Yellowman and Lt. Stitche. It became
even more popular in the 1990s with the
emergence of Shabba Ranks, Super Cat,
Bounty Killa, Beenie Man and Shaggy.
• While dancehall is innovative and cutting
edge, it has also allegedly been
characterised by sexually explicit lyrics
and violence.
• However, artistes such as Tony Rebel,
Sizzla and Buju Banton have brought
conscious lyrics to dancehall.

15. Comparing Musical Genre
Several similarities have emerged, though
Louis Regis limits the comparison to
Reggae and Calypso.
 Creole performance art forms with African
bases
 Originating in lower income communities,
they have achieved international acclaim
 Music acts as the voice of the community,
the disfranchised
 Caribbean music portrays the life of the
Caribbean people, and the varying range
of experiences.

16. Zouk
 Zouk music emerged in the French
Antilles in the 1980s.
 The word zouk is Creole and originated
in Martinique, where it was the
common expression for party.
 Zouk’s dance rhythms are based on
traditional Antillean roots.
 Zouk owes much of its rhythm to the
popular ‘biguine’ music played by
dance orchestras in the French Antilles
in the early twentieth century.

17. • Performed at fairs, carnivals, and in local
discos, zouk merges West African-influenced
indigenous drums and percussive instruments
with electronic instrumentation.
• Indigenous instruments such as the tambour
(large drum and lead instrument), chacha (tin
can filled with stones), and t-bois (thin bamboo
sticks) are paired with guitars, horns,
synthesizers, and a drum set.
• Topped off with a large vocal chorus, the
communal joy of zouk music celebrates life
amid the strains of poverty in Martinique.
• Zouk’s popularity is limited to the French
speaking territories in Europe, the Caribbean
and Africa.

18.  Zouk has been made famous by the
Caribbean performing group Kassav.
 Incidentally, Zouk has been adopted by
Angola and the Cape Verde Islands under
the name Kisomba/Kizomba.
 The only difference between the genres is
the language.
 Zouk is performed in French (or French
creole), while kisomba is performed in
Portuguese (or Portuguese creole).

19. Conclusion
 Two facets of the Caribbean’s culture
expression has been explored,
festivals and music.
 What is clear is how similar the
cultural expression is and how
representative it is of the different
migrants that entered the region.
 As culture is evolving, we can only
wait excitedly as to what our future will
bring.