Strong social commentary calypsos highly critical of the political administrations of the time was a hallmark, and a high point, many Barbadians looked forward to at the Pic-O-De-Crop element of the Crop Over Festival. But in recent years that trend seems to have died off or at least fallen out of favour.
Several reasons were put forward for its apparent demise during a series of Zoom meetings held by former Senator and leader of the United People’s Party, Lynette Eastmond on the topic of “The Political Calypso in Barbados.” She traced the history of the genre, noting that “Over the years the political calypso has been used to praise and criticise political actors, and has been a means of pushing back against tyranny. As a result, it became part of the island’s historical record as it became an amplification of the opinions of Barbadians.”
In terms of where it is presently headed, young calypsonian Jamal Slocombe stated that: “Elsewhere in the region hard-hitting commentary is still quite prevalent, but here it has taken a back seat to sweet soca and bashment soca of late. Previously it was only the tents that gave artistes opportunities to perform and many of those older artistes had “day jobs”. For most of the younger ones this is their only job, so they tend to focus on what will be more financially beneficial.”
Slocombe also lamented the fact that there was not really a smooth transition from the Junior Calypso Monarch to Pic-O-De-Crop. “There are only a few writers who produce songs for the children in Junior Monarch, and young people I find do not really go to the tents or Pic-O-De-Crop, and presently there is a huge dancehall wave in Barbados and that is what young people gravitate towards. However, I must commend Sharon Carew-White at House of Soca for giving former Junior Monarch contestants the chance to take part in that tent when they graduate from the junior level.”
Sean “Apache” Carter says some calypsonians have been ‘bought’ and Former Senator and leader of the United People’s Party, Lynette Eastmond, hosted the discussion. (FP)
Both head of the Barbados Association of Creatives and Artistes, Sean “Apache” Carter, and four-time Calypso Monarch David “Kid Site” Piggott spoke about a high level of censorship that had entered the calypso arena over the last few years.
Carter stated: “There is the commercial aspect of things now, and young people who might not think they can write well enough to get a song into Pic-O-De-Crop will seek to create something they believe will be more lucrative. There is also a fear of victimization when it comes to singing on certain topics, so that is why a lot of people have been shying away from it.”
Kid Site stated: “To my mind, subtlety has always been a hallmark of Barbadian social commentary; you don’t really get that anywhere else in the Caribbean. I would say the political calypso flourished in the 1980s into the 1990s, but from 2008 I found it was getting heavily censored. From then, people were being told to remove certain lines or people’s names from their songs, and there has been a focus on “nation building” songs with what are considered positive messages rather than the harder material we had before.”
Carter continued: “Older calypsonians were fearless, such as Gabby, who really took the Governments of the day to task with his material. Do today’s artistes really write from that same sense of personal conviction? I would go as far as to say that some are cowards or they’ve been bought!
“Beyond that, people do not read as much or follow the news as closely as they did in the past, and unless you do that you won’t be able to write properly. Previously in Barbados people from all walks of life had robust discussions on two main topics, cricket and politics; you don’t really get that anymore.”
Rhea Gilkes noted: “Creativity follows money. Bashment soca is a genre that can play year-round and give entertainers the chance to perform at fetes and carnivals all around the world. The nature of media has changed as well, and has become more entertaining and less informative. For example, a TikTok influencer sharing their views is not the same as a reporter from the BBC doing an investigative story.”
She added that “compared to what prevailed in the 1980s, I would say that social commentary is dying and two of the main things causing that are people following the money plus the fear of victimization. The only way you can change that is to have people brave enough to speak out, and that will happen in its own time, it’s not something you can force.” (DH)
