In the space of 12 days, as 2022 draws to a close, the voices of a king and queen of calypso have been silenced.
Black Stalin, born Leroy Calliste, died at 81 on Wednesday, and on December 16, we lost Francine Edwards, better known as Singing Francine, at age 79.
The void left by these musical giants is unmistakable. Though too often underrated, these humble servants of culture were icons who have left an indelible mark on the region’s musical landscape. It is right that they are praised, albeit on their departure.
Say the name Black Stalin and immediately his party hit, Black Man Feeling to Party, deemed one of calypso’s most ingenious songs, comes to mind. But there was far more to this lyrical master.
“A lot of people have no idea how much I like calypso,” he told the late entertainment journalist Terry Joseph for a feature article, Sando [San Fernando] celebrates with Black Stalin. “Singing is just one part, but I like the calypso environment; then, the whole mood of an audience when a fella put down a nice one.”
Black Stalin first joined the Southern Brigade calypso tent in 1962, honing his skills with Trinidad’s postwar giants, Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener, Cypher, Young and Composer.
His undeniable handling of political issues, sharp wit and winsome but humble personality all came together with powerful lyrics set to the rhythms of steelpan, congas, horns, guitar and bass, winning him fans from Port of Spain to Bridgetown to Kingston and beyond.
Black Stalin, regarded as a clarion of social issues in his homeland, was a five-time winner of Trinidad and Tobago’s National Calypso Monarch Competition (1979, 1985, 1987, 1991 and 1995), and in 1999 he was crowned Calypso King of Kings.
His rich repertoire of songs, Play One, Burn Dem, Ah Feel to Party, Better Days, Sufferers, Caribbean Man, Wait Dorothy Wait, Caribbean Unity, Come With It, and Wine Boy entertained, chastised, instructed and admonished.
Said the President of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Calypso Organisation (TUCO): “Stalin was one of our greats…. He understood his purpose as a human being and he made a very strong contribution…. The Caribbean man impacted the Caribbean very strongly, in a very positive way and brought some kind of consciousness while unifying the Caribbean.”
Success was also the hallmark of Barbadian-born Singing Francine, who moved next door to Trinidad and Tobago from an early age.
“I never became involved in the calypso art form. I was born into the calypso art form,” she once said of her origins.
She has been described by TUCO as one of the most successful calypsonians in Trinidad and Tobago, winning the National Calypso Queen Competition in 1972, 1973, 1981 and 1983.
“Throughout her career, she has used her musical talent to address social issues, particularly those directly affecting women. In 1975, she sang A Call to Women, encouraging more women to use calypso music as a vehicle of self-expression. In her 1978 calypso Runaway, she addressed the topic of domestic violence, urging women in abusive living situations to seek help,” TUCO stated.
Singing Francine was also an important figure in the development of parang, Trinidad’s folk music of Venezuelan origin. In 1981, she released the parang album, Christmas is Love, which featured a blend of calypso, soca and parang.
These two calypso veterans have enriched our lives.
Black Stalin and Singing Francine were not just mere entertainers, they were the voice of the people for decades.
They boldly expressed their opinions and held the powers that be accountable for their actions with the use of satire, witty puns and double entendres.
They were the greats of Trinidadian kaiso but they belong to us all in the Caribbean. We, Caribbean folk at home and in the Diaspora, ought to celebrate their contributions with pride and ensure their voices live on, not only through their own recordings but by inspiring the lyrical masters of the future to blend wit, wisdom and melody in an art form that must continue to speak truth to power.
