Tiny calypsonian, mighty message

As excitement builds toward the 2025 Scotiabank Junior Calypso Monarch Finals, each week, veteran journalist Emmanuel Joseph will highlight a standout performer from every Junior Monarch Tent session, offering not just perspective on their performance, but lesser-known insights into the young calypsonians behind the mic.

His first pick is a first-timer who took to the stage on opening night and left a lasting impression with both his powerful message and delivery.

Eight-year-old Kajae-Ashton Holder walked on to the stage at the 2025 Scotiabank Junior Monarch Tent at Queen’s Park Steel Shed last weekend, heart pumping anxiously.

Master Kajae, a first-time junior calypso competitor, went to deliver a message, and a plea for the “Lord to send a helping hand for de boys in my little land Barbados”—the first line in the chorus of his song, Send A Helping Hand.

Rendering the song with a degree of conviction that belies such a small child, Master Kajae pleaded with youngsters to “put down the guns and end the crime in this little land of mine.” 

Each time he reached the last line of the chorus, “too many young men dying all de time”, the combination of the haunting melodic structure and the sustained emphasis on the word “all” ignited a united response from members of the audience that indicated they supported his call.

And if there was any doubt about the impact of the calypso—written by his mother, but the concept coming from Master Kajae himself–at least one patron revealed afterward that he had moved her to tears.

The Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School student told Barbados TODAY that he was inspired to compete in the calypso tent this year after being a dancer for last year’s Junior Monarch Shakara. His mother also inspired him to get into calypso.

Asked how he related to the song, the reply was touching and profound for someone of such a young age: “Just a lot of people are dying in Barbados, and I was like, then I need to sing a song about people dying and about crime. That might change something.”

“Songs like this don’t usually change stuff, but I know this song has to change something,” the young musician added.

Master Kajae describes himself as a musician who tends to feel music a lot because it’s within him. He also said he is all that his name Ashton means — “strong, and a warrior of God.”

He is already planning his future in the art form.

“I might record a couple of soca songs and then release them, but I will not perform them or go in a competition with them,” the junior calypso competitor said. “[But] I hope to end up in the Big Show [Calypso] Tent. I would like to be a king like Gabby or Mighty Grynner.”

He also hopes to inspire his classmates, many of whom are unfamiliar with calypso.

Master Kajae said that so far, “only a couple” of his school mates know he is in the competition. 

“They don’t know much about calypso. I find that kind of confusing because they know a lot about soca and bashment, but they don’t know about calypso. I think my entrance into the competition would help them to have a better appreciation for calypso,” he said.

The depth of this eight-year-old’s thinking became even more apparent when he spoke about his favourite subject at school.

“Coding and robotics,” he said. “I just tend to like robots and stuff. I would like to pursue a career in singing, drumming, being an astronaut, coding and robotics.” Also on his to-do list is “getting a scholarship, not having to go to BCC [Barbados Community College], having wealth…intergenerational wealth. I want to be successful.”

Master Kajae will be back at the Queen’s Park Steel Shed this Saturday at 6 p.m. to join his peers for the second Scotiabank Junior Monarch Tent. 

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb