BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - REIGNING Culturama Calypso King Keith ‘Dis ’N’ Dat’ Scarborough has officially released the two songs off of his ‘On De Rise Again’ album in hopes of securing a historic back-to-back victory in the upcoming 39th annual Culturama Festival in Nevis.
The title track, ‘On De Rise Again’ and ‘Thank You Lord’- the latter of which he has deemed “my favourite”- were released on Wednesday (Jul. 10) during the ‘On The Mark’ weekly radio programme hosted by Deputy Premier of Nevis Hon. Mark Brantley.
In conversation with Brantley, it was revealed that Scarborough has consecutively competed in the calypso arena of Culturama for 38 years.
To date, his accomplishment in the arena has seen him getting top positions, nine of which were crowned placements.
In the other instances, he was placed First Runner-up on 10 occasions and nine times asSecond Runner-up.
Notably, for Culturama 2012, Dis ’N’ Dat captured his ninth crown. He had amassed a total of 581 points, and won the crown against seven other calypsonians with his two songs, ‘Calypso’ and ‘De Legal System’.
As understood, should he retain his crown, Dis ’N’ Dat would be the first to do so in the history of Culturama.
Brantley commended him on his successes over the years.
“Well, I think that and of itself is a tremendous achievement, because while we’ve had other calypsonians who have been great and who have sang once, sang twice, even one, from time to time, that consistency I think is something remarkable.”
Scarborough pointed out: “That is historical not only in Nevis but throughout the entire Caribbean because not only is it 38 straight years, it is 38 years straight to the finals.”
Brantley went on to praise the calypsonian’s devotion to the cultural art form, stating, “This is truly amazing. Well, let me congratulate you on that. That is a phenomenal bit of information...it demonstrates a phenomenal dedication and commitment to the art form.”
Questioned where the inspiration comes from year after year to participate in Culturama, Scarborough credited it to the genuine love he has for the calypso art form.
“You got to have the love for it. It’s a special love. Some persons love cricket, some love golf, some love tennis (and) some love everything. Calypso is my love, so I do it for the love. That’s why when I sing in a competition and I come last, I just smile and walk away and get prepared for the next year because it is the love of it. It is not crown anymore for me! I love to have good calypsos. When I sing two good calypsos, if I don’t make any place I’m happy because I love the songs that I have.”
Scarborough shared that in respect to the song ‘On De Rise Again’, a lot of people like it but, for him, ‘Thank You Lord’ is the better of the two.
“That is, of course, one of the tunes that a few who have heard it think it’s beautiful. I personally think that it is the other tune which shows you the standard of the songs. Persons who heard the songs before think ‘One D Rise Again’ is the better of the two. I disagree, but I will let the people decide because calypso is about people. People have to be the judge of whether the songs are good or whether they are bad…what they like or don’t like.”
As gathered from his expressed opinion, this time around would be situation whereby the least favorite song in the first instance would grow on people.
“I remember when I released last year I had a song called ‘Calypso’. It was nice and melodious and a lot of people liked it, but I thought ‘De Legal System’ was the better of the two. It took them a while to realise that ‘De Legal System’ was the big one and I think the same thing will happen again.”
For Dis ’N’ Dat, ‘Thank You Lord’ is “true calypso” and “hard-hitting”.
