Calypso 2007-2008, as I saw It

Two more years half as good as this and King Konris would have cemented his place as one of our best, ever. He has indisputably won 2 of his 3 crowns, and 10 years from now, when we talk 'bout St. Kitts-Nevis Calypso, we will call his name in the same breath with Eli's and Meeko, his cousin from across the waters. If he continues in his current vein, we may even have to find a higher breath for his name. The judges had no 'first place work' to do this year, though the margin of victory was somewhat surprising.

In this discussion, when I say “Second Song”, I mean the lesser of two songs produced for competition, not necessarily the song sung second in any competition. Further, when I think about the relative merits of (competition or non-competition calypsos, in addition to the classic criteria used throughout the region, I also include:

• the song must have a tune or lyrics you can remember 3 months after Carnival, and

   

• someone from another island listening to it must be able to say: “Dat is Kaiso”.

   

And that's what Konris has given us, with music and lyrics these last three years. His serious songs are instant classics. His jumpy songs: “Sunday J'Ouvert”, “Miss Melody”,“Mus' Be In De Water” and “Walk Away” are cuts above the rest of their genre, and hopefully the road will soon catch up with him.

So forget about the political machinations that might make you want to cast aspersions on his talent and work. Konris is a good young man, and is the Real Calypso Deal. Would that supporters of his opponents recognize this, and see past his managers and supporters, who themselves also have to remember that when at his peak, even Slinger “Sparrow” Francisco did not win every crown in Trinidad, the mecca of calypso.

Lord Kut put down one of the more memorable performances (think Shadow & Contenda) for many years with his “Sucking Labour Breast”. So say all serious Calypso fans, and even the staunchest of my Labour friends agree with me here, though they refuse to go the obvious step further and say that for Kut not to have made the finals speaks to the presence of some unwritten rule which is corrupting our calypso. His second song ? “Gone Gone Gone” though obviously a work in progress at the time of the semi-finals had immense promise and I regret that it was not allowed to grow through the finals process.

He still won't have touched Konris, but would have made 2^nd or 3^rd. Pat and Dis 'n Dat, being the consumate artists they are, brought up the quality of their second songs a bit by Finals night, but on semi-finals night Lord Kut was several cuts above them. Is not jus' me say so: a venerable Calypso author and critic from Trinidad who was with me for the semi-finals felt the same way.

Big Lice had his best year yet, with 2 great songs which he delivered them with passion and in the great tradition of Calypso. Any other year and he would have been a serious contender for first place, and I hope he can find equally good songs to challenge our us with next time. Hopefully there will be no more of the unwritten political rules which mitigated against Kut this year, and against Contenda, Socrates and Anastasia in the past, in place then.

Channeled pain and anger, a la Kut this year is OK. Anastasia's “The Deal”, dealt with her righteous pain, but on finals night her pain detracted from her performance, though many feel not enough to drop her as far down as she eventually placed. “10 Commandments” was potentially a better song, but unfortunately did not get the time and work from Anastasia and her dad, nor sufficient airplay to make it the masterpiece it could so easily have become. Speaking of which, I have no problem with Socrates writing her songs, as many of the most memorable songs of Slinger Francisco, McClean “Shortshirt” Emmanuel and other greats were penned for them. Though I would urge Queen Anastasia next year to have at least one of her songs written by someone other than her dad, that she might develop her own voice.

I cannot even remember the name of Socrates' second song. At his best he is the equal of them all, but this was an off year for him, as even the staunchest of my PAM friends would agree. Still, for original concepts, finding different ways to look at something which we've all seen before, he can't be beat, even regionally, and “Ricardo” was a case in point.

Lady Sunshine has come on by leaps and bounds: The Big Guns, even Konris & Anastasia, better prepare for her 3 or 4 years down the road - she'll be a real threat then. Her pan song this year was a good second song-I hope Jazzique will write many more songs for her, and hopefully others. Her “Walk a Mile” song, despite being too saccharine (calypso must have some bite: even Jesus wasn't perfect all the time) is a very good song, and with more work could have been a masterpiece.

Dis n Dat's “Godson” and “Fruits of Labour” were both classics to me. Given the way politics colors everything here, even the judgment of experienced calypso commentators, different factions will agree with different halves of that statement. His “Shawn Song” was too focused an attack, without the artistry of Socrates' “Ricardo”. There is political calypso and there has always been political calypso. When Socrates, Contenda, Pat and Dis n' Dat (past songs across the waters) sing, you know it is from their heart. Mr. Scarborough's effort this year was below his usual high standard. Being the master he is, however he was able to make a nothing second song passable on finals night.

Honorable mention: Jackspanner and Hooligan. Surely today we can't be excluding Caricom nationals from winning our competitions?

The road songs came out too late for any of them to really distinguish themselves in my old brain. And they all sound the same, basically, and like what we've had over the last few years.

My wife always accuses me of living in dreamland, so here goes:

• Alamoulou's peace making “Pam Pa Lam pa-Labour” was a blast, and hopefully will be played by both political parties in the next election campaign, so that we can forget about the expense of bringing in high-priced foreign acts.

   

• in my Calypso Heaven, during one of his busy Postgraduate years, Konris would take a year off from competing, but would send down real tunes that we could remember for the bands to work with for the road, and send down a song or two for Queen Anastasia to sing on finals night: if he had the time he might even come down to sing back up for her!!

   

   

   

“KOP !!”

That noise you heard was My Queen, hitting me on the head with something hard to wake me up.

Ian Jacobs, St. Peters, January 21, 2008