BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LYRICAL spitfire of political content between King Rockafella and De Unexpected created much hilarity at the Proud Sounds Calypso Tent last Thursday night (Nov. 29) held at the Sol Gas Station at the junction of Cayon Street and Victoria Road.
Among the scores of attendees were supporters of the ruling St. Kitts/Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) and those who are not.
As expected in the calypso arena, when it comes to social commentary, many calypsonians take to lyrically belting his or her views on politics.
Among the 20 performers that night, eight of them dished out some hard hitting politically-related tunes, and the major highlight was a lyrical war between two well-known calypsonians –
King Rockafella and De Unexpected, who share different views.
King Rockafella is known to be an ardent supporter of the SKNLP, which is contrary to that of De Unexpected.
The show was emceed by Calypso Reggie who, as usual, kept the patrons in stitches throughout the event with his witty jokes.
First up was Persuada with his catchy ‘Play D Ting’ tune, and he was followed by Abba Lively, who had donned a light pink long-sleeved shirt and pink cap, singing ‘More Out Dan In’.
Obviously a favourite character in the calypso arena, Abba Lively, before he began his rendition, comically made it clear that he wore pink for the “breast cancer business”, alluding that he was showing his support to the worthy cause and nothing else to it.
Nearing the end of his rendition, Abba Lively sounded humorously muffled, but a lyrical line with something said about “fly” and “Dubai” made the audience burst into laughter.
Quantash followed with a tune called ‘Agriculture’ in which he voiced his desire to see agriculture be made the main industry of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“It’s the way to boost the economy”, Quantash said.
With a song called ‘Dey Crazy’, Lord Matt sang about the careless and wayward attitude of today’s youth. Jokingly, a male attendee with an unkempt appearance drew the crowd’s attention as he gyrated to song.
The Fourth performer was Shango with ‘Rey Rey’, as he touched on controversial issues including some Carnival-related matters.
Shango was next on stage and he sang about not getting caught up in spreading any rumour about Carnival. “Me ain’t gonna say what me hear dem say…then dey say Shango say”, he sang.
Bra Bread followed with ‘Empty Vessels’; a song he sang for the first time with a band, noting that there was no prior rehearsal.
The song was directed at people who oppose the governance of the ruling SKNLP. In that song, he encouraged citizens to put forth positive solutions that would aid nation building, while chastising critics of the government to “stop concentrating on de problems when you have no solutions to them…stop with your politics… you empty vessels”.
As expected, that song did not sit well with those anti-government attendees at the tent, and so Bra Bread got a mixture of cheers, applause and boos.
Political controversy had surfaced once more. That time it was a song by Godfrey called ‘It Comes with the Territory, much to the government’s critics’ appreciation.
Some of the lyrics that contradicted Bra Bread’s included “If you thin skin and get vex easy you better find another job opportunity. A politician’s job is not easy, it all comes wid de territory”.
Godfrey also dished out: “Do not abuse your office for your own self interest…when de people decide to employ you, you shoulda know what you getting into.”
Singing in the number eight position and in keeping with the flow of opposing government’s decisions, was a newcomer named Joshua. He sang a song called ‘De Doctor Gone’.
Joshua was well-received by the audience; so much that he was called back on stage to sing another line.
Content of his song included: “You putting all de cane lands back in de white man hands”, and his chorus said: “All over town people saying de doctor done…”
Ending the chorus line, Calypso Reggie jokingly added as Joshua made his way back onstage, “Especially for those who are hurting.”
The reigning Junior Calypso Monarchr, Singing Solution, did a song called ‘Memories of the Dead’. In her piece, she sang about the haunting of one’s conscience after one has done wrong, including violently ending another’s life.
“…food is there but you don’t have no appetite, something is haunting”, sang the teen calypsonian.
Following Singing Solution’s performance, the anti-government lyrics started spitting again and those in support of the songs’ content got in the groove all over again.
Ayatollah did one called ‘Perilous Days’. According to him, “Dougie run de country into bankruptcy.” He also said, “VAT put a big hole in we pocket.”
Next was I-Soursop, who added to those opposing government lyricists that went before him. He sang about the style of electoral campaign he would have in becoming “the next Sir Kennedy”.
“If it smell fishy expect to hear from me…that’s how I would be campaigning”, he said.
In his chorus, he asked: “Who you voting for?” which was answered with “I Soursop, Isoursop…” He pledged that “I would work honestly for taxpayers money”.
In number 12 position was Pahollah who sang on ‘VAT’. He said he finds that the prices in the stores are so high and declared “way it come from, straight back it got to go”.
Next was News Flash with ‘Nuttin For Arwe’. In his song he spoke about one’s pay cheque finishing quickly soon after one receives it. He also spoke about encouraging children to stay in school and focus on getting their education.
King Rockafella followed with ‘Land for Sale’. According to him, Dougie tell him: “Rock a gon sell de land cause I don’t want to end up in debtor’s jail.”
With some impromptu lyrics, King Rockafella pointed finger at Joshua and Ayatollah while calling their names. He also targeted De Unexpected by making a remark about an alleged instance of intoxicated behaviour exhibited by him.
King Rockafella told the audience that those three calypsonians “have no respect for the government” and that they “should be ashamed for (cursing) the government”.
Next up was Big Lice who set the tone for more political controversy with his song ‘Ask D PM’.
According to the veteran calypsonian, “Ghost” told him that “things not going well in de party. Lately, some of us have been real unhappy”.
The performer who followed cooled things down temporarily, and that was Zinette singing ‘Our Children”, encouraging all parents and responsible adults to nurture the children of today since they are tomorrow’s leaders.
“Push them but don’t shove them”, he sang.
Lord Kut came after with ‘King Barkie’ with an animated performance that saw him hoisting his pants near his chest area with some heavy onstage stomping. His song was a tribute to former calypsonian King Barkie who started singing in the 1960s.
A well-loved entertainer of the art form, De Unexpected followed and the crowd immediately got excited as he made his way to the stage. He said the Federation was once a place of paradise and was nice until the economic parasite came “doing people as he like”. He said the parasite reminded him of a “termite”.
With an extempo style, De Unexpected rebutted King Rockafella with insinuations that supporters of the ruling party would not find anything wrong with party by singing something about a dog eating back its vomit.
“You labour dogs must respect my melody”, was what De Unexpected said before leaving the stage.
King Lala was next singing his popular ‘Worm in De Pumpkin’. As he attempted to manoeuver to do his self pat on the back, he clumsily slipped a little off the stage which brought a moment of laughter in the audience.
Pungwah brought down the curtains on the show with ‘Rat Race’, which encouraged nationals to come together and work for the benefit of nation building and to put away the attitude of animosity and ill-will towards each other.
The Proud Sounds Calypso Tent was sponsored by LIME and White Oak.
