History Of Calypso Essay

According to The Concise Oxford Pocket English Dictionary, Calypso is defined as “a kind of West Indian music or song in syncopated African rhythm, typically with words improvised on a topical theme”. The origin of the word ‘Calypso’ has been an almost controversial one as some argue that it is a derivation from the Hausa word “Kaiso” which means “bravo” whilst others argue that the word was derived from the French word “carrousseaux” which means “a drinking party”. It was also claimed to be a play on the Spanish word “calliso” which translates to English as “a tropical song”.
The roots of the genre, Calypso was mainly originated from the West African traditions with regards to its percussive rhythmic beats, the call-and-response pattern, …show more content…
In that era, calypso was sung in patois and then it gracefully evolved to being sung in the English Language, after Trinidad was dominated by the English. As time went by Calypso music began to spread throughout the Caribbean and other countries of the world. Just to name a few, the early pioneers of Calypso music included Atilla the Hun, Lord Invader and the Roaring Lion. These names however were not their biological names given to them at birth but it was a representation of their sobriquet. They used it as an attempt to show their superiority over their colleagues and to have an outstanding appeal to the public. As Calypso music became more popular a number of new artistes emerged including Lord Kitchener, The Mighty Sparrow and Calypso Rose, whom are still well known legends in this current period of time, two thousand and fifteen (2015). Over the years, Calypso music has impacted on the politics, sociology as well as the economics of Trinidad and Tobago. The core purpose of this report is to outline the impacts of Calypso music on the aforementioned