Carifesta is in Barbados, returning after 8 years.
As I continue to explore another aspect of art as part of the media team, here are some of my photos from this year’s parade.
If you are in Barbados, COME OUT!
There is a lot going on!
Welcome back to my series of Crop Over musical periods. The last period, Ancient Crop Over Music, looked at the music that was part of the festival after its re-introduction in 1974. This next stage is one of the most important ones in the Barbadian music period, and for many, it is seen as the Golden Age.
The Blue Ice Years
The Blue Ice Years is the period where Eddy Grant, from his Blue Wave Studio in St. Philip and Ice Records, his label, dominated Crop Over. He was responsible for the songs that bossed the Tune of the Crop, which are the songs most frequently played at Kadooment, which is the final day of Crop Over.
Boots – The Mighty Gabby
This 1983 release from the Mighty Gabby was massive, not only in Barbados for Crop Over but throughout the region. In fact, it did the unthinkable for a Barbadian release then and became very popular in Trinidad. Boots is also typical of the Grant production approach of that time, with back-beat drums, minimal use of horns, and comparatively sparse bass lines. This song did not win the Tune of the Crop for that year, but it remains one of the classic Crop Over songs of all time.Â
Sousy – Director
Produced by Eddy Grant and arranged by trumpeter Ricky Brathwaite, this song was one very popular in 1985. The rhythms were more typical of other soca offerings in the Caribbean at the time, and it didn’t have the Grant production stamp of the period, however, the durability (it was remade this year by Barry Chandler) and the impact of this work can not be denied.
Mr. T, Stinging Bees, More Grynner- Grynner
When it comes to popular works from the Blue-Ice Period, Grynner’s songs are definitely the ones to be noted. Grynner was the undisputed Tune of the Crop artist of the 80s, and these three songs won from 1983 to 1985. All of them bore the Eddy Grant style, with the back-beat rhythms from American music and/or the bass and harmonic minimalism.
Summary
For me, the Blue-Ice Period is the most nostalgic era of Crop Over for older Barbadians. It was not only defined by these iconic sounds and songs, but also marked a significant shift in the festival’s status. This was a time when the tent system was thriving, and Crop Over transitioned from the fringes to being a truly national festival.
So, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Crop Over, and what do we academic types do with art that has been around a long time?
We analyse it and classify it.
Like other classification systems, there is no one cut-off point; instead, each one flows into the other.
Let me declare my hand now; these periods will deal with areas of creativity within Crop Over, which, in the case of Barbados, are mostly within the soca area (which really starts to come in the 2nd Period)
1st-period Ancient Crop Over Music – 1974-1982
Music of the earliest Crop Over falls under here. The genre of the period is dominated by calypso. In short, this time is mainly based on Barbadian singers, musicians, and producers copying the music from Trinidad.
Key songs from this time:
The Mighty Gabby’s Mr. Harding from 1979.
The drum beat and the melodic construction from this song are all within the typical Trinidadian party calypsos of the 1970s. The instrumentation with the prominence use of “brass” (trumpets and saxes) also makes this a direct copy of what Trinidadian arrangers were doing then.
A similar work from this “Ancient Crop Over Music” time is Viper’s Ting Tong.
Not to sound like a stuck record, but this song, too, displays the characteristics of the Gabby song I posted before. I also want to highlight how melody and harmony work from this Ancient Crop Over Period. There is harmonic movement, and the melodies are less repetitive, especially in the choruses.
This song, Mr Harding from the young artist Red Plastic Bag, comes from the Pic-O-De Crop Competition. This competition is where the heavier lyrical content songs come to be judged in front of a panel, with a winner crowned the calypso monarch. The tempo and the extensive, and I mean EXTENSIVE, verses were typical of these songs, called social commentaries, from the Ancient Crop Over Music period.
The final song I want to post from this time is Jack from the Mighty Gabby. This song also entered the Pic-O-De Crop competition in 1982, but it is a far more uptempo song than Mr. Harding. The verses are shorter, and the melody is much more repetitive despite dealing with a social issue. This song marks the end of this period as the next period began to establish an indigenous Barbadian soca sound.
Catch me on the next blog post for part II – The Blue Wave Period.
Bonus Ancient Crop Over Music Song – Romeo’s Brother Fuzzy
Hello,
Here is a video I created for the 1688 Dingolay channel.
It looks at the ways Africa has contributed to the music of the Caribbean and the Americas.
Enjoy.
Hello everyone,
Here is some more #isolationcontent.
This video tells the story of the popular Bajan Dub/Bashment Soca in 5 minutes.
Enjoy!
There is a song called “In Time to Come” by Crazy. Â In it he lists numerous events that he thinks will happen. Â Check it out below.
For those unfamiliar, or those that just can’t be bothered to listen, Crazy makes a number of claims. Like,
1. The coming of a black President. Which he was right about.
2. Trinidad developing a nuclear program. Which I am not sure about.
3. A computer writing calypso. Which is what this blog is all about.
Because Crazy was right. The age of the Mighty Microchip or Lord AI is definitely upon us. How may you ask?
Because modern calypso is a cliche with repeated ways of doing things. And computers love cliches.
Let me show you.
1. Horns come the same place.
Since the rise of Soca, calypso has become a very predictable form. Firstly, most of them feature horns. These horns play the same role in all the songs. So for example, all songs have band choruses, melodies and sections where horns fill the spaces. So let me demonstrate this by using what has become the template for female calypso songs, Die With My Dignity by Singing Sandra.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_PgUvEzNGA
The band chorus here plays the melody of the chorus at the beginning of the song and after each sung chorus. Here it is separated.
The horns also play in between the vocal phrases. And believe me, the majority of the melodic verse phrases last for four beats and the horns then play for two beats. Check below:
Since the birth of Soca 40 years ago, calypso has come to live in a particular tempo range, that is 85 to 120 b.p.m.
All calypsos these days are in major or harmonic minor. In addition to this, since the Chalkdust years, a particular harmonic progression has become prominent. Of course, this is too much to explain here in this blog, but I will be releasing some videos to prove this. But trust me, the harmony is very much cliche as well.
Calypso uses three basic drum patterns these days.
Lyrics have been seen to be the centrepiece of the calypso. However, like all good things, they have become cliche. The majority of well-written calypsos are based on the working class point of view on politics, world events. Calypsonians these days take the topic and use everyday objects as a metaphor to frame the argument. To get what I am talking about, take the Chalkdust song Chauffeur Wanted, as he is a leading practitioner of this type of calypso.
The same can be said of Red Plastic Bag, a noted admirer of Chalky.
Endings
Ok, Stefan, you have identified the cliche but how do you code all of this?
By laying out the rules, of course! Check these basic functions.
Boom! Calypso!
The early results from the Soca competitions are in.
This means that Barbadian radio rotation will now be based around the competition songs chosen to go forward
leaving the other 600 to die.
Before these songs go into the afterlife altogether though, let me try to keep five of them alive. Here is my Lazarus 5 of Crop Over 2017. a.k.a 5 songs that didn’t make it into the next round of competition.
I was introduced to this guy earlier this year when my Caribbean Ensemble from the Barbados Community Collge did the National Cultural Foundation’s Cavalcade. I was immediately blown away by his voice. Check this one produced by Quantum Productions.
2. Jafar – Bang
Like Makka Tree, I met this guy in person on the Cavalcade gig. This Bajan Dub song, although not progressing further, has all the qualities of a really good Bajan Dub song.
3. Aidan – Life Nice
This song, written by the Waterstreet Boyz and produced by super-producer Chris Allman, is in the tradition of the modern Ragga Soca. With a great hook and super saccharine melody, it should not be thrown on to the rubbish-heap. A good rendition by Aidan as well.
4. Chenice – Sweet Carnival
Like Life Nice, this is a modern Ragga Soca. Chenice does a good job here as well.
5. Contone – Come Back Tomor
Contone has been around a long time and has of late been battling his own demons. This year he reconnected with long- time producer, Anderson ‘Blood’ Armstrong to produce this. Like My Car Brek Down and 2 Sir Grantleys, this is Contone at his Bajan Blues best.
These are not all the songs obviously.
And I would be glad to hear more suggestions.
What are your five?
Special mention.
Here is my group’s offering featuring the super talented Jabari Browne. We didn’t compete with this but keep checking it anyway.
Bajan Dub is a big mover and shaker for Crop Over this year again.
If you want to call it Bashment Soca then fine…
Here is the Top 5 anyway.
5. Lady Essence – Fluffy Gal
The most prominent lady of Bajan Dub is back. Here she is keeping it like she normally does with Fluffy Gal.
4. Â Stabby – Wukkist
Stabby has actually been around for quite a while originally doing the “original” Bashment Soca. This beat is one of the freshest in Bajan Dub.
3. Â Stiffy – Tip and Ben Ova
Stiffy to me is one the biggest talents in the genre of Bajan Dub. Like Stabby, he came to prominence through Soca. This one has another fresh beat as well.
2. Â Scrilla and Faith – Gimme
This one is the only duo entry and could have easily gone to Coopa Dan and Rhea’s “Bare Trouble.”* This one gets a slight nod from me but not by much.
This song is perhaps the biggest Bajan Dub song for the year and once again features Scrilla doing what he does best.
Enjoy theBajan Dub competition if you are in Barbados and if you are overseas please continue to watch this cultural space.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZG6UrmFdBA
It is carnival season in the Catholic Caribbean.
And in the English-speaking areas,
the music of choice will be soca.
It wasn’t always this way
40 years ago it was all calypso.
In fact, many today still tend to refer to all singers at carnival time as calypsonians whether they do calypso or soca. But the difference between the two genres could not be more distinct.
And just to help out those that are still confused, here are the differences between soca and calypso.
1. Lyrics-no-lyrics
Soca music has and always will be a party music. As a result, it keeps the beats heavy and the words light. Calypso, on the other hand, is the old guy who use to party but spends his time philosophizing about life.
If it says “Jump, wine , wave,bacchanal, carnival, jump” it is Soca.
If it says “existential threats to the diaspora need a panacea,” then chances are you are listening to a calypso. See Chalkdust singing a calypso below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQDV8NUIRG8
2. Hook line and sinker
If you missed the hook you definitely do not have a soca stream on. Soca repeats itself.
Even though there is repetition in calypso, it does not even come close to soca’s jump and wave stammering. Hear this classic repetition by Barbadian soca star Blood.
3. Brass less – drum machine more
Calypso songs generally have different instrumentation to soca, especially post 90s soca. Calypso songs are generally more organic (although not all the time) and usually feature a brass section of some type.
Here is calypso plus brass plus Singing Sandra.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-ZH27vGntg
Soca, on the other hand, is minimalist (not many instruments) with the drum machine, and laptops running Ableton, prominent. They also tend to be more synthesized.
Take “Advantage” of what I mean below ;).
4. Â Tempo
Since the 90s, soca has been in two different time zones, mid-tempo and break-your-neck speed. An example of break-your-neck speed is Advantage above.
Calypsos NEVER EVER REACH these tempos.
So if you hear a song over 150 b.p.m. then it is CERTAINLY a SOCA song. Anything under 130 b.p.m, then it at least has a chance of being a calypso.
(Then you have to go from #1-3 to see if it actually is of course.)
5. Beats (Check out my book Caribbean Composers Handbook on Amazon for more)
Soca uses a number of beats and these have changed over the years. However, if you hear the following beats then you are dealing with a soca song.
Calypso is more than comfortable to maintain the beat like the one below and it has done so for many a year.
So wherever you are from, Â enjoy the carnival in the Catholic Caribbean but whatever you do, don’t call the soca a calypso.
Crop Over, Barbados’ major festival, has not been a place of musical surprises for some time now.
However, 2016 has produced a big one for me in the complete re-definition of the Bashment Soca genre.
In a previous blog post, I identified the common use of the term in Barbadian music circles and gave musical examples for the uninitiated. For those who missed it the link is below.
https://stefanwalcott.com/2014/05/23/what-is-bashment-soca-crop-over-blog-1/
Here also is soca artist Gorg speaking on Bashment Soca back in 2011.
The conversation is about the song below.
From the interview, we can hear Gorg reference Bashment throughout as this was the common term used to talk about the variant of Soca heard above.
However, this is not so anymore.
This year, a Bashment Soca competition has started which has music not sounding like the above, but as below.
And below
The examples above I considered to be Bajan Dub, a genre that I posted about with a Top 10.
https://stefanwalcott.com/2014/02/05/top-10-bajan-dub-dancehall-records-for-beginners/
Bajan Dub  has its routes/roots planted in the early 80s and had a resurgence post 2010. But this year it seems that is ALL now BASHMENT SOCA!
What the Bashment Soca/Bajan Dub has shown therefore is that genre is a very FLUIDÂ thing. Despite what many think, one cannot proclaim a genre and expect it to stay the same. It also shows that the creation of a genre comes from different places including sponsors!!! So despite what I say here, the fact that a lucrative competition has come about means that those that said Bajan Dub before will definitely be singing Bashment Soca now.
So to answer the title:
Question: Just so Bajan Dub become Bashment Soca???!!!!
Answer:Â YES!!!!???!!!!!
stefanwalcott.com 