Traditions continually acquire new dimensions as they persist beyond the era or original context in which they were conceived. W hen a tradition is conceived, if such a thing can be said to happen, it cannot be apparent to its initiators at that moment that it is traditional, but becomes so through its persistence from one generation to another. Naturally, as the tradition outlives each generation, it is open to reassessments and reinterpretations that will be set against a continually shifting contextual background. Roger Abrahams (1983) suggests that, rather than taking on new cultural values from the whites, the old Caribbean colonies added new ones to those already existing. To quote Paul Radin the "Negro was not converted to [the W hite Christian] God. He converted God to himself" (see Abrahams 1983:54). Paul Gilroy ( p i 9 :16) offers a useful insight into the nature o f black music when he states that the music o f black people should be approached as a "changing rather than an unchanging same." Tradition is not passed through time as a fixed unchanging essence but is reinvented: "New "traditions" are invented in the jaw s o f modern experience" (ibid). It is the invocation o f tradition that is important as a stand against the destabilising flux o f the modern world. Hence a new hybrid type such as "Hip Hop" may be effectively used as a symbol o f authenticity. The essence remains the same but automatically adapts its expression to its spatial and temporal environment so that it may be better understood. A tradition can maintain itself if it is strong enough in its central purpose and pliable enough in its expressive tendencies, to withstand this.
Calypso has been embraced by successive generations and is valued today for its
intrinsic cultural value. It has become something by which a people define themselves and, whether they choose to be associated with it or to disassociate themselves from it, it is part o f the national consciousness. One o f my main informants. Bongo, derived much o f his yearly income from carnival and was once told how lucky he was that Trinidad had a carnival. His reply was revealing and won much support from the rest o f the lime: ’’Lucky? Yuh feel ah lucky? Yuh from Trinidad? Sometime ah feel yuh from a nex place. Cah yuh tink o f Trinidad widdout tinking o f carnival? or calypso? or steelband? Yuh mad or wat? Trinidad is carnival. W e are carnival. Dere eh no luck aboud it. D at carnival is dere for yuh, meh and every Trinidadian. If ah mek money jus so it because ah is Trinidadian.” Feelings about calypso tend to run deeper and across a w ider age range than for other forms o f popular music. The point here is that the long and rather confused history o f calypso has meant that it is difficult now to talk about it as a whole, without first considering the rather diverse aspects that are part o f the calypso tradition.
The introduction o f the soca beat in the mid to late seventies was an immediate hit with dance audiences and is now the predominant form o f calypso. M any o f the older calypsonians have felt the pressure to conform to this new style, even Sparrow felt the "Soca Pressure”, as he called it in his song o f that name. Later however, he clarified his position: "People nowadays keep saying that we have changed calypso over the years. I say why not? W e had to change for calypso is a live and living thing. The very people complaining about Soca and the like would be the first to boo if you come with the same kind o f calypso every year” (see W arner, preface: 1982). The need for variety in calypso was the motivating force behind Lord Shorty's soca invention. 1993 saw a further manifestation o f the effect o f soca with the first staging o f a Soca Monarch competition, marking an official divide in calypso. Most o f the contenders were also considered to be contenders for that year's Road March, and the first winner. Super Blue, did go on to win the
Road March as well. Soca has proved to be the most commercially successful form o f calypso in the modern era and is therefore, most predominant in the Road March.
In an article from one o f Trinidad's many weekly papers the calypsonian Sugar Aloes is praised for being "a well seasoned all rounder in the calypso arena". This means, according to the paper, that: "He can sing almost anything from love ballads, party songs and hard hitting socio-political tunes" (Weekend Heat 27/02/93 p i 9). For a calypsonian to be considered competent in all these areas is itself unusual enough to be worthy o f media interest which, in this case, rightly indicates that most calypsonians tend to be known for their achievements in one area o f calypso. Very few calypsonians tend to sing love ballads but, as was established in chapter 4, calypso can be largely divided into two categories that may be referred to as "party" or "jam and w ine", and "serious" or "social commentary" (a third more specialised component is calypso that is composed particularly for interpretation by the steelbands). It is this divide that is the cause o f so much discussion when talking about the general nature o f calypso.
The most basic duality is within the calypso itself. This appears to be recognised within the categorising or titling o f the music. There would not be a social commentary that was also a "wine and Jam" or "party" calypso, and while a social commentary may use a soca beat it would not be referred to as being a soca calypso. Soca calypsos are for dancing to and for playing in party situations to help create a party atmosphere and are therefore associated with the Road March. Kaiso is a traditional term and has now come to be used for social commentary type calypsos or calypsos that have a serious point to make, although these calypsos will also often be humorous as well. Chalkdust (Hollis Liverpool), who is probably the most prominent o f the dedicated social commentators, constantly refers to his music as "kaiso". This though is not to say that the social commentary aspect o f
calypso is any more "traditional" than the Road M arch calypsos. These different aspects o f calypso have always been there it. The rest o f the divisions follow from this division within calypso music itself. These are to do with how the music is received, and when and where it may be played.
The dual aspect o f calypso is best headlined by its m ajor competitions as outlined in chapter 3. On the one hand there are the Road M arch and the Soca Monarch competitions, and on the other the Calypso Monarch and the Calypso Queen competitions. Here the division is formally realised. These are the major carnival calypso competitions and they, to some extent, define the calypsos that are involved in them. However, it is not as simple as this as some calypsonians do compete, and do well, in both competitions using the same material. M ost recently Super Blue (Austin Lyons) won the Road March in 1993 whilst also reaching the finals o f the Calypso Monarch. M ore impressively, in 1988, David Rudder achieved a very rare feat by actually winning both competitions.
Apart from in competition, calypso music, as an event, is either played at fetes, or in tents, and here we see further manifestations o f its duality. For example, you would not go to a fete to hear social commentary. A t a fete the emphasis is on partying and dancing and so calypsos that promote this will be played. In a tent the calypso will generally be listened to in a seat by an attentive audience who will clap or jeer each calypso. There is a slight overlap here though in that soca and road march calypsos will also be performed in tents, although they will be considerably outnumbered by social commentary calypsos. The most apparent difference is the way each calypso type is received by the listeners, with one inspiring dance and revelry, as found at fetes, and the other attentive seated listening, as found in the tents. It is noticeable that it is only when road march calypsos are performed in the tents that the audience may rise from their seats to dance, although it is far more restrained than at a fete. The distinctions are
obviously not cut and dried but there is clearly a duality in calypso, highlighted by the competitions, but based on the necessary function, either to inspire dance and revelry, or thought and awareness.
Many o f the crowd pleasing calypsos played on the radio and at fetes do rely on the same tried and tested jam and wine formula which can give this type o f calypso a rather impersonal feel. However, the music is still valued for its danceability; the prim ary ingredient in a successful road march calypso: "If it is Road M arch yuh hav to go wid de beat. Ah may lik a calypsonian to win Road M arch but if he go in de M onarch I nah lik he to w in." Remarks like this show why it is a rare achievement today for a calypsonian to succeed in both competitions, but also highlight the divide within calypso. This divide stems from the place that lyrics have within the overall construction o f the song. Those calypsos that are described as jam and wine emphasize the beat and rhythm, and are meant for the dance hall. For these, lyrics are not secondary or meaningless but are taken from a stock set o f phrases, instructions and descriptions, o f which the words "wine" and "jam" are the most common. These tunes will be set to a soca beat, and well produced for play on the radio where they will achieve popularity and become challengers for the Road March title. Figure 5 is a cartoon joke taken from one o f the most popular Trinidadian weekly newspapers which highlights the extent to which these calypsos are heard playing on radios all over the country.
The more serious social commentary calypsos will have far less radio time, but may be heard live in the tents. For this reason they will rely less on studio production techniques as it is their live perform ance that will determine their success. The Road M arch today is dependent on recorded sound. The calypsos that are played by the bands over the carnival are recorded versions played from sound systems stacked up on trucks so that the sound is as mobile as the mas players. In contrast, the Calypso Monarch competition places a premium on live performance,