Word Sound and Power!

(STAN Magazine Review) "Chantuelle/dialEctic,Muhammad, Skeeto,Bukka Roots and African drummer Akinlabi, are five young men with unique abilities, backgrounds and interests who, as their sobriquets indicate, have equally non-conformist tendencies, and a shared love of music and poetry." Along with their shared energy and passion, it is difference that perhaps most gives this band an appeal among their growing following. This includes the expression of each member’s individuality that comes out in their performances. And I’m not just talking delivery and dress, but the actual content of their songs which are usually composed through a collaborative process.Their lyrics reveal that Word, Sound and Power has a lot to say about the current state of UWI, our country and the world. And given all the cries about “the alienation of the young black male” in our society - it’s probably worth listening to, even if you don’t necessarily like, agree, or feel comfortable with everything you hear. Which raises the question, what do they sound like? When we hear the word “rapso” most of us rightly think Brother Resistance, Ataklan, Kindred, Ozymajic and 3 Canal. Word, Sound and Power builds on this heritage, and that of one of rapso’s “fathers”, Lancelot Lane, by creating a different sound that is drum-based, with tighter, faster rhythms.Yet while their style is more akin to the spit and flow of spoken-word artists in cafes in Philly and rap artists from US inner cities, refreshingly the language and accent is 100% Trini, with locally-inspired content. Combine this with the complex lyrics of guys who bridge the sometimes gap between intellectual and activist and were born into the quintessentially kaiso art of double entendre, and you have a pretty good idea of what you’re in for.So for all those who thought calypso was boring and rap for (wannabe) gangsters – think again. This hybrid, uniquely Trinbagonian musical artform may join local reggae as a rising star of our music – bringing rhythm, musicality and meaning together in a way that some claim is long overdue. Rapso, like reggae, is not first and foremost party music, so even though this music can get you moving, most of all it wants to encourage you to think, to reflect on the life you have and the one you want. The love of music meets the life of the mind…A revelation that there is nightlife in Trinidad beyond clubs and fetes, to be found not only in the annual Rapso Explosion and 3 Canal Show, but in monthly events like U-WE Speak, Speakeasy, Songshine."
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