Trinidad Rough Riders
Trinidad Rough Ridersconsist of skillful, talented and proud Trinidadian's locally and internationally. An example of our rides would be Trinidadian singers, deejays, sound systems, tassa groups, international athletes, promoters, models etc... representing our country and talent globally. This is our Official Trinidad Rough Riders home base page on myspace.
We also try to help international trinidadians with this myspace page providing useful information about our country (for those who need it) like news (links), live radio station(links), new singers/deejays (links/updates), Promotional Purposes and of course, new Trinidad music/hits for you to listen and add. We roll with true Trinis to de bone & heart, who represent the red white and black proudly. We have no weak links in our rough riders movement, strictly hard hitters, so we welcome you Trinis into our community as one unified family. We only have one question for you,..........when is de lime?
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Soca
Soca
Soca is a modern form of calypso with an up-tempo beat. There is a popular misconception that soca is a fusion of American soul music and traditional calypso. Hence the name "so-ca," soul/calypso. Though this sounds plausible, it is simply not true. Soca music originated as a fusion of calypso with Indian rhythms, thus combining the musical traditions to the two major ethnic groups of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Father of Soca
Born October 6, 1941 in Lengua, Trinidad, Garfield Blackman would become the creator of soca. Blackman began singing calypso at the tender age of seven. Performing under the name Lord Shorty, he rose to fame in 1963 with his recording of Clock and Dagger. The name Lord Shorty is a paradoxical reference to his imposing height of 6-ft 4-in.
Talk that calypso was dying, and reggae was the new thing, prompted Lord Shorty to experiment with the calypso rhythm for nearly a decade. He combined Indian rhythm instruments (particularly the dholak, tabla and dhantal) with traditional calypso music. The result was a new energetic musical hybrid called soca. In 1973, Lord Shorty introduced soca to the world with his hit song Ãndrani. The release of his 1974 album Endless Vibrations prompted dozens of musicians to adopt the new soca style.
Lord Shoty initially referred to his musical hybrid as "solka", representing the true "soul of calypso." The "Indianization" of calypso brought together the musical traditions of Trinidad and Tobago's two major ethnic groups, the descendants of African slaves and of indentured laborers from India. The name was later changed to "soca" by a music journalist.
Endless Vibrations, the first soca album, contained the popular Om Shanti, a song that sparked controversy because of its use of a Hindu chant in the chorus line. Lord Shorty was no stranger to controversy in the ensuing years performing songs such as The PM Sex Probe, which poked fun at the Prime Minister. He was equally adept at performing songs dealing with social and political issues as in his hit Money Eh No Problem.
By the turn of the 1980s, "the father of soca" had become disenchanted with music he had created, saying that soca was being used to "celebrate the female bottom, rather than uplift the spirits of the people." Lord Kitchener's classic hit Sugar Bum Bum is a prime example of what he meant.
Around 1981, Lord Shorty converted to Rastafarianism, changed his name to Ras Shorty I, and moved into the Piparo forest in southern Trinidad, 50 miles from Port of Spain. There the prolific musician, composer and innovator continued to explore new musical frontiers while devoting himself to writing songs about spiritual matters and the dangers of hedonism. He formed the group Love Circle with his wife Claudette and several of their children. (He is said to have fathered anywhere from 14 to 20 children.) In the late 1980's he introduced a new style of music, jamoo, (Jah Music) which combined elements of reggae and gospel.
In 1997, he released the anti-drug song Watch Out My Children which went to the number one spot in the Caribbean. The song became an international hit and has been translated into ten languages.
On July 12, 2000 at the age of 58 Ras Shorty I died after a battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow. His greatest legacy is the soca rhythm he created, bringing calypso into the modern era. The infectious soca rhythm has made calypso assessable to the young and the young at heart everywhere.
The Evolution of Soca
Innovative Montserrat singer Arrow did much to popularize soca internationally with his 1983 number one soca classic Hot Hot Hot. Arrow has also recorded a string of CDs including Knock Dem Dead (1988), O'La Soca (1989) and Soca Dance Party (1990) which have become timeless examples of the best of the genre.
Some of the most popular soca recordings include Sugar Bum Bum - Lord Kitchener (1978), Soca Baptist - Super Blue (1980), Meh Lover - Lord Nelson (1983), Hot, Hot, Hot - Arrow (1983), Tiny Winey - Byron Lee & The Dragonaires (1985), Nani Wine - Crazy (1989), Teaser - Becket (1990), Dollar Wine - Collin Lucas (1991), and Machel Montano- Big Truck (1997).
Soca has continued to grow and evolve giving rise to offshoots such as ragga soca and the increasingly popular chutney soca. Today soca is the definitive indigenous musical form associated with the Eastern Caribbean. Thanks, Lord Shorty.
What is Soca?
Calypso
Calypso
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago at about the start of the 20th century. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of African slaves, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song. This forged a sense of community among the Africans, who saw their colonial masters change rapidly, bringing French, Spanish and British music styles to the island of Trinidad. The French brought Carnival to Trinidad, and calypso competitions at Carnival grew in popularity, especially after the abolition of slavery in 1834. While most authorities stress the African roots of calypso, in his 1986 book Calypso from France to Trinidad, 800 Years of History veteran calypsonian The Roaring Lion (Rafael de Leon) asserted that calypso descends from the music of the medieval French troubadours.
Over 100 years ago, calypso further evolved into a way of spreading news around Trinidad. Politicians, journalists, and public figures often debated the content of each song, and many islanders considered these songs the most reliable news source. Calypsonians pushed the boundaries of free speech as their lyrics spread news of any topic relevant to island life, including speaking out against political corruption. Eventually British rule enforced censorship and police began to scan these songs for damaging content. Even with this censorship, calypsos continued to push boundaries.
The first calypso recordings, made by Lovey's String Band, came in 1912, and inaugurated the "Golden Age of Calypso". By the 1920s, calypso tents were set up at Carnival for calypsonians to practice before competitions; these have now become showcases for new music.
The first major stars of calypso started crossing over to new audiences worldwide in the late 1930s. Attila the Hun, Roaring Lion and Lord Invader were first, followed by Lord Kitchener, one of the longest-lasting calypso stars in history—he continued to release hit records until his death in 2000. 1944's Rum and Coca-Cola by the Andrews Sisters, a cover of a Lord Invader song, became an American hit.
Calypso, especially a toned down, commercial variant, became a worldwide craze with the release of the "Banana Boat Song", a traditional Jamaican folk song, whose best-known rendition was done by Harry Belafonte on his 1956 album Calypso; Calypso was the first full-length record to sell more than a million copies. 1956 also saw the massive international hit Jean and Dinah by Mighty Sparrow. This song was a sly comment as a "plan of action" for the calypsonian on the easy availability of prostitutes after the closing of the United States naval base on Trinidad at Chagaramas.
In the 1957, Broadway musical Jamaica Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg cleverly parodied "commercial", Harry Belafonte style Calypso.
Early forms of calypso were also heavily influenced by jazz such as Sans Humanitae, the extempo melody in which calypsonians lyricise impromptu, commenting socially or insulting each other, without humanity—once again the French influence. Many calypso chord progressions can be linked to twelve bar jams in jazz as demonstrated by Lord Kitchener, one of the most famous calypsonians and a melodic genius.[citation needed]
Elements of calypso have been incorporated in jazz to form calypso jazz.
Chutney
Chutney
Chutney music is a form of music indigenous to the southern Caribbean (primarily Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname) which derives elements from soca and Indian filmi songs. The music was created by Indo-Caribbeans who were transported to the West Indies as indentured servants and later immigrants, during the 19th century. The chutney artist writes lyrics in either Hindi, Bhojpuri or English and then lays it on top of beats that come from soca and Hindi film songs.
Some current chutney artists are Rikki Jai, Rakesh Yankaran, Devanand Gattoo, Heeralal Rampartap and the late Ramdew Chaitoe who composes the Surinamese based Baithak Gana in his album The Star Melodies of Ramdew Chaitoe. Among the best known examples of chutney music are Sundar Popo's Pholourie Beena Chutney, Sonny Mann's Lotalal, Vedesh Sookoo's Dhal Belly Indian, Anand Yankaran's Jo Jo, Neeshan 'D Hitman' Prabhoo's Mr. Shankar and Rikki Jai's Mor Tor. Chutney music is mostly popular among the Indian community in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and also the West Indian diaspora communities in Toronto, Canada, The Netherlands, New York and South Florida.
Chutney is an uptempo song, accompanied by dholak, harmonium and dhantal, played in rhythms imported from filmi, calypso or soca. Early chutney was religious in nature. Chutney is unusual in the predominance of female musicians in its early years, though it has since become mixed.
The melodies and lyrics of religious songs sung in Trinidad in Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, and Bhojpuri are used, as well as songs which were and still are used from Bollywood. Calypso, Soca, Ragga, and Reggae (Rocksteady/Dub) are other musical influences on chutney.
Early chutney was religious in nature, and sung by Indo-Trinidadian female family members, who, as customary in Trinidad society, sang before a typical wedding celebration to prepare the bride-to-be for her role as a wife. This can be thought of as a kind of bachelorette party, celebrated only by the female members of the families. The music and the dancing (and some of the suggestive lyrics sung at the events) leaked out into the wider community and society, and became enmeshed into Trinidad society as a whole.
The year 1970 was perhaps the biggest turning point in East Indian music. In this year a young man from Barrackpore, Trinidad by the name of Sundar Popo leapt to fame with the song "Nana & Nani." The song, almost comical in nature, described the affairs of a grandfather and grandmother, perhaps his own. Sung in Hindi and Trinidadian creole, and backed up with the music of the dholak and dhantal as well as that of the more western electric guitar, bass guitar, drum machine and synthesizer, the song instantly became a number one hit in Trinidad and Guyana(Popo, 1972).
Sundar soon became known as the King of Chutney, the name given to this new popular form of music. The word Chutney was derived from the Hindi word that was used to describe a hot peppery mix of spices. "Nana & Nani" became the biggest selling Chutney single of its time. Sundar's lyrics of "Nana drinkin white rum and Nani drinkin wine," were heard just about everywhere, from the rice fields of Nickerie, Suriname, the wedding houses of Berbice, Guyana to the rum shops in San Fernando, Trinidad.
ChutneySoca
ChutneySoca
Chutney soca is a prime example of how Indo-Trinidadians have established roots in Trinidad and have created an original, syncretic art form. Resulting from the intervention of Indo-Trinidadians into Soca music in the 1980s, the addition of chutney-soca to the island's musical life signified a consolidation of the East Indian influence on Trinidadian culture and politics, particularly during the 1990s. It was during this time that Trinidadian musicians, performing in the popular style of calypso and its substyle, soca, began to incorporate Indian themes into their lyrics.
An early, significant example of this is the song 'Sundar Popo,' by Black Stalin. This song, whose whimsical lyrics concern a veteran Indian singer, won Black Stalin the coveted Calypso Monarch Prize in February 1995. Although it was neither in chutney style nor in Hindi, 'Sundar Popo' was labelled chutney-soca because of its theme. Similar efforts followed in the wake of May 30, 1995, which marked the anniversary of the first arrival of "indenturees" in Trinidad and was designated by the island's government as Indian Arrival Day.
Chutney-soca's rise in popularity through the mid- to late 1990s was expedited by its changing role in Trinidad's Carnival celebration. The 1995-1996 Carnival season saw the establishment of the Chutney Monarch Competition and the performance of a number of chutney-socas during the calypso/soca competition by creole musicians, including Marcia Miranda, Tony Ricardo, Chris Garcia, Brother Marvin, and Luta.
Embraced as it was by non-Indian performers, who abandoned formal Indianisms, sang solely in English and emphasized the soca beat, chutney-soca became a national fad. Since the late 1990s chutney-soca has spawned the similar styles of chutney rap, chutney jhumar and chutney lambada, dance music whose Indo-Caribbean themes are mixed with Bombay film music and American popular music.
Rapso
Rapso
There is a popular myth that rapso is the fusion of American rap music with soca, hence the name rapso. Sounds plausible, but not true. Rapso is a unique style of street poetry from Trinidad and Tobago that originated in the 1970's. Rapso was created to relate to the everyday experiences of everyday people. The late Lancelot Layne is the man responsible for this genre.
Origin of Rapso
During the 1970's Trinidad and Tobago experienced much political and social unrest. The 1970's saw the rise of the Black Power Movement and a corresponding pro-African sentiment. Trade unions also began to take a stand. This is the environment that gave birth to rapso. Some of the first rapso songs were chanted on the picket lines.
Lancelot Layne's 1970 hit Blow Away was the first rapso recording. Layne is also well remembered for his 1971 recording Get off the Radio. In 1976, Cheryl Byron was the first rapso artist to perform in a calypso tent. At the time, she was scoffed at "whoever heard of poetry in a calypso tent?" Today Cheryl Byron is recognized as the Mother of Rapso.
Brother Resistance
Born Roy Lewis in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the man known today as Brother Resistance is one of the founding elders of rapso. Renowned as one of the most important contemporary Caribbean poets, Brother Resistance began writing poetry as a schoolboy. Everyday he and a group of friends would write poetry and exchange it among themselves. He later went on to join the church choir, but still did not realize that he would become a singer. For a time, he worked as a disc jockey and adopted Resistance as his DJ moniker.
In 1980, Brother Resistance and his Network Riddum Band released their debut album, Busting Out. It was the Network Riddum Band that coined the term rapso. Since then Brother Resistance, also known as Lutalo Makossa Masimba, has gone on to become one of the Trinidad's best known rapso performers. He has written a book, Rapso Explosion, and along with Karega Mandela and Brother Book, was instrumental in establishing a day of celebration for rapso in Trinidad and Tobago. Some of Brother Resistance's more memorable songs include Tonight is De Night, Ring De Bell, Mother Earth, and Handclapping Song.
Rise of Rapso
The 1990's gave birth to a new generation of young rapso artists. Combining the positive messages of rapso with dance rhythms, artists such as 3 Canal, Kindred and Black Lyrics have done much to popularize rapso music.
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