Guest Columns

Soca star Machel Montano is now just one hit away from the all-time record for Road March titles, as he was awarded his tenth crown today by TUCO for Famalay—a collaboration which includes Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez and Gamal “Skinny Fabulous” Doyle. Famalay was played 346 times at the respective …

The following is the fourth and final instalment in Owen Thompson’s four-part series on the classic album, More Sparrow More!, by iconic calypsonian Slinger “Sparrow” Francisco: There are other equally telling avenues that allow us to arrive at meaning and afford us powerful glimpses into the unique quality of the …

The following is the third in Owen Thompson’s four-part series on the classic album, More Sparrow More!, by iconic calypsonian Slinger “Sparrow” Francisco: In Sa Sa Ay, Sparrow begins by making us all complicit eavesdroppers, inviting us both at the end of the first and the second stanzas to listen …

“[…] Sparrow took command of a cultural realm that touched a particularly sensitive chord, allowing for the message to be conveyed with extraordinary directness and clarity; the entire country sang along… Musically, and in terms of the procedural norms of an art form peculiar to T&T, Jean and Dinah was …

I’m backing Joanne “Tigress” Rowley for Calypso Monarch 2019. Her story is real. Her music is good. And, yes, I had a ring side seat to her deciding on the song, Who Feels It, Knows It. Her rendition deals with depression and a mental health issue she dealt with after …

“In the fullness of time, when Slinger Francisco’s massive oeuvre is unreservedly appreciated for its immense breadth and depth, rigorous scholars and casual calypso lovers alike will point to one special year, the Carnival season of 1969, when the Mighty Sparrow’s More Sparrow More!! album was released. “There had been …

Little seems to attract public attention like crime news. Crime Watch, in 2014, had a 10 percent larger audience than News at 7pm. Our perceived reality of crime has evolved where there are certain assumptions about crime and justice that are no longer questioned. We conclude with each new atrocity …

Works of mas have come into the spotlight recently. In particular, the right to photograph, record or broadcast such works during Carnival. The Trinidad and Tobago Copyright Organisation (TTCO)—the collective management organisation (CMO) that claims responsibility for administering the copyright in ‘works of mas’—has suggested that photography, videography and/or broadcasting …

There is a kind of positive energy associated with Carnival and particularly with the steelband movement. Players survive on less sleep and exhibit discipline and high levels of productivity in order to learn their Panorama tune. This is something we need to understand about Carnival, pan and panyards and their …

The West Indies Cricket Team’s Test series win over England, secured earlier this month, was their first triumph over any team above Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in seven years. The West Indies had not defeated England since 2009 while, to find a similar margin of victory over our former ‘colonial masters’, …

An Economist article (2011) defined ‘elites’ as people who shape the world without anyone noticing. The rich and powerful leverage their privileged status to exercise decisive control over the way society is organised and developed. I am thankful that Gregory Aboud has opened this discussion. While he did not define …

After digesting Gregory Aboud’s insightful commentary in the Trinidad Express, it behooves me to offer a retort. His “Silence of The Elites” piece is chicanery masked as concern for country and changing the status quo. Aboud may genuinely believe that he is offering a compelling and emphatic critique of his …