In
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
,
Guyana, and
Suriname, chutney soca music is a crossover style of music incorporating
soca and
calypso elements and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Hindustani, and
Hinglish lyrics,
chutney music
Chutney music is a fusion genre of Indian folk music, specifically Bhojpuri folk music, with local Caribbean calypso and soca music, and later on Bollywood music. This genre of music that developed in Trinidad and Tobago is popular in Trinida ...
, with Western instruments such as the guitar, piano, drum set, and Indian instruments such as the
dholak
The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The instrument is about 45 cm in length and 27 cm in breadth and is widely used in '' qawwali'', '' kirtan'', ''lavani'' and '' bhangra''. The drum has two differ ...
,
harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...
,
tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
, and
dhantal
The dhantal (dandtal) is a long steel rod based percussion instrument (sounding similar to the triangle), which was adapted from the iron "bows" that yoked the oxen that pulled the carts on the estates in Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad and T ...
.
The term chutney soca was first coined by
Drupatee Ramgoonai Drupatee Ramgoonai (; born 2 March 1958) is an Trinidadian and Tobagonian chutney and chutney soca musician. She was responsible for coining the term "chutney soca" in 1987 with her first album, entitled ''Chutney Soca'', which included both Engli ...
of
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
in 1987 in her first album entitled ''Chutney Soca'', with a mix of
Trinidadian English
Trinidadian and Tobagonian English (TE) or Trinidadian and Tobagonian Standard English is a dialect of English used in Trinidad and Tobago. TE co-exists with both non-standard varieties of English as well as other dialects, namely Trinidadian ...
and
Trinidadian Hindustani
Caribbean Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Caribbeans and the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. It is mainly based on the Bhojpuri and Awadhi dialects. These Hindustani dialects were the most spoken dialects by the Indians who came as i ...
versions of the songs. The current style of spelling of the term was not established then and she spelt it as "Chatnee Soca". The following year her hit "Roll up de Tassa" was instrumental in creating a commercial market for this type of music internationally. Drupatee has spoken about the blending of Afro and Indo melodies and rhythms in songs such as "Chatnee Soca" and "Hotter than ah Chulha". Chutney is a melody and soca is a beat. Drupatee used an ancient Indian melody called a ''lawnee'' with the soca beat in her rendition of "O Tassawalley" and has released a legacy of chutney soca music.
History
Chutney soca is a prime example of how
Indo-Trinidadian
Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Indian-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago whose ancestors came from India and the wider subcontinent beginning in 1845.
Indo-Trinidadians and ...
s have established roots in
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
and have created an original, syncretic artform. This fusion was originally pioneered by Lord Shorty in the 1960s and 1970s and its later branding resulted from the intervention of Indo-Trinidadians into
soca music
Soca music is a genre of music defined by Lord Shorty, its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. It was originally spelt "sokah" by its inventor but through an error in a local newspaper ...
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 the 1980s and 1990s that Trinidadian musicians, performing in the popular style of
calypso and its offshoot, soca, began to incorporate Indian themes into their lyrics. A significant example of this is the song "
Sundar Popo
Sundar Popo HBM, born Sundarlal Popo Bahora (; 4 November 1943 – 2 May 2000) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian musician. He is credited as being the father of Chutney music, beginning with his 1969 hit ''Nana and Nani''.
Early life
Popo w ...
", by
Black Stalin
Leroy Calliste (24 September 1941 – 28 December 2022), better known as Black Stalin, was a leading calypsonian from Trinidad and Tobago known for his lyrics against European colonial oppression. He won the Calypso Monarch competition on fiv ...
. This song, whose whimsical lyrics concern a veteran Indian singer, won Black Stalin the coveted
Calypso Monarch
The Calypso Monarch (originally Calypso King) contest is one of the two major annual calypso competitions held in Trinidad as part of the annual carnival celebrations.
History
While Trinidad's carnival has its origins in the 18th century, a singi ...
Prize in February 1995. Although it was neither in chutney style nor in
Hindustani, "Sundar Popo" was labelled chutney soca because of its theme. Similar efforts followed in the wake of 30 May 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
Indian Arrival Day is a holiday celebrated on various days in the nations of the Caribbean, Fiji, South Africa, and Mauritius, commemorating the arrival of people from the Indian subcontinent to their respective nations as indentured labours bro ...
.
Chutney soca's rise in popularity through the mid to late 1990s was expedited by its changing role in Trinidad's
Carnival celebration.
[Manuel (1998): 38.] The 1995–96 Carnival season saw the establishment of the Chutney Soca 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.
The Chutney Soca Monarch competition has become the largest and most important
Indo-Caribbean concert of its kind in the world. Today its production costs more than US$1 million annually. It has crowned many champions from 1996 to 2010 which include Sonny Mann,
Rikki Jai,
Heeralal Rampartap
Heeralal Rampartap is an Indo-Trinidadian entertainer. He has repeatedly produced hits and has won numerous awards both locally and internationally. He is a three-time International Chutney Soca Monarch — in 1997, 2003 and 2005 – and the Natio ...
, Rooplal Girdharie, and
Ravi Bissambhar. 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
American popular music has had a profound effect on music across the world. The country has seen the rise of popular styles that have had a significant influence on global culture, including ragtime, blues, jazz, swing, rock, bluegrass, count ...
.
Origin
The father of chutney soca is Garfield Blackman, who rose to fame as
Lord Shorty
Ras Shorty I (6 October 1941 – 12 July 2000), born Garfield Blackman and also known as Lord Shorty, was a Trinidadian calypsonian and soca musician, known as the Father of Soca and The Love Man.
Biography
He was born Garfield Blackman in ...
with his 1963 hit "Clock and Dagger" and took on the name "Ras Shorty-I" in 1980 after a spiritual change in direction. He started out writing songs and performing in the calypso genre in the 1960s. Shorty's very first recording in 1962 was a calypso with a strong East Indian influence called "Long Mango". He next revisited the fusion of an East Indian style melody with calypso in a song called "Indian Singers" in 1966. In the early 1970s in an effort to modernize calypso, Shorty began regularly experimenting with it including his blending of Calypso with local Indian music and rhythms. Shorty added Indian instruments, including the
dholak
The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The instrument is about 45 cm in length and 27 cm in breadth and is widely used in '' qawwali'', '' kirtan'', ''lavani'' and '' bhangra''. The drum has two differ ...
,
tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
and
dhantal
The dhantal (dandtal) is a long steel rod based percussion instrument (sounding similar to the triangle), which was adapted from the iron "bows" that yoked the oxen that pulled the carts on the estates in Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad and T ...
. Shorty experimented with fusing
calypso and elements of
Indo-Caribbean music
Indo-Caribbean music is the musical traditions of the Indo-Caribbean people of the Caribbean music area. Indo-Caribbean music is most common in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, and Suriname.
Indo-Caribbean traditional music often reflects ...
for nearly a decade before unleashing "the soul of calypso"
soca music
Soca music is a genre of music defined by Lord Shorty, its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. It was originally spelt "sokah" by its inventor but through an error in a local newspaper ...
.
Chutney soca's development as a musical genre included its fusion with calypso and Indian musical instrumentsparticularly the dholak, tabla and dhantalas demonstrated in Lord Shorty's classic compositions "Ïndrani" and "Shanti Om".
References
{{Folk music, state=collapsed
20th-century music genres
21st-century music genres
Trinidad and Tobago styles of music
Folk music genres