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Forbidden to talk to each other, and robbed of all links to family and home, the African slaves began to sing songs. Here is a Collection From The original Songs of Calypso.
They used calypso, which can be traced back
to West African kaiso, as a means of communication and to mock the
slave masters. Trinidad was colonized by the Spanish, received large numbers of French immigrants, and was later ruled by the British.
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Lets Jump Up & Party - Invite Your Friends and Family Here to Jump Up and EnjoyCalypso rhythms can be traced back to the arrival of the first African slaves brought to work in the sugar plantations of Trinidad.
This multi-colonial past has greatly impacted the development of calypso in Trinidad. Many early calypsos were sung in a French-Creole dialect called patois ("pat-was"). These songs, usually led by one individual called a griot, helped to unite the slaves.
Calypso singing competitions, held annually at Carnival time, grew in popularity after the abolition of slavery by the British in the 1830s. (It was the French who brought the tradition of Carnival to Trinidad.) The griot later became known as the chantuelle and today as the calypsonian.
2008 Trinidad Carnival - Tribe
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