In about a week we will be experiencing the greatest one-day show in the United States, the Caribbean Carnival Brooklyn Labor Day Festival on Eastern Parkway, where millions will be gathered to enjoy the splendor of the Caribbean culture. This presentation will be of all the Caribbean cultural genres, but it will be dominated primarily by that of Trinidad and Tobago Calypso and Soca. It is the music born of the community and the music to which a large community responds, that community is growing and has grown over the years to advance the international community of music lovers.
Harry Belafonte’s album, `Calypso’ sold over 1,000,000 copies, moving Calypso music into the mainstream. Calypso has been a mainstay in so many concerts, presentations and recordings around the world, so when we look at this cultural expression that is so vibrant, so rich it is what motivated Carib News, back in 1983, to petition NARAS, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; this petition was to bring to their attention the musical contribution of Reggae and Calypso and its rightful place to be considered for categories at the Grammy’s.
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It took a couple of years to get their attention and to wade through their bureaucratic consideration, but Reggae was given the category after much lobbying, and has proven to be successful in creating a viable economic basis for artists and producers.
Calypso did not get a category at the time and it was felt that the combination of producers and artists were not In sync to produce the kind of music that the Academy was prepared to, at that time, make a category. Time has changed and we know that in the interim between then and now several efforts have been made to approach the Academy with respect to Calypso/Soca category – some approach by governmental sources, some by recorded industry producers and some by artists and all with good intention and all of course faced the winds of the bureaucratic structure of NARAS. NARAS’ criteria at the beginning in 1958, when it was founded, stated that the Grammy was to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry without regard to album sales or chart position but in reality a combination of restrictions and demands by NARAS of producers and artists through the years has made it difficult to break through with new categories.
The effort for Calypso/Soca category was met with some resistance and while these combined efforts must continue and coordinate, there needs to be a petition from the community to the board of trustee of NARAS bringing to their attention this musical genre that has been so impactful over the years, and has appreciation and community support.
It is about time that we engineer the approach to NARAS for the category of Calypso/Soca – it’s about time that we have a petition signed by as many community members, musicians, producers, artists, entertainers, not just in the art form of Calypso/Soca but artists and entertainers who know the value of Calypso and its strong roots in the music world. So it is about time that we take on this challenge again and move forward in the effort to bring this about.
We can also be encouraged by the updated terms from NARAS’ governance and their commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion fighting for creative rights, protecting music people in need and saving music in our schools, those are categories that NARAS has updated in its mission statement and we can further take courage because NARAS has now approved Afrobeats as a Grammy category when in May the trustees voted to introduce the best African music performance category. The reason in a quote given my NARAS is that “these changes reflect our commitment to actively listen and respond to the feedback from our music community, accurately representing the diverse range of relevant musical content,” further stating “we are excited to honor and celebrate the creators and recording in these categories while exposing a wider range of music to fans worldwide.”
So NARAS is taking a broader view of consideration for categories and have in fact stated they are listening and responding to the music community and they are committed to diversity and inclusion and it is about time then that we hold NARAS to its mission.
Calypso/Soca has a strong community of music lovers worldwide, has a deep history of providing the kind of music that is appreciated and has been used in so many ways in the world of entertainment and if they want to live up to their word of listening to the music community and to incorporate in their categories music that represent a diverse range of relevant music genre and stay aligned with the ever-evolving music landscape, then the category for Calypso/ Soca should be very high on their list and we should help them by pushing this petition by working with producers, artists, and creators in a combined and determined effort to tell the Academy, it’s about time for a Calypso/Soca category. It is about time that we come together from a community-wide basis and look to bring this musical genre to its rightful place in the international world of music and expand the culture- that’s what we are all about.
