Money Ruining Trinidad

At the age of 75, Kelvin Pope, the Mighty Duke, gold earring and all, brings to mind hip far more quickly than hip replacement.

What do you write on the Occupation space on airport landing forms?

Artiste. I see the role of calypsonian as a profession, and an honourable profession, not only as a way of paying bills. But of course you have to be professional.

You've had a long run in a gig in which most people have short careers?

When you're an entertainer or artiste, you don't have to retire. You can go on as long as you want to. All the top people in that field go on into their Seventies, Eighties, even Nineties. There's no age limit to it.

No age qualification either?

No. I was a young boy when I started signing.

The calypsonian used to bring African and Indian people together-is he now provoking a racial division?

That is a broad statement. If you could count on your fingers-one or two, maybe three calypsonians doing one thing, you cannot say, "the calypsonian"; you can say "some calypsonians". Long ago, we used to sing on Indians, too. Deceased [the Mighty] Killer was one of the best calypsonians. He had one song, every chorus was an Indian-Ranjit Kumar, Mitra Sinanan, Bhadase Sagan Maharaj-but it was so humorous East Indians loved it. It was so nicely done, in good taste! Calypsonians long ago were artistes.

They would say something and you had to read through what they said. Anybody could say, "John does thief" or "Mr Kilowatt is a fool!" But to say Mr Kilowatt is a fool in a way that Mr Kilowatt would hear it and laugh! That is the artistry! And that is what we're lacking now!

How important was Point [Fortin] to your becoming a calypsonian and what is it about Point that produces so many?

Well, I was the first and the guys there emulate me. When I was a youngster, Point was the hub of Trinidad and everything. Point had all the Caribbean people coming to work in the oilfields and we all lived together in one small village so you had a taste of everything.

I knew [labour leader Tubal Uriah] Butler personally as a young boy, he lived very close to me. I used to go hear his fiery speeches. All the calypsonians-Spoiler, Cypher-used to come to Point because that's where the oilfields were so that's where the money was. I still live there. Point is home.

You're coming to a time when we must all be ?

[Interrupting, finishing question] Mellowed!

I was going to say, "Thinking of mortality". Are you in good spirits?

Yes. I'm not in the best of health right now but at my age these things come on and once one has strength and faith in God, you keep on going until the Master says it's time to come.

And you have that faith?

Oh yes, oh yes. I am very, very strong person. Faith has carried me through my whole life! Let me tell you about me. I started to sing calypsoes.

Nobody knew about me. I had a job with Shell. In those days, when you had a job in the oilfields, you had a good job. You had medical, pension, everything. I left that job to sing calypso and nobody know about me!

Which is madness! And I had a family, eh! It's because I believed in myself, believed I could do it, believed I could make something out of it! No one else, no one, no one, even my wife, everybody at that time, no one believed I could have done it.

They all said I was mad. But I believed I could have done it. I loved it and I told myself, "Look, I don't want to wait until I get old and say, I should have done it!" So I did it! I persevered through all the adversities and thank God, I'm here today still. Once you believe in yourself and have faith in God - and have a good wife! - nothing can stop you.

What do you think of the state of the country?

As Sparrow say, "The thing gone mad". What is the word, not "democracy"- "Capitalism Gone Mad"! What's happening in general is terrible. Money has gone to our heads and we have lost balance! The whole country is lopsided now.

How do we bring it back?

Like everything else, from the centre.

Your own centre you mean?

It could be your own personal centre to help bring back the country. That would include each person: our prime minister, whoever.

You think we'd have been better off if we left the gas in the ground?

I want to believe we'd be better off. We're so imbalanced now because of the money we have it's just really crazy. It has thrown everything off whack. Our thinking is off whack. We see things only one way, not the other way. We have become selfish, mean, everything.

If you had supreme power and could pass one law to bring things back to balance, what would it be?

[Chuckles] What will I do? [Pauses]

Not hanging?

Hanging wouldn't bring the country back! It's more than just the killing you know-it's what you're killing for. Look, a child got killed the other day for food. A guy get killed for this or that. At the bottom of it all, is money. You have plenty money and you have poverty, lack of money. If you get more money, you greedy, you want more than you should have. Is greed! We have a total imbalance.

You think what we have in place ?

[Nodding head in understanding, finishing question] Could cope with it now? No! Because it starts with the homes. Little child born today: television, this, that, that-that-that! It starts there and every day it gets worse! So instead of moving forward, we start rolling back.

Do we have the patience to grapple with these challenges?

They have the patience! But they're busy seeing about getting rich! [Laughs]

What music are you listening to now?

[Laughs, makes sweeping motion with both hands] I listen to ALL music! But I'm not too hip on dub to be honest... I listen to a lot of calypso.

I have one or two favourites. Remember I'm a purist, calypso-wise. I like authentic calypso. So, obviously, I would listen to the oldies like Kitchener, Sparrow.

You've seen Trinidad music grow from ?

Yes, from one stage to the other. From being way on top to now being nothing. We don't have music now... We don't have music. As a matter of fact, Carnival don't have any music.

Imagine a festival like Carnival and we have rhythm but not music. When you lack music in something, you lack the heart of it all. There's no sweetness, nothing at all; except you jump and you get tired.

When you listen to fete songs now-do you cringe?

[Chuckling] To be honest, I don't listen any more because, as I told you, there's no music, only rhythm. And you just cyar listen to rhythm all the time! You want something you can get something from.

You want something you could hum, or whistle or sing to yourself. I can't sing, "Hold it-hold it-hold it-hold it, now JUMP" to myself. I'm not saying it's not good for the time, eh, I'm saying I cyar do it!

Is it difficult to look at these youths making much more money with their rhythm than you did with your music?

No, not really. Everything is a question of time. Time changes everything. In the next 40 years, when I am not here, the ones today will be looking at the youths then who will be getting MUCH more money and saying, "I wish I was getting that kind of money, too".

So, in my time, that was it; in their time, this is it.

What made you get into calypso?

Everything: the music; the energy; the lyrical content; the way they made you laugh and then made you think... But we don't have calypso any more. Or we have very few and we are even losing those. You have people singing songs from other people.

Artistes buying songs and singing: you're getting Mr John' version of something from twelve different singers. You're not getting their version. When Brigo sing a calypso, whether it good or bad, what you're getting is Brigo: his thoughts; his whole whatever.

When you get a calypso like these kids now, from this lawyer or that doctor - they're just parroting something. Reciting poetry doesn't make you a poet. [Chuckles]

Is there still a need for the calypsonian?

There always is-but he's not given that space any more. Right now, he's being taken off the map. There's a systematic thing to get him out of the business. If you observe, we used to have

Sparrow in the Savannah Carnival Sunday night, all the top artistes: Kitch; myself; Shadow. They've gradually got everyone of them out. The last one is Chalkdust, who they're fighting to get out now. For what? For the mediocrity they have there? And then they say the show ent good! It cyar be good! Because you don't have calypsonians there!

Without wishing to drown in nostalgia, music was better made 'back in the day'?

Of course! You never leave a calypso tent long-time not laughing, or not smiling, or not humming a melody. Something remains! When you go to a tent now, you just go and come back with nothing, void, empty. And nothing is being done about it! That is even more frustrating!

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Basically duke is talking about the absense of good melody in the music today.
I sort of agree. There were some melodic tunes out this year though. 2 days is a good example of a very melodious song.

I SAY NO MORE.

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wat wud trinbago be wid out point fortin eh! on top ah producin some ah de best footballers in trini we also had top artiste...point fortin de best place in de c'bean

U from POINT/SOUTH?

Well buoyyy, I FEEL U have GRENADIAN or VINCY in your BACKGROUND.

MUDDERWUK!!!

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my mudda parents came from carricou

man point have like everybody my one street dat i grew up on had ppl wid french guiana, bajan, st. lucian n venezuelan background(cyah remember no vincies doh) but de biggest by ah landslide is de ppl like myself wid grenadian background

oh yes ah might as well add een de tobagonians seein how dem like tuh exclude dem self wen dey ready lol

Well, the PARENTS of the MIGHTY DUKE were VINCIES.

Ohhhhhhh yeahhhhh

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yea ah kno dat....i wasnt tryin tuh say point have no vincy i was sayin dat i cyah remember none one my street lol

De man is a LEGEND. One of my favorite artist of all time

Oh OK.


NUFF VINCIES in POINT. I can ATTEST to this.

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Well, if WOMAN nuh LIKE "SOFTMAN," NUFF WOMEN nuh LOVE TRINIS, because they LOVE "HARDMAN," the VINCIES.

MUDDERWUK.

But yuh RIGHT thought, DUKE is most DEFINITELY a LEGEND. He still has the RECORD in TRINIDAD for WINNING 4 CONSECUTIVE CALYPSO MONARCHS.

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I dated a Trini from Point and spent two weeks there. She used to tell me about all of the calypsonians who were from there. Oh yeah, she had Grenadian ancestry.

Ah believe it was penguin dat sang dah song

Oh shocks wrong 1