Music of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Encyclopedia
The music of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
includes thriving music scenes based on Big Drum
, calypso
, soca
, steelpan
and also reggae
. String band music, quadrille and bele music and traditional storytelling
are also popular.
The nickname of the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, the Soca Warriors, refers to this musical genre.
and is especially known in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The drums are traditionally made from tree trunks, but are more often made from rum kegs now. The socially aware or satirical lyrics are usually performed by a female singer called a chantwell, and is accompanied by dancers in colorful skirts and headresses. Big Drum is commonly performed at weddings and other celebrations, especially the launches of boats.
music. Steelpan were imported to Saint Vincent quickly. Calypso's political lyrics have continued to be an important part of the genre. in 1984, a Vincentian musician named Becket released a song called "Horne fuh dem", which helped defeat the ruling party in that year's election.
is the biggest holiday in Saint Vincent. It is held in the last week of June and the first of July, and is known on the islands as Vincy mas. Festivities include calypso, soca and steelpan performances, many of them in large, competitive formats.
Other holidays with musical components include the Christmas celebrations, which occur beginning on December 15 and include carol
ling, concerts and bicycle races. Union Island
holds an annual calypso competition, as well as the Big Drum Festival.
For more on "Vincy mas", go to carnivalsvg.com
, known for their hit single "Big City Life
", lived in St. Vincent for many years. A less known but still popular singer is Kevin Lyttle
, whose "Turn Me On" topped charts across Europe. Becket Cyrus is also well known within the island, with his hit "Teaser" earlier on in the country's history. Of the late there have been quite a lot of young and upcoming artists whose music is spreading throughout the Caribbean and the United States. These include Bomani, Skarpyon, and Jamesy P. Some of the Vincentian recording studios are: Skakes Studio, JR Studios, Sky studio, Non-fiction Recordings, Masterroom and Hysyanz. And most recently Problem Child, who in July 2007 became the local carnival Road March winner with his hit song, "Party Animal", which also propelled him to Trinidad and Tobago's 2008 Carnival's Soca monarch finals. Also his brother Skinny Fabulous had a song that took him to Trinidad and Tobago's 2009 Soca Monarch Finals with his song "De Beast Leh Go".
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
includes thriving music scenes based on Big Drum
Big Drum
Big Drum is a genre and a musical instrument from the Windward Islands. It is a kind of Caribbean music, associated mostly closely with the music of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Carriacou in Grenada and in the music of Saint Kitts and Nevis.-Carriacou:...
, calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
, soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
, steelpan
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
and also reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. String band music, quadrille and bele music and traditional storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
are also popular.
Soca
Soca is a form of dance music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from calypso music. It originally combined the melodic lilting sound of calypso with insistent percussion (which is often electronic in recent music) and local chutney music. Soca music has evolved in the last 20 years primarily by musicians from Trinidad, Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, some bands from Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, Jamaica and the Lesser Antilles.The nickname of the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, the Soca Warriors, refers to this musical genre.
Big Drum
Big Drum music is performed throughout the Windward IslandsWindward Islands
The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...
and is especially known in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The drums are traditionally made from tree trunks, but are more often made from rum kegs now. The socially aware or satirical lyrics are usually performed by a female singer called a chantwell, and is accompanied by dancers in colorful skirts and headresses. Big Drum is commonly performed at weddings and other celebrations, especially the launches of boats.
Calypso
Calypso, with its satirical and socio-political lyrics, was developed in 18th century as a fusion of African and French music styles. It eventually accompanied the rise of steelpanSteelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
music. Steelpan were imported to Saint Vincent quickly. Calypso's political lyrics have continued to be an important part of the genre. in 1984, a Vincentian musician named Becket released a song called "Horne fuh dem", which helped defeat the ruling party in that year's election.
Festivals and holidays
The CarnivalCaribbean Carnival
Caribbean Carnival is the term used for a number of events that take place in many of the Caribbean islands annually.The Caribbean's Carnivals all have several common themes all originating from Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, based on folklore, culture, religion,and tradition, not on amusement...
is the biggest holiday in Saint Vincent. It is held in the last week of June and the first of July, and is known on the islands as Vincy mas. Festivities include calypso, soca and steelpan performances, many of them in large, competitive formats.
Other holidays with musical components include the Christmas celebrations, which occur beginning on December 15 and include carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
ling, concerts and bicycle races. Union Island
Union Island
Union Island is part of the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It the southernmost island of the Grenadines. It lies 90 kilometers southwest of Barbados and is within view of the islands of Carriacou and the mainland of Grenada, which lie directly south.Clifton and Ashton are the two...
holds an annual calypso competition, as well as the Big Drum Festival.
For more on "Vincy mas", go to carnivalsvg.com
Popular singers
The lead singer from the band MattafixMattafix
Mattafix are a UK duo, made up of Marlon Roudette and Preetesh Hirji. Their sound is a fusion of hip hop/rap, R&B, reggae, dancehall, blues, jazz, soul and world...
, known for their hit single "Big City Life
Big City Life
"Big City Life" is a single from Mattafix's debut album, Signs of a Struggle, released in 2005.The chorus is sung in Jamaican Creole.The single topped the charts in Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and New Zealand...
", lived in St. Vincent for many years. A less known but still popular singer is Kevin Lyttle
Kevin Lyttle
Kevin Lyttle is a soca artist hailing from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, who had a worldwide hit with the interpellative soca ballad "Turn Me On", which was recorded by Lyttle and the dancehall artist Spragga Benz.-Career:Previously, Lyttle had subsisted on day jobs, such as customs officer...
, whose "Turn Me On" topped charts across Europe. Becket Cyrus is also well known within the island, with his hit "Teaser" earlier on in the country's history. Of the late there have been quite a lot of young and upcoming artists whose music is spreading throughout the Caribbean and the United States. These include Bomani, Skarpyon, and Jamesy P. Some of the Vincentian recording studios are: Skakes Studio, JR Studios, Sky studio, Non-fiction Recordings, Masterroom and Hysyanz. And most recently Problem Child, who in July 2007 became the local carnival Road March winner with his hit song, "Party Animal", which also propelled him to Trinidad and Tobago's 2008 Carnival's Soca monarch finals. Also his brother Skinny Fabulous had a song that took him to Trinidad and Tobago's 2009 Soca Monarch Finals with his song "De Beast Leh Go".