Happy Independence 2018

I once wrote that 1982 was a seminal year for Barbadian calypso but I would also say that the 1995/1996 period was just as important for local party music. I am no musical historian but this is my recollection and commentary of the importance of that period.

At the time calypso had diminished in popularity among Barbadian youths, losing out to Jamaican dub and dancehall. Certainly the Pic-o-de Crop and Road March competitions of the early 90’s reflected this. Intriguingly, the most popular bands at the time - Krosfyah and Square One - did appeal to the younger generation with their soca and dancehall influenced party music.

The evolution had already started with Kid Site, who had transitioned from a dub/chant artist to a calypsonian and in fact won the Pic-O-De-Crop crown in 1991. He introduced dub-influenced rhymes and phrasing that was refreshing and effective, but to my mind and memory did not immediately change calypso as a whole or its core audience.

The first major shift in audience occurred in 1995 when Edwin Yearwood performed “Voice in my Head” and “Obadele” to win the Pic-O-De-Crop crown in front of the most youth-skewed audience the competition had seen in years.

More importantly the latter song won the Road March and its significance is clear if you compare the winners immediately before and after that year:

1992 - Mad Woman Jamming, Carew

1993 - Inez, Ras Iley

1994 - Juk Fuh Juck, Serenader

1996 - Raggamuffin Alison Hinds

1997 - In The Meantime Allison Hinds / Highway Robbery, Edwin Yearwood

You can see a definite style difference in the Road March winners, which has continued to this day with only a few exceptions.

The other significant occurrence in the period was the release of song Hard Wine by Lil’ Rick in 1996.

I will argue that it is the most important Barbadian party song ever.

Hard Wine was the introduction of an already popular artist among Barbadian youths to soca. Like Kid Site, he maintained dub phrasing but doubled down with the preponderance of Bajan dialect, subject matter and attitude, along with producer Peter Coppin’s minimalistic, rhythm section dominant arrangement.

This song, and the other Lil’ Rick compositions over next few years brought the younger generation back to soca in a big way.

It is also the precursor to Ragga Soca and Bashment Soca.

Peter Coppin’s role is also vitally important. Peter was primarily a DJ at the time - not a musician. His success with the song without a major studio or a music academic background opened the door for all the subsequent independent Bajan producers over the years (although this has not always produced positive results in my opinion).

However, ultimately the expansion of creative voices in the producer’s chair has resulted in a varied and interesting local music landscape and Barbados is better off as a result.

1995/1996 was a watershed year in Barbadian party music and I believe that without Hard Wine especially, our music scene today would be very different.

Happy Independence Barbados.