Intruder’s perennial persistence and his success at making the semis in 2019 after over two decade since he produced “Pull string” and “Cellular Phone” serves as a yardstick or measurement, as it were, to show that this Calypso season, in terms of the quality of compositions has surpassed all in the recent decade.
Most pundits and broadcasters have yielded to what seems to be a forgone conclusion that “Climate Change” is perhaps the best written Calypso of the year thus far, as it has employed all the necessary tools of figurative language, melody, arrangement and it is topical not only on a local stage but has international appeal. Much the same can be said of Webb’s “Blackness”, the best composition to date by writer Pelam Jno Baptiste, or one of the sweetest melodies in the competition, Jama B’s “Change”.
King Dice, as usual, was right up there in the top four with “Fire Go Burn Dem”. Many thought that he had an error of omission at one time but I wish to tell my readers that this was not an unforced error, as they say in tennis. The singer was distracted by an executive member who was trying to get the band’s attention to stop because a judge was temporarily out of commission and obviously temporarily put off the Dice for a few seconds. Still he had done more than enough to be comfortable somewhere at the top.
I wish to pause here to again inform patrons, and believe it or not, some broadcasters, who peddle the false impression that if a calypsonian leaves out a word or two in his lyrics he automatically should not make it. Actually a calypsonian cannot be penalized for this unless what he says, or does not say, interferes with the cohesiveness of the composition or deconstructs the message. He can also add words or extemporize lyrics that the public or the judges are not accustomed to, or repeat for emphasis. The recent judges workshop, I think, made this clear; so I trust patrons wise up and get it, finally.
The talents of Shadow Flow as a lyricist was exemplified because his song was relatively unknown but with great confidence, seated on a chair, he belted his introspective message across- “Something to Think About” and the judges did in fact think he had done enough to go through.
This article is copyright © 2019 DOM767
