Calypso and our Caribbean fetish
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- Опубліковано 16 лип 2017
- / jeffstillwell
This educational video essay compiles clips and interviews to explain the history of Calypso music, and to demonstrate some of its specific characteristics which have been tokenized and appropriated by Western culture. - Розваги
the word appropriation has such a negative connotation, but borrowing techniques and changing them is an integral part of the progression of music and of really anything
@@marcusbrown3379 It goes the other way too mind you. Guys like Franco from Congo were mimicking western bands by using drum kits, Fender strats etc. They applied their music to the westernized instruments. Musicians pinch from one another all the time anyway. One guy sees another play something cool. He tries to do the same thing, can't do it quiet as he saw it being done, but does his new thing so often, it becomes his own 'new' lick, you get me?! Same 'words' and information and feeling, different voices.
David Lean taking influences from someone else’s work is fine, that’s apart of being a creative. However, it’s morally your duty as a creative, to pay homage and shed light on the inspiration behind whatever it is that you’re creating... now that I think about it, idk how Country Music came about but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was originally black ppl who created it and white ppl just took over like always - just like the term COWBOY. Can’t even google “cowboy” images without white men popping up despite it originally being a derogatory term used to talk down to a black man who worked with Cows, not horses. Most Americans are unaware of that bc white ppl failed to pay homage, AS USUAL, leading to that appropriation term instead of “borrowing”.
@@marcusbrown3379 At least you narrowed it down from white people to American white people. There are plenty of musical traditions in Europe that were used in times of oppression and tell a historical story as a result.
By the way, one reason why country music became so popular was the original radio station that broadcast it put out such a high frequency signal that people with metal teeth fillings or folks with metal plates in their heads were able to pick up the signals and literally hear them in their heads!
My point was more to highlight to you that you are as uninformed as those you are presuming to be robbing black music. HOw can you accuse country music of being uninformed when you are uninformed about it?!? How would know if they were paying homage to black music or not, you don't know anything about it!! Then there is the obvious case of black people ruining their own music. Rap meant something until it became about bitches and hoes!! You can't point the finger of blame for that solely at white people, now can you?
the issue with cultural appropriation as the young man below said is that culture with history and meaning is taken and not given its proper value, especially by white people. A lot of the appropriated African sounds, and culture, have a deeper meaning, they tie in with our gods, ancestors etc. and are usually seen by those who mimic it as something to play with. The bottom line of this is respect, and like the narrator said understanding the historical and cultural significance of these things. Many died for these cultures to stand and that respect should be given. Also till date many are harassed, critiqued, and ostracised for celebrating their culture by white systems, not only America but even in Europe, parts of our identity that have deep roots in our culture we are not allowed to take part in or we are shamed for doing it, but when it is done by a white person it is seen as exotic, different, adventurous, but that is not the case for the owners of said culture, words like uncivilised, unkempt and uneducated usually appear when these cultures are displayed by their owners unlike in the situation of their caucasian counterparts and that is where the issue lies. The term cultural appropriation should have the weight it carries and does not have to be positive to please a certain demographic, we should be able to call a spade a spade and people should own up to their short comings.
They heard music they liked, they took it and used it for themselves. Like about a million artists before them. It's cross pollination. Nothing about it is wrong because some Ivy League kids from whitebread America did it. I love this video; but the spiel about appropriation did nothing to improve it other than assuage filmmaker's unnecessary white guilt about having mimicked black music.
I'm from the Caribbean, Trinidad to be precise and I found a love for Calypso through the video!
Really impressed by the quality of this one, I've never seen anybody so eloquently dissect music in both cultural and stylistic contexts, can't way to see what comes out next!
I can't wait for your channel to really blow up so I can say I was there before he got big.
do you even have a life?
It's really cool to delve into how music feeds back into itself culturally to create totally new things. Much like cuisine, the colonizers and colonized both influenced each other to varying degrees to create distinct forms of art that continue to influence each other today. Great video, definitely gives you a lot to think about. (But you still need to work on your audio mixing in editing a little bit.)
Finally, a channel to staisfy my urge for relatively obscure musical history. Would love to see a video on other Carribean music that emerged from Cuba. Salsa, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Latin have an extensive history that I believe warrants a video, if not I would suggest looking into it. Seen all your videos, keep it up!
Indeed. I don't know why so many afro-diaspora music is so popular. It's incredible though.
I've been watching your essays and I just want to say I really like them. Keep up the good work!
Thank you, glad you're enjoying them :)
Hi i love this so much. However, could we have a tracklist and / or bibliography? It would make tracking down some of these lesser-known artists much easier.
Yup, I thought I recognized you. I remember really enjoying your band in Olympia. Weird stumbling upon you in youtube. Keep it up.
Aw thank you - small world! I really miss playing with Get Mom. Glad you enjoyed :)
GET MOM!
Did you ever play at my venue?
Depending on when you might have played it was either called "The Loft" or "The Morgue"
I do have the feeling I saw you play at a house show though.
It would be nice to have a one on one dialogue with you though.
These are very well made and informative. I know the guys in Animal Collective had been very influenced by Afro-Caribbean (as well as African music) and it brings up a very important ethical question of appropriation. However, I think an important operative in the appropriation of musical themes is respect towards those sources. I'm more willing to give a free pass to bands like AnCo as opposed to MAGIC! (for example) because they shine a spotlight on the artist that they borrow themes from. An example that sticks out to me is Deakin's recent solo album that included field recordings from Malian bands, which for me was able to expose me to forms of Western African and Sub-Saharan African music that I may not have been exposed to without it.
The content is fantastic and I look forward to any other videos you put out. Subbed!
All your videos are so well done! Super interesting. Please keep it up!
Dude, you are a true music fan in every way man. Your video essays contain a ton of quality information that have educated me a lot musically. Keep it up!
randomly got recommended to this channel and could tell it was worthwhile content i hope you start blowing up
Jeff, these are terrific! Please, please keep it up!!
These videos are so well done, I can't wait to see more from you!
6:50 what song?
This was so good! thank u! I'm from Trinidad I know all the artists but didn't know all this history. Didn't know we had such a huge role in music now I understand where my influences come from and why I like some of the sounds I like, like the I'm gonna marry her anyway song.
loving ya videos dood! soo well put together and entertaining! im hooked man cant wait for more keep it up! SUBSCRIBED
Like you, I also played Ska, Blue Beat and Reggae back in the day.
Keep up these great video essays Jeffrey.
this was a total mind-blown, thanks for the focus and Calypso is beautiful if you ever visit Trinidad visit a Calypso tent during the carnival season its amazing.
You have a knack for music history! Well done
5:15 name ?
Thank you for an inspiring take on latin music. At the beginning there was salsa-like grooves, I believe salsa also derived from this, and through this back to "son" from Cuba...
If you keep making videos at the level of quality that you've established thus far, it's only a matter of time before your channel blows up. Keep up the good work!
One more UA-cam gem found throughout my years rummaging through this site. Love this type of content, essays about music. You should really make one about Elliott Smith, I think there's so much to talk about when it comes to his unappreciated musical legacy.
hey man i absolutely love these videos, but do you think you could add a sort of bibliography for all the songs and artist you reference, just shove it some where in the description. keep up the great work
First got exposed to calypso when Honest Jon's sent me a freebie - their compilation of calypso musicians in the UK, titled "London Is The Place For Me." Keep up the good work! Glad to know more about this genre.
song at 6:04
Thank you for introducing The Green Arrows to me. I wish you would write the names of your references as you use them, so it is possible to go off on your own tangent.
Cafodk no one has compiled a playlist of everything in this video? We need this playlist, here or in Spotify.
@@hicsunt5043 what song is 5:11
come back bro!!! these videos are my new favorites
Good work. Some of the historical images while visually effective are a bit jarring in the story line context, but understandable as there so few public domain images to use. Or Roaring Lion's 'Maryann' with Kitch's interview. But why quibble... still enjoyable! Thanks for posting.
One thing about these documentaries they miss out a whole lot of information remember calypso was born and bred in trinidad 🇹🇹 and one other thing harry Belafonte never sang calypso he sang a watered version of some thing but not calypso
Love Your Videos, Education!!
love the honesty in this
In the 1950s calypso records by the likes of Lord Kitchener was exported to Africa where they influenced Highlife music.
Before highlife there was palm wine
great video you should do a video on the evolution of genres would really like to see techno
Could you make a Spotify list of your favourites? I'd love to hear more.
wow make more videos ! your channel remind me why i love music !
09:30 who ?
really good stuff :)
thanks also for talking about stuff not many people talk about
feel like this topic is a bit lost in history
hey man loved this video.saw an image in it showing the breakdown of the afro caribbean music genres. is that available free download?
really enjoying the videos!
9:10 is that ELton John
Subscribed. Nice work! I loved your essay on Brian Wilson and this in no less nuanced and informative. Keep it up!
I so wish you included subtitles in the lyrics. So hard to figure out!
Awesome rundown of a very underappreciated genre.
7:40 he was not Calypso
great channel, keep it up!
Oh man this channel is awesome..
I really like Graceland tho.
If Graceland is wrong I don't wanna be right
Great video, thank you for this 🔆
Im 2 mins in and already know this is very well done.
Brilliant videos, you should make one on the Beatles soon.
It's coming up next ;)
God bless
Please make another video!
To my knowledge that funky heavily chorussed guitar sound you're talking about is all over south American music in the sixties like the psychedelic Cumbias and Chichas wich are of course also made up of European music mixed with African music brought over by slavery and by that time surfrock and rockabilly music from the US but I wonder where the influence of that sound originated as the sound and to a lesser extend the style of playing is very similar.
A heavily chorussed organ was also very popular
9:32 - Check Kenyan Benga for earlier examples of this heavy chorus/reverb guitar style. Somali music of the mid-70s had it too but wasn't as complex as Benga. Soukous/Congolese rumba had it as well, from the mid to late-60s, that Leslie speaker whirling sound.
Fantastic video. Can anyone find the full chart from 0:31?
How do these have so few views?
I'd say it's because I'm still very new, and also the content is fairly niche. but hopefully the channel grows from here, thanks to you guys. Thank you for the support!
8:46 jeez, that sounds just like the Beach Boys ... they are wearing even the same shirts :D
Hate to break it to you @Jeffrey Stillwell, those aren't triplets @ around 2:00 (neither in what he's playing or singing). More like odd-meter phrases (ie, mixing duples
and triples).
Calypso is the music of the Caribbean.
Of trinidad really the other islands intruded on our culture and actually watered it down calypso,soca and steelpan was born here in trinidad 🇹🇹 but we never get the props we deserve.
i'm hella late but this video is so interesting and well made
Keep up the good content ;)
Outstanding!
make a video on the what if of the kinks
Great video, but you forgot to mention Robert Palmer. You should check "Woke up laughin" :)
If you add a monster ton of tags similar to other big youtubers even if they do not apply to the video, you may start getting the views you deserve
Hmm interesting - I'll do that! Thanks for the tip.
What's the name of the song at around 0:40?
Could you please share me your calypso playlist for this video? And if you want to tell me about other more im gonna apreciate it so much . thx
Can anyone tell me the source of the chart shown at around 0:35? Thanks!
All your videos are very good and I want you to be very popular
the weekend at Bernie's 2 soundtrack is all calypso. It's a good example too
A great historical piece, but I fail to understand how a historical piece about calypso could exclude the Mighty Sparrow.
The name calypso comes from an igbo Nigerian word “ka’in so” which means “let us follow”
finally found the song your college band played on this video :D (yeah, i stalked your sc)
Sumber Jaya where is it?
on his soundcloud. just search Jeffrey Stillwell, the song called Satyr
Amazing cheers!
I’m from Costa Rica and here we have a Calypso songwriter call Walter Ferguson that I recommend to all Calypso fans
Thanks youtube algorithm for showing this channel to me :)
but I like the Vampire Weekends tho
good video on the history of calypso and the difference between homage and appropriation, btw
really enjoyed it
To say that it's been outright appropriated is such a strong thing, it's more akin to adopting aspects of foreign culture in appreciation or to spread awareness for something that artists finds important
10:45 what Calypso Rose song is that
I loved the Brian Wilson one the best
How are you legally able to put copyright music in your video?
what animal collective song is that at 9:50 ?
what is your opinion on indie music?
what is the song at 0.48 ?
What's the song at 10:37?
Papa Bless
FWIW, Toronto _is_ home to a lot of people from the Caribbean. Not that that excuses Magic, but maybe explains it a little better.
"Appropriating and fetishizing African music"
Humans are so full of themselves.
fuck yOU AND EZRA lol why are you so defensive? reactionary? just calm down and enjoy the great video?
Good video but i ws waitung for Arrow "hot hot hot" or Sparrow. You didnt meebtion one of the biggest calypso songs ever... Also Hollywoods Robert Mitchum's surprisingly great Calypso album
Was really expecting this to be more of an argumentative essay than just a history lesson. Fetish is kind of a strong word as well, not sure if it applies to this situation. Appropriating/commercializing I’d totally agree with, but ehh seems like you’re reaching a bit with the fetishization. Hope you got a good grade on whatever class this was for
Come back very like video
I didn't know it was pronounce like that I thought its (cahl-pas-o) lol dang
0:44 depicts indentured Indian laborers in the Caribbean. They would contribute to the unique sound of the islands with soca or "soul calypso" music. Fantastic video, hoping for more.
2:26 to 2:35 song???
I feel like there's a lot to talk about with them
The Mighty Sparrow????????
And brother, I appreciate your insight but I feel (drunkly) compelled to say that ALL music is borrowed and stolen. Kaiso - which you mispronounced - was once called the Fifth Form. Most of the earliest kaiso melodies were lifted from French quadrille music. I could get into it here but you're better off checking out Mento Mike at mentomusic dot com. He knows his shit. I'm just butt sore because you seem to be picking on Vampire Weekend. Haa!
Don't be shy about saying it. All music IS pinched and robbed. Chances are melody only came about because we heard other animals, like birds etc, doing it and we mimicked it. What is much more interesting is how music changed our perception and therefore, our brain's evolution.
This woman singing like Wizkid
Good
do a beatles vid!
Do a Pink Floyd related audio essay?
320 k
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And he’s gone :(
Interesting video on the history of calypso, just started watching your videos...however, this stuff about cultural appropriation is a tricky one...verging on bullshit for me. It depends how it's done I guess, but being influenced by and appreciating a musical style (which, in the case of a lot of African stuff was itself influenced by Western music) isn't inherently a bad thing.
Calypso originated in trinidad