Lead Editor-Newsgathering
ryan.bachoo@cnc3.co.tt
The history of calypso music is well documented ... in calypso music itself. However, what is less known is the contributions and impact of Indo-Trinidadians on the art form. Those within the fraternity are acutely aware and speak highly of the Indo-Trinidadian service, but those who don’t go to the tents are perhaps less aware.
George Maharaj has spent most of his life researching calypso music and has written two volumes on The Roots of Calypso. He’s been living in Canada for the last 58 years but boasts, “I’ve been to Trinidad for every Carnival for 50 years.”
Calypso History Month is also a big deal for him. Not only does he host a mega event in south Trinidad, welcoming scores of calypsonians from across the country, but he also hosts events in Toronto promoting the art form.
When I approached him for an interview to talk about the East Indian contribution to calypso music, he started our interview by paying homage to The Hindu Prince, who had died the day before (Thursday, September 25, 2025). Kenneth Nathaniel was an East Indian calypsonian known for his witty songs, which also dealt with serious societal and political issues.
“I spoke to The Hindu Prince about why there are not many East Indian calypsonians in the tents. He said it’s not that they would not enter the tent; they did not have the throat for calypso. They had this East Indian sing-song voice. So, they were accepted if they wanted to be. Look at Sonny Mann, look at Ricky Jai. They all are accepted,” Maharaj explained.
Yet, in his book The Roots of Calypso, he found over 70 East Indian calypsonians who have contributed to the art form over the decades. He admitted some of them didn’t have an easy time on stage.
“When I interviewed The Mighty Checks, he said he sang a Jayland Fair. At that time, it was in Marabella, and he was pelt down. He was actually thrown with doubles and orange and everything too. And Dr Eric Williams had to go and put his arms around him and said, ‘You don’t worry, I like your calypso,’” Maharaj recalled.
Others would take their musical career in another direction. Maharaj said some found it more intriguing to sing chutney and chutney soca. He gave examples such as Rikki Jai and Sundar Popo, both of whom could have been great calypsonians.
Ramkree–the wedding, wakes and funerals champion
However, Ephraim Ramkissoon has only had good memories on the stage. The East Indian calypsonian, who is the principal of Iere Government Primary School in Princes Town, keeps his guitar in his office.
He’s a well-known face on the South stage, mixing his social and political commentary with humour. Ramkissoon, who goes by the sobriquet Brother Ramkree, has written roughly 400 songs. He jokingly said he was known as the WWF champion (Weddings, Wakes, and Funerals).
In 2007, 2008, and 2009, he wrote the South Junior Calypso Monarch winning song, and in the two years that followed, he wrote the winning song for the national environmental song competition.
Ramkissoon, who sings at Kaiso House, said the art form now was less about race and more about talent. He added, “I think that when you good, you good. It doesn’t matter what race you belong to. I see calypso has evolved. It would have started on the plantations, but it has evolved into a Trinbagonian thing. I believe it has nothing to do so much with Afro or Indians, because over the years, with the chutney and those who would have paved the way for us, like Sundar Popo, Drupatee and Rikki Jai, over the years, when I would have sung, I believe that when you good, you good.”
He admitted that when the audience sees an East Indian calypsonian enter the stage, they often align them with chutney. But then, they hear them sing. Ramkissoon recalled, “I remember when I made it to the unattached monarch finals in 2007, we had to go and sing on the greens. Now the greens is where you call Laventille Road Junction. When I took the stage, I was doing a political commentary. At that time, Mr Manning was in power.”
He then belted out a part of his song, Pay Raise, that he performed that night. The lyrics went, “Workers want a pay raise this year, wifey want to leave me, I fear. I can’t do without she, but with my meagre salary, prices high in the grocery, you see, and woman want man with plenty money. Wifey ain’t name Oma, I say. To get a million, I do pray, workers want a pay raise this year. And Patrick say inflation high, so he buy a jet to meet it in the sky. We workers want a pay raise this year.”
He then recounted the crowd’s reaction: “Watch me; the reception I received from the people was tremendous. I believe the people clapped for me more that night than anybody else.”
An educator for the last 36 years, Ramkissoon now imparts the knowledge of calypso music to his students. At assembly, he teaches them the extempo tune, then all the classes are tasked with their teachers to prepare two stanzas of a calypso song on a school topic before taking part in a school competition. He is a strong advocate for calypso music to be part of the school curriculum, and so is Maharaj.
According to Maharaj, “I think Calypso should be a subject in school for a grade. Let us get steelpans into schools. Let us get the calypso as a subject, because we are a colourful art form. It’s over 120 years old this year. I don’t think jazz or reggae could come close to a time like that. If I sit down and I lecture to you on some of the important points that I have discovered in calypso, like, for instance, you are old enough to remember the Beatles. They were influenced by a calypsonian, and I have photographs of Lord Woodbine with John Lennon and Paul McCartney and these people.”
He ended by saying “calypso is the greatest art form in the world”, but he is adamant it must be passed on to the next generation of Trinidadians and Tobagonians.
