{"id":153798,"date":"2016-01-27T23:58:20","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T03:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=153798"},"modified":"2016-01-28T14:07:07","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T18:07:07","slug":"commentary-calypso-under-siege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-calypso-under-siege\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: CALYPSO UNDER SIEGE"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"J.J.
J.J. Joseph<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But for a few exceptions, calypsonians and songwriters have largely succumbed to the government’s infusion of money and politics hence influence on the competition – by softening their rhetoric, when penning controversial songs pertaining to social and political issues. Instilment of the fear of litigation and or victimization have also seemingly been effective tools in curtailing writers’ skills, talents and pointed criticisms of our leaders and government officials. Such imposed interventions have also significantly impeded unrestrained creative satire,\u00a0thus infringing on the entertainers’ Democratic Rights to freedom of expression. As a consequence, some writers have become overcautious to the extent of even unnecessarily over masking their lyrics, thus risking the possibility of early elimination due to message misinterpretation.<\/p>\n

Manifestations of the government’s negative impact on the art are quite notable – especially as they relate to calypsonians who have compromised their independence, dignity and freedom of speech, for a mere handful of dollars. This is discernibly\u00a0evident in the softening of the direction and tone of their message. Rather than embarking upon topics more meaningful to the plight of the people, in exchange for endowments, these opportunists have clearly digressed from criticism of our leaders, to instead, advancing their agendas. In effect, they have selfishly and ruthlessly thrown their fellow calypsonians under the bus – with little or no regard for their feelings or careers.<\/p>\n

Some of the more astute and defiant songwriters, however, recognize the fact that there is nothing to fear but fear itself where defamation of character is concerned. And, as a consequence, they continue to call out the government on pressing issues affecting society. Others either capitulate to the mere thought of the word lawsuit, fear of victimization or to preserve their good standing in the eyes of their master. Government has\u00a0therefore benefited handsomely from such vulnerabilities by remaining unexposed and clear of criticism or caricature. These less sophisticated calypsonians need to be educated by our legal minds as to what constitutes defamation, in order to alleviate the anxiety of how much latitude is allowed when writing. In fact, calypsonians should be urged to write unimpeded – provided that there is credence in what they are stating about an individual. The caliber of calypso competition we once knew will be realized only when writers are revered and allowed to write free of impediments such as political intervention and or constant threats of litigation.<\/p>\n

The resulting effects of the negative impact our leaders have had on the calypso competition are such that entertainers who endeavor to speak out against injustices are forced to over mask their lyrics. Unfortunately, by doing so, masterfully penned songs find themselves facing elimination very early in the competition. When writers become over prudent and resort to profound themes, they risk the chances of message misinterpretation by judges who seem to only have the capacity to analyze superficially written calypsos. In the absence of judges adequately proficient in interpreting cleverly crafted lyrics, our talented and creative writers are in jeopardy of seeing their careers suppressed or eventually extinguished due to early ejection. If we therefore sit by idly and allow our government’s intrusion on calypsonians’ democratic rights to perpetuate, calypso will only continue on its downward trajectory. And, before we realize it, this tradition of rich cultural art and entertainment will only be a thing of the past.<\/p>\n

That, fellow Dominicans, would be a tragedy indeed.<\/p>\n

Opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Dominica News Online or its advertisers.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"  But for a few exceptions, calypsonians and songwriters have largely succumbed to the government’s infusion of money and politics hence influence on the competition – by softening their rhetoric, when penning controversial songs pertaining to social and political issues….","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":128959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCOMMENTARY: CALYPSO UNDER SIEGE - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-calypso-under-siege\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COMMENTARY: CALYPSO UNDER SIEGE - 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