Welcome

Apollo

Welcome to Apollo Kaiso, the blog of two Calypso enthusiasts sharing the same body. I imagine that requires some explanation; 

Well, The Apollo sometimes known as Mighty Apollo is a young Barbadian calypsonian with a traditionalist outlook in his approach to the artform. He has been the Calypso Monarch at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus in 2010 and 2013 placing 2nd in 2009,2011, and 2012. He has judged in the preliminary stage of the Pic o de Crop competition (Barbados' National Calypso Competition) with the Kingdom of the Super Gladiators Calypso Tent since 2009 but has failed to advance to the semi-final or final stages of competition. Yet Apollo remains true to calypso by injecting wit, humour, irony and stinging sarcasm in creating calypsos which deal with social and political issues.

Andre Layne

Andre Layne is a graduate of the University of the West Indies with a Bachelor's Degree in History with Literature (Upper 2nd Class Hons.). His undergraduate thesis 'Power to the People: Calypso and the development of mass Political Consciousness In Post - Independent Barbados' means that Layne is also an avid calypso researcher. Layne is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in History with a continuing focus on the Calypso and other cultural and entertainment activities. 
Thus the calypsonian and the calypso researcher share the same personage. Certainly this represents the rule rather than the exception as this was also the case with pioneer calypsonian and calypso historian Raymond Quevedo a.k.a Atilla the Hun author of Atilla's Kaiso and Trinidad and Tobago's most winning Calypso Monarch the Mighty Chalkdust whose alter ego Dr.Hollis Liverpool is-like myself a school teacher by profession and historian by training - author of numerous books on Calypso and Carnival. 
From time to time Quevedo and Liverpool's names will emerge in the articles written on this blog as will the names Louis Regis, Keith Warner and Gordon Rohlehr all of whom have undertook significant research and writing on the Calypso in Trinidad and Tobago. Herein lies part f the problem this blog hopes to address. Calypso research and scholarly publications have remained quite limited in Barbados save for the efforts of  a few. Namely, the reverred former Director of Culture and inaugurator of the Festival Band Elombe Mottley who may be credited with the 'nationalisation of calypso' and U.W.I Cave Hill's head librarian Elizabeth Watson with her discographies on 10 time Calypso monarch Red Plastic Bag and 2 time winner and perrenial favourite John King. A handful of theses also exist on Calypso in Barbados-mine included-which remain unpublished and relatively unknown and inaccessible. 
Thus, this blog aims to remove central ideas and others from my thesis and future theses from the archives at the University onto the worldwide web where they can foster healthy informed discussions on the state of Calypso in Barbados.It is hoped that this blog can be used as a resource by calypso researchers, calypso fans, commentators and calypsonians alike in creating a better understanding of our artform. Having said that this blog does not claim to be the authority on Calypso in Barbados but rather presents perspectives based on observations and but not always scholarly research. That being said some articles may seem very wordy and academic while others will be, well the opposite.
Without further ado, WELCOME