Rectifying a lacuna in the dose trajectory by finally featuring some calypso (or “kaiso”)
The Mighty Sparrow is rightfully the king of the genre
But in the 50s, he had a rivalry going with Lord Melody
Melody was born Fitzroy Alexander and grew up in an orphanage in the capital city Port-of-Spain
As with most calypso composers, his songs were super spicy
And sometimes tinged with protest
Calypso is (or was) the sound of Trinidadian carnival
The second greatest in the world
Soca eventually overtook it on the airways, streets, and carnival “tents”
To an outsider, the most striking aspects of calypso are the hilarious, bawdy lyrics, and the creative improvisation
Hip hop MC battles are usually traced to Jamaican toasting, but in Trinidad you can also see what are essentially freestyle competitions
Btw, in the northeast of Brasil, there’s a long tradition of “repentista” off-the-top rhyming duels
Lord Melody got his name from Lord Kitchener, whom he met as a teenager
When Kitch went to London (it was the place for him), Melody’s star rose back home
Kitch eventually came back, and was probably Sparrow’s most well-known rival
But in the late 50s, Melody held his own
He and Sparrow traded jabs on records, in competitions, and in plenty of live on stage standoffs
Not all were recorded for posterity, but this one from 1957 made it to wax
(Sparrow is the more consistent, but though Melody flubs his first rhyme, he eventually gets some licks in)
Melody is probably best remembered for working with Harry Belafonte
They supposedly ran into each other on the street in NY after Harry had covered his “Mama Look a Boo Boo”
Although to hear Harry tell it, Melo “came to NY looking for me”
They came to an understanding, ended up working collaboratively on a slew of songs
And toured together around the US
Some feel that Belafonte took advantage of Melody’s creations, without enough royalties
Certainly, Belafonte and others in NY and London helped bring a lot of fame to calypso
And Melody generally gave him credit for helping to popularize and legitimize the art form
Others weren’t so generous
They confronted him after he put out a record called “Calypso” in 56 and accepted marketing as “King of Calypso”
“How can you call yourself King of Calypso when you don’t come to Trinidad, don’t come to the tents, don’t show and prove in the competitions?!?”
After all, there were already established venues to crown the king during carnival
And Belafonte had won no crown
He says he asked their forgiveness
Melody, like Kitch, turned to soca when it blew up in the 70s
And became a Rastafarian later in life
He died of cancer in 88, back in Port-of-Spain
