Editor's Letter

“Yuh cyah vex when soca playin…”
- Wayne Gerard Trotman
Caribbean music has nourished our spirits, motivated us to forge ahead, fed our romanticism and desire, and allowed us to just leggo, move, dance and prance away all our sadness and pain and welcome joy and hope.

This issue is dedicated to Caribbean music and spans the genres of Calypso, Reggae, Steel Pan and Belizean musical traditions… even Afro-Venezuelan drumology. Dedicated to the memory of Singing Sandra, the Trinbagonian Calypsonian, and Zee Edgell, the Belizean writer, the pieces in this issue exemplify the rich cultural tradition of the region and its Diaspora, while connecting the dots to the musical African, Indian and European heritage.

The issue moves through Tassa to Pitchakaree, to the influence of the drum, to the power of the word with Rapso king Bro Resistance leading the charge, to 3 Canal taking up the baton to masterfully continue the legacy of the spoken art and poetry in song, to the spoken word movement, to superstar Buju Banton speaking on his vulnerability in his later years, while paying homage to his earlier rude boy image. Contributors to this volume were keen to express their perspectives on the value and resonance which music in all its forms possesses for Caribbean people.

The poets and prose writers added to this luxuriant tapestry and offer their interpretations of the diverse musical tradition through descriptive language, thereby expanding not only how we hear and shake to the rhythms, but also how those rhythms tease and stimulate our senses and awaken our intellectual and activist sensibilities. Caribbean music is storytelling music, tracing our long struggle of resistance against colonial domination, pointing to our inventiveness – creating one of the most versatile instruments, the steelpan in Trinidad and Tobago – articulating our
insistence on our freedom and independence and our pride and connection with our ancestors. In every phase of our Caribbean journey and development, music has been there to guide, support and uplift us, so that we can be ourselves and continue to impact and bring joy to the world through our music.

Opal Palmer Adisa
& Meagan Sylvester, Guest Editor