Musical tradition has decided that Trinidad and Tobago is the “home” of the Calypso, that art-form that once outsiders defined as “a West Indian Song.”
The origins of calypso are somewhat varied but a common thread is that it has a base in African lament and rhythm. The Mighty Sparrow has a slow Calypso outlining it genesis amongst the African slaves who toiled on West Indian sugar plantations. Much has also been written detailing the art-form’s “French Connections.”
Origin apart, Trinidad became the acknowledged headquarters for the calypso and its exponents,