(Trinidad Express) None of the 40 songs carded to perform at the Chutney Soca Monarch semi-final competition last night would have had lyrics glorifying either alcohol or domestic abuse, Southex chief executive officer George Singh said yesterday.
Singh made the comment as the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), in collaboration with the Copyright Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT), The Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation (TUCO) launched the “Wrong Mix: Alcohol and Lyrics” road safety public awareness campaign yesterday.
The campaign will see artistes advising citizens to refrain from consuming alcohol.
“We applaud the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service on their re-energised efforts in 2013/2014 in particular with the introduction of the iRoad Safe campaign,” Singh said.
“We have noted that this campaign has in fact been successful in obtaining a reduction of 17 per cent of road fatalities in the country however we agree that there are still one too many road accidents,” he said.
Speaking at the event acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams said three out of every 10 road deaths are caused by alcohol.
“It is interesting that the TTPS has also identified that 30 to 35 per cent of road traffic deaths are caused by alcohol, as a person in charge of Chutney Soca Monarch I have heard it said on many occasions that chutney/chutney soca songs are always based on rum lyrics,” Singh said.
“So much so, that there is now a myth that exists that chutney music is representative of rum culture, well, I am here today to tell you that in 2015 there is no rum in the chutney,” he said.
Singh said in 2010 as much as half of the songs in the Chutney Soca Monarch competition either dealt with the glorification of alcohol or domestic abuse.
“From 2012 to 2015 we continued to encourage artistes to stay away from these topics, I am happy to say that the semi-final round of the Chutney Soca Monarch which takes place tonight at the Rienzi Complex in Couva of the 40 songs on competition night, there is not one that deals with the glorification of alcohol or domestic abuse,” he said.
Former Chutney Soca Monarch Ravi Bissambhar, better known as “Ravi B”, performed at the launch of the “Wrong Mix; Alcohol and Lyrics” yesterday. In 2010, he won Chutney Soca Monarch, with the song “Drinker”.