WOMAD

Calypso Rose

From Trinidad & Tobago

The sharp-tongued first lady of calypso

In calypso - at least at carnival time - it's all about the competition, about who's got the song with sharpest lyrics and the catchiest melody to become the soundtrack of that year's bash. And Calypso Rose, one of the few women to sit at calypso's top table, knows success. A calypsonian since the age of 15 more than half a century ago, her trophy cabinet is distinctly overcrowded. Not only did she win the Calypso Queen title at the Trinidad & Tobago Carnival five years on the trot, she also remains the only woman to scoop the Calypso Monarch and Road March titles in the same year. With a self-penned repertoire of more than 800 songs, Calypso Rose - born of the equally splendid name McArtha Linda Sandy-Lewis - is as sharp a social commentator as any of the music's more celebrated practitioners, people like Mighty Sparrow or Roaring Lion. Welcome to the court of the calypsonian queen.
(Biography by Nige Tassell 2010)

Calypso Rose - Calypso Medley

Calypso Rose on