What is calypso?  Many have attempted to answer that question, including a few calypsonians.  These versions vary from fanciful explanations about how it came from Africa or France to scholarly background and historical studies of how it evolved in the Caribbean from the times of slavery.

The legendary and undisputed king of calypso, The Mighty Sparrow, sang “I am a slave from a land so far / I was caught and brought here from Africa.”  The slave told how “Ah wuk so hard each day,” in such deplorable conditions that he was forced to find …..