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2. Discordant beats of pleasure amidst everyday violence: The cultural work of party music in Trinidad
- Collection:
- Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
- Contributers:
- Guilbault,Jocelyne, (Author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 01/01; 2011
- Location:
- African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Journal Title:
- MUSICultures
- Journal Title Details:
- 38 : 7-26
- Notes:
- In spaces of violence, scholars and activists have typically addressed music as sites of resistance. In postcolonial Caribbean, the focus of most studies unsurprisingly has thus been placed on the work music has done for the oppressed—or conversely, on the ways the (neo)colonial regimes have used music to increase their control over the masses. Until recently, few publications have addressed the music that has been performed to fortify and gather people together in times of hardship. In this case, what is at stake is not so much a matter of 'us and them' or of resistance, but rather the ways in which the 'us' is mobilized to strengthen senses of belonging and networks of solidarity. Amidst the escalating everyday violence since the mid-1990s, party music in Trinidad continues to thrive. Instead of dismissing such music as merely a source of escapism or hedonism, I want to examine what makes it so compelling and what it does for people. This paper is based on in-depth study of soca music making and mumerous ethnographic interviews with Trinidadian soca artists and fans over the past 15 years.
3. Talking drums: Soca and go-go music as grassroots identity movements
- Collection:
- Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
- Contributers:
- Gantt,Deidre R. (Author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2010
- Location:
- African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Notes:
- Following a brief introduction to the origins and aesthetics of calypso, soca (the child of calypso), and go-go music, the author suggests that, despite differences in location and sound, both genres share a common goal: offering underrepresented populations the power to negotiate and express their African heritage through music. Both soca and go-go also share three African musical traits: polymetric ensemble drumming, call-and-response techniques, and the use of allusive repetition that can span the works of various artists over a number of years.