Music of the Lesser Antilles

Lesser Antillean music is part of the broader category of Caribbean music. Lesser Antilles’ musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. Calypso is most closely associated with the island of Trinidad, but it has spread throughout the Antilles, and abroad.

About Music of the Lesser Antilles in brief

Lesser Antillean music is part of the broader category of Caribbean music. Lesser Antilles’ musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. Calypso is most closely associated with the island of Trinidad, but it has spread throughout the Antilles, and abroad. In the context of Anglophone music, the term Antillesan music most commonly refers to Trinidad and Tobago, home to the well-known calypso style. New York City’s Labor Day Carnival features music and parades, mas and steel bands, and reflects elements of a pan-Caribbean nature. The island of Carriacou is home to a canboulay-like song style, as well as can boulay feasts, well-organized feasts and social gatherings, all related to Trinidadian songs, though distinct from them. The word calypiso, first used to refer to a Martinican singer, is the ancestor of the word carlole, and is characterized by satirical, political, humorous, risque and humorous lyricism, a celebratory nature and its function in social organization and celebration. The term Antilleans music is usually used in reference to one such music area, with the most significant overlap coming from Dominica and Saint Lucia, both primarily Anglophile but strongly influenced by a French colonial past. The islands also share a passion for kaseko, a genre of Surinamese music; Suriname and its neighbors Guyana and French Guiana share folk and popular styles that are connected enough to Antilles and other Caribbean islands that both countries are studied in the broader context ofAntillean or Caribbean music, with a brief sidebar specifically about the Dutch Antilles.

In many ways, the islands can be musically divided based on which nation colonized them, such as the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and the Dutch colonies of Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba. Despite the prominence of the Carnival celebration, and the importance of calypsos, AntilleAn music can be characterized by the role played by calyptos in the culture of the islands. Similar traditions can be found natively on many of Caribbean islands, and can also be found outside of the Caribbean entirely, most notably in New York city, where Carnival is distinct to New York, and reflecting elements of the pan-caribbeannature of the region. The term “Caribbeans” is often used to describe a group of Caribbean countries that have a strong Indian-influenced style of music, like the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Surinam and Guyana. The French islands are often grouped with Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles because of their colonial history, and because of the Dutch colonial history of both countries, they are often referred to as the DutchAntilles. It is also important to remember that the French Antilles were once a French colony, though not part of Lesser antilles.

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