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GUYANESE MUSICAL CREATIVITY AND MUSIC IN GUYANA
CHUTNEY IN MEH VEINS A
Alexis Stephens. M.A
sk anyone living in Guyana and Trinidad or parts of the Indian diaspora and they’ll tell you that “chutney is de thing”. Some outside of the English speaking Caribbean might be forgiven for thinking that the phrase is a direct reference to the range of South Asian condiments made with salt, spicy seasonings and fruits or vegetables. While these condiments are enjoyed by many in the region, the phrase has little to do with food and everything to do with an emerging genre of music which is just as spicy. In the last decade, chutney music has gained increasing popularity with hits such as “Rum Till I die” (Adesh Samaroo),“Radica” (Kenneth Salic),“Dhal Belly Indian” (Vedesh Sookoo), Rum is Meh Lova” (Ravi B-Karma), “Mor Tor” ( Rikki Jai) and “Rajin Jeem Jeem Joma” (Adesh Samaroo).These songs continue to receive significant airplay and have become a staple at many major outdoor events.
Defining the music It’s hard to categorize chutney as belonging to one specific genre. As an emerging music form it is arguably a genre of its own having developed from a fusion of other genres such as soca and calypso. Many of the articles on chutney music describes it as “up tempo”,“rhythmic”, and “having musical connections to India”. A more expansive definition comes from the Tourism Development Company of Trinidad (TIDCO): “Chutney is an up-tempo, rhythmic song, accompanied by the dholak, the harmonium and the dhantal. Originally, Chutney songs made reference to deities and were offensive to religious leaders.Within recent times, the Chutney has become extremely popular and new compositions are being written. Some of these contain Calypso and Soca rhythms. There is also some extemporaneous composition and accompaniment (especially in the growing number of competitions) may be provided by bands which include Indian, Western and African instruments.”
seen as having lost its religious subtext and has strayed too far from its roots. Almost as a response to this criticism, chutney gospel has emerged to challenge the lyrical content of many of the popular chutney songs. Chutney gospel as the name implies utilizes the same musical fusion but is more concerned with spreading a religious message.Thus the songs are likely to include traditional gospel and religious music which is set to a fusion of soca, calypso and Hindi rhythms. Anil Azeez, the self-styled chutney gospel artist who hails from the Essequibo coast, popularised chutney gospel in Guyana with his hit single “In Jesus Meh Can’t Die” (2003). He went on to produce several other chutney gospel albums including “Come Sing a Gospel Chutney” (2004),“Sing Praises in Chutney” (2005) and “Celebrate Christmas in Chutney” (2007). His counterpart Larry Pierre famous for his hit song “What Yuh Go Say Boy” has been dubbed the chutney gospel king of Trinidad and Tobago. Although chutney gospel is still in a nascent stage, the popularity of both forms of the music is due mainly to the spicy, up tempo rhythms and the lyrical content which focuses on everyday events such as drinking rum, broken relationships, love and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. All of these events are central to the Caribbean experience and like chutney it’s in our veins.
Religion and Chutney In spite of its popularity, a major criticism of chutney music is that it promotes rum drinking.The music is Guyana Cultural Association of New York Inc. on-line Magazine