Calypso judge: Nothing wrong with Cro Cro’s calypso

Critical and varying views on whether Cro Cro’s (Weston Rawlins) “Face Reality” is “harmless” or not continue to surface as one popular calypsonian, in a Newsday interview, lamented that Cro Cro was encouraging people to break the law.

The calypsonian, who wished to go unnamed, said that Cro Cro was “advising people to kidnap, and kidnapping is unlawful in our country.” He drew reference to Stalin’s (Winston Bailey) decade-old winning composition “Bun Dem,” saying that while Stalin was speaking out against atrocities done to humanity, he was not breaking any law. He told Sunday Newsday: “Stalin was asking St Peter to give him that personal satisfaction of doing the burning. While I support calypsonians in having the right to voice their views in song, at the same time they have to do it with caution.”

Calypso judge of 30 years and NYAC honoree at tomorrow’s Young Kings Jonah Regis, however, said that “there is nothing in Cro Cro’s song” and it was the calypsonian’s job to tell the truth. “Many things they sing about is the truth. The calypsonian is the prophet. Is just like Parliamentarians who have Parliamentary privilege. The only thing to set us free is the truth... you gotta face reality,” said Regis. Regis also commented on Stalin’s “Bun Dem” saying that the song was resultant of politicians’ behaviour in Parliament. He said: “Their (parliamentarians) actions are almost like violence.”

Regis called into question the actions to the song “The Art of Making Love” sung by Ras Shorty I, where former Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams was present and later called for a ban of the song. “But there was nothing wrong with the song. All Ras Shorty I did was show his middle finger in the line ‘Don’t forget this sweet middle finger, this hot magnificent finger/ Always keep it handy in case of emergency,’ and Dr Williams wanted to know how the judges could pick a man doing that.”

Regis said that the Carnival Development Company (CDC), now the National Carnival Commission/NCC, at the time launched an inquest into the exercise, clearing the singer and the tent of any form of ridicule or vulgarity. Regis told Sunday Newsday: “The CDC used to have a lawyer present at the judging and after Dr Williams objected, they called on the lawyer and he gave them an illustration. “He said: ‘If a man is walking down the road with his middle finger up in the air and the police see him, could the police arrest him?’”