Do not silence Cro Cro

The editor: Its Carnival once again and true to form, the Mighty Midget, Cro-Cro has “chooked” the “jep” nest with his ditty “Face Reality.” Almost at once some members of the Indian community, businessmen and the UNC  are all up in arms for allegedly inciting the lawless to kidnap them. Most of these people have not heard the song in its entirety.  At best they saw a verse printed in the newspaper or heard a sound byte via television and radio news clips. Sadly lessons in English literature have been lost on these people and so in their anxiety they wish to silence the bard and ban his song. Cro-Cro like most of us has come to the conclusion that kidnapping has become part of the local landscape as it has done in Colombia over the last 30 years.

“Face Reality” seeks not to unleash terror on innocent citizens; instead the song calls on these criminals to become the anti-hero, a Robin Hood of sorts.   This is made clear when the calypsonian refers to “Those who have cocaine and missiles in water tank and we money in foreign bank, kidnap them.”   The barb in the song is aimed at the wrongdoers who are able to escape the clutches of the law due to their political position and economic power gained by ill means. Cro-Cro has always had a rough edge,with sometimes oddly constructed verses and poisonous lyrics.   However his message is almost always on target.  Chalkdust has long complained that both he and Sugar Aloes lack the ability to bowl spin (sing the safe message with a softer punch). They will have none of it and thus the message is often loud, vulgar and often true. This is what really hurts the detractors.
If we are living in a democracy as we claim, silencing Cro Cro and others who express themselves in whatever fashion, is not the direction we should turn.

Mc Donald James
Couva