Popular Music
Lucian popular music can be traced back to the 1940s, when calypso became a part of the island's musical culture. Calypso is a lyrical Trinidadian genre, related to several styles found through the Antillean music area. Music scholar Jocelyne Guilbault has called calypso the primary way modern Lucians "express social commentary". Along with calypso, Lucia has also imported the Trinidadian steelband and soca traditions.
Some Lucian calypsonians recorded in the 1980s, mostly on 45-RPM discs which remain largely unavailable today. The Lucian music industry is quite small scale, due to the island's small market, its lack of recording studios and record producers, the widespread bootlegging of cassettes, and the general unavailability of funding for musical ventures. Saint Lucia is home to several radio stations including Radio St. Lucia and Radio Caribbean International, which play a variety of popular music; since 1989, St Lucian radio stations have played an increasing number of programs about Lucian culture and in the local Creole tongue.
Modern Saint Lucia has produced a few popular musicians in various styles, but is most closely associated with calypso music. Popular Lucian musicians include Tru Tones, Rameau Poleon, Prolifik, Disturbing Joan and Aimran Simmons. Marie Selipha Sesenne Descartes (known simply as "Sesenne") was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her work as a chantwelle and in the promotion of Saint Lucian traditional culture and music. Saint Lucian folk dance and theater includes flower dances, masquerades and the Papa Djab festival; various kinds of music are associated with these celebrations.
Read more about this topic: Music Of Saint Lucia
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