Songs of protest

Dressed in a bright yellow hat, garish green shirt and an oversize red tie, De Professor danced onstage while singing about government’s wrongdoing. “With all de corruption dat taking place, we is de ones they blame”, the song, “God Nah Sleep”, went. The performance was so well received that it helped the 43-year-old singer, whose real name is Lester Charles, win the annual calypso competition in Guyana early this year.

But the song angered Robeson Benn, government minister for transport and hydraulics. He stormed into the state radio station’s offices and, according to sources, demanded that the song be banned, along with an array of other competition-winning calypsos. A conflict has since surfaced between the government and calypsonians, who accuse the former of repressing their music by keeping it off air.

“We have a culture of corruption, and the calypso captures that,” said David Hinds, a political activist in Guyana. He added that under the current government, “the calypsos have increasingly come under attack”. However, President Donald Ramotar, of Indian origin, has been careful to present a supportive stance towards this form of music.

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