| Chutney | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Soca, Bhojpuri folk, calypso, later filmi |
| Cultural origins | 19th century Indo-Caribbeans with indentured servent or immigrant ancestry |
| Typical instruments | dhantal, dholak, harmonium, tassa |
| Fusion genres | |
| Chutney soca | |
| Music of Trinidad and Tobago | |
|---|---|
| General topics | |
| Portal:Music of Trinidad and Tobago | |
| Genres | |
| Media and performance | |
| Music media |
Music television |
| National anthem | Forged from the Love of Liberty (national anthem) |
| Regional music | |
| Local forms | |
Chutney music is a form indigenous to the southern Caribbean, originating in Trinidad. It derives elements from traditional Indian music and popular Trinidadian Soca music.
Contents |
This contemporary fusion of genres was created by Indo-Caribbean people whose ancestors were are from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and the South Indian area around Madras. They were taken as indentured servants by the British to replace laborers on sugar plantations after emancipation. Chutney music was established in the 1940s within temples, wedding houses, and cane fields of the Indo-Caribbean. There were no recordings until 1958 when Ramdew Chaitoe of Suriname, a small country in South America, recorded an early rendition of Chutney music. The album was titled King of Suriname and all of the songs were religious in nature. However, he soon became a household name with East Indians not just in Suriname, but throughout the Caribbean. Although the songs were religious, they had a dance vibe throughout each track. For the first time Indo Caribbeans had music that spoke to them and was not not Indian, or European/American in style. This was a breakthrough for East Indian Caribbean music but the fame was short lived.
Chutney music exploded again in 1968 with a woman named Dropati. She released an album titled Let's Sing & Dance which was made up of traditional wedding songs. These songs became huge pop hits within the East Indian Caribbean community. The album gained recognition for Chutney Music as a legitimate art form and united the East Indians of the Caribbean regardless of their birth place.
1970 was the biggest turning point for Chutney Music because of Sundar Popo. He modernized the music by including western guitars and early electronics into his music. Sundar Popo became known as the "King of Chutney." Other artists, such as Nisha Benjamin, followed in his footsteps by adding new modern instrumentation into their music.
The 1980s saw more evolution within the genre. Chutmey Artists started to fuse Calypso, Soca and American Rhythm & Blues into their music, changing the name to Indian Soca. A young female artist named Drupatee Ramgoonai from Trinidad emerged from this new scene. In the beginning she was criticized for being dutty, (rude or crude in creole), because she wrote about sex and alcohol. This was nothing new, as she in the footsteps of other Calypsonians, where they sing about issues in their life or what is happening within the community. Nevertheless, the criticism did not affect Drupatee and she was later given the title "Queen of Chutney." By the end of the 1980s Chutney Music went global and was introduced in Indian films. Even in Holland, a new artist, Atiya, emerged on the Chutney scene.
Starting in the 1990s Chutney music's popularity started to grow out of the Caribbean islands. The United States and Canada started to pick up Chutney artists for their recording companies. These included the hugely successful Jamaican Me Crazy (JMC) Records, Spice Island Records, Mohabir Records & JTS Productions. The establishment of nightclubs such as Soca Paradise and Calypso City in New York and Connections and Calypso Hut in Toronto, coupled with these new recording companies were all factors instrumental in promoting Indo-Caribbean music overseas and in the West Indies for they provided the necessary outlets for the music to grow.
The modern chutney artist writes lyrics in either Hindi, Bhojpuri or English and then lays it on top of beats that come from Indian beats from the dholak mixed with the Soca beat.
Chutney is an uptempo song, accompanied by electric guitar, synthesizer, dholak, harmonium, and dhantal, tassa drums played in rhythms imported from filmi, calypso or soca. Early chutney was religious in nature sung by mainly women in Trinidad and Tobago. Chutney is unusual in the predominance of female musicians in its early years, though it has since become mixed.
Chutney artists include Rikki Jai, Rakesh Yankaran, Devanand Gattoo, Nisha Benjamin, Heeralal Rampartap and the late Ramdew Chaitoe, who composed the Surinamese based Baithak Gana in his album The Star Melodies of Ramdew Chaitoe. Among the best known examples of chutney music are Sundar Popo's Pholourie Bein Chutney or Sundar Popo's first recorded song "Nani And Nana", Sonny Mann's Lotalal, Vedesh Sookoo's Dhal Belly Indian, Anand Yankaran's Jo Jo, Neeshan 'D Hitman' Prabhoo's Mr. Shankar Ravi B's Rum Is Meh Lova and Rikki Jai's Mor Tor.
The nature of current chutney songs are simple. They Speak about life and love for many things, whether that love is for a significant other or for an object of possession. Some Chutney songs favor the topic of food or drink, however like most West Indian music, normally there can be a hidden message found in the song if you were to read between the lines.
Chutney music is typically played with the dholak, dhantal and harmonium. The melody of the music is provided by the harmonium, and the dholak and dhantal for the rhythm. More modernly, drum machines playing tassa have been incorporated into chutney as well. Tassa is drumming used in the Muslim Hosay festival.
Chutney music is sung in English, Hindi and Bhojpuri. As chutney music comes from the Indian culture, it is only natural some of the languages are from India. Traditionally speaking, the lyrics of chutney are religious, but that has changed over the years. In modern chutney music, including the newer subgenres, the lyrics have evolved to be more contemporary.
The origin of chutney being in the Caribbean has meant that it's been in close contact with different peoples, traditions, and other musical styles since its inception. According to the government of Trinidad and Tobago, roughly 40% of the country's population is of Indian descent, another 40% of African descent, and the remaining 20% composed of a mix of European, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and other ancestry. This has allowed chutney to fuse with other genres and/or implement new instruments into its own style, creating an array of syncretic subgenres including ragga chutney, chutney-bhangra, chutney hip-hop, soca-bhangra, and chutney soca.
Chutney soca is the most notable of these, as it has become virtually indistinguishable from what is considered normal chutney in recent years. Drupatee Ramgoonai coined the term with the release of her album, "Chatnee Soca," in 1987. The style had an emphasis on Hindi lyrics and the beats of the dholak and dhantal. It was further popularized by the 1994 album, "Soca Chutney," by Sonny Mann. It was credited as the best selling Indo-Caribbean album ever, with its title track hitting the top of charts not only in the Caribbean, but in the United States, Canada, and England.
Modern chutney soca, like many chutney subgenres, has incorporated more use of keyboards, drum machines, and other electronic instruments.
While the music is the most vital part of this genre, the dance aspect of Chutney is just as important.
Chutney-style dancing was mainly performed by lower-class women during certain parts of formal weddings. In countries like Guyana and Suriname (residing on the northern border of South America), similar rituals were performed by male dancers. Men from Guyana created these chutney-style dance moves during the 1950s; through folk songs and other up-tempo songs. During weddings, men would dance in this chutney style with either each other or with launda (male cross-dressers).
The chamars (men of the lower class), were recognized for their jhatke ki nach (hip dancing). This dance would occur the night before a wedding ceremony, where the groom's company would pick their best dancer to perform. Over time, these skilled dancers became highly praised. Groups of people began to place bets on their favorite dancers; with the winner being judged on overall agreement by the audience. These competitions would often lead to fights that would end in the destruction of the whole wedding' lasting for hours upon hours, later following to a ban on night-time weddings in Guyana.
Although it was around, the chutney dance style had little in common with the music going on around these countries. Instead, the style revolved around basic gestures; combining hand, arm, and pelvic movements. A common dance involves one hand being held behind the person's back; with the other hand placed on the top of their head. This set of moves can be utilized with an assortment of improvised and traditional styles. To people who are unfamiliar with chutney dance, certain gestures performed by men (as well as women) might appear "unmanly," but to those familiar with the style, these movements are typical of men and women (where sexual expression and grace are not viewed as unacceptable).
Social restrictions on dance occurred over a period of several decades. Guyanese female dancers began to perform rajdhar dance in public; even though it was considered to be socially unacceptable. Their rise in popularity helped to loosen these restrictions for generations to come. The gradual acceptance of men and women dancing in the same space is just as important. In the past, a man who danced with women at a wedding or other event would have been considered "unmanly," while a woman who danced with men would be considered to have "weak," morals. By the 1960s and 1970s, such ways of thought dissipated in Trinidad; which in turn, impacted countries such as Guyana and Suriname mentioned above. Many Indo-Caribbean private weddings came to include chutney-style dancing performed by women and some men with encouragement for the audience to do the same.
The rise of chutney music as a popular dance genre can be credited to Sham and Moean Mohammed; two Trinidadian music promoters who set up several successful shows for many Surinamese artists that performed up-tempo chutney music during the early 1960's. Sundar Popo, one of the Mohammed brother's pupils, became very successful in 1970 with his hit Nana and Nani, along with other light, chutney-style songs. However, the true rise of popularity for chutney music occurred during the mid-1980s, when Mohammed brother sponsored chutney dance competitions became extremely popular; which hundreds of dancers attended. Because of the widespread popularity, most sexually segregated connotations about social dance etiquette were removed. Most men and women decided that the genre's dance style was simply way too fun to be restricted by social norms.