VETERAN ENTERTAINER Stedson Red Plastic Bag Wiltshire says he is going into today’s Sweet Soca competition upbeat about the quality of this year’s “mid-tempo” compositions.
However, RPB, who has opted out of the Pic-O-De-Crop contest, has some concerns about the quality of social commentary and uptempo party music on offer for Crop Over 2011.
“It is a very weak year for uptempo party music; a lot of emphasis has been placed on the mid-tempo music, which I believe is [what] can carry our music forward,” he said, adding that “the world is on our doorstep and we need to look in a broader way at the way we do social commentary”.
The nine-time monarch specifically called on calypsonians to think outside of Crop Over and for radio stations to take more seriously their role in protecting the integrity of Barbadian music.
“I know [radio stations] feel an obligation to give everybody a play, but we have to be careful with the songs we make major hits that people may want to use as a yardstick by which our music is judged,” he said.
Full story in today’s SUNDAY SUN.
