As the dust settles from another fun-filled Carnival, calypsonian Weston “Cro Cro” Rawlins can’t help but worry about the future.
More calypsonians are “shifting towards soca. They are enjoying themselves, but that’s not how I see kaiso. It’s a serious art form, but people don’t really care. These days it’s jump and mash up the place. Things are happening out there – issues that are affecting us. It will get worse when people like me are gone. I’m not seeing much if anyone at all following in the footsteps of what kaiso is supposed to be.”
Rawlins, the controversial calypsonian who once dubbed himself in song, “The Mighty Midget they can’t muscle at all,” views himself as a caretaker of traditional calypso.
Silence and secrecy are a new look for him, but many of his opinions are only on pause, not muted.
His detractors have dubbed some of his calypsoes as cruel, cringeworthy and racist, but Cro Cro isn’t entertaining their viewpoint.
“The most difficult thing in the world to me is to hate someone. When you hate, your face is always screwed up. Your jaw is grinding. Racism is a big and serious thing that I never entertain. People who think I am racist are selfish and stupid. Some people think I am one of the best things in calypso.”
During the 2024 Carnival season, a High Court judge found Rawlins guilty of defaming businessman Ishan Ishmael in his 2023 calypso Another Sat Is Outside Again, and ordered him to pay $250,000.
“My lawyers have asked me not to comment at all on the case. They begged me to remain silent,” he said.
Cro Cro is not answering any questions about an appeal either. He does admit that he wasn’t expecting a guilty verdict.
“I have confidence in my lawyers, and I didn’t see a guilty verdict coming.”
He quickly added, “No, I don’t think calypsonians are supposed to defame people. The law is the law and you are supposed to respect the law.”
Nothing has changed Cro Cro’s definition of the art form he feels obliged to protect and represent.
“Calypso was born on the plantation as a protest for black people to say something. It’s still something for black people to use to defend wrong things in society.”
In the past, calypsonians hardly thought of the legal implications of their lyrics. Cro Cro’s court case has now set a precedent.
“The verdict against me will make some calypsonians more timid. If this verdict stands, we could lose what kaiso is,” Cro Cro said.
“I’m not saying kaiso should be scandalous or libellous, but kaiso will get a little more conservative now. But then there’s not many people doing kaiso like me.”
Calypso has been Cro Cro’s livelihood since he was 19.
“It’s my profession I haven’t done anything else. That’s why I am one of the best. If I worked at T&TEC, climbed an electricity pole and started to wine, I’d be dead already. My mind would be on songs – not work. You can’t have another job and be a good kaisonian. Suppose you have to go to work and a kaiso hits you at 8 am? You can’t tell your boss, ‘I have to write down this kaiso first.’”
