Calypso Queen of the world "Calypso Rose "talks about her success in 2016 and the highs and lows of her personal and professional life.
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00:00 This is going to be a wonderful episode of Vintage.
00:02 I can feel it in the air.
00:04 Yes, the air at the Big Black Box,
00:06 right here on Murray Street.
00:08 Today, we have our very first female guest,
00:11 a female Calypsoanian who everybody should know.
00:14 I'm sure everybody knows you.
00:18 I ain't gonna tell you who it is.
00:19 Let me just go on the stage in the Big Black Box.
00:21 We'll go figure it out.
00:23 (singing in foreign language)
00:27 ♪ I'm a poor heart of steel ♪
00:29 ♪ Of castor jam and sweet ♪
00:32 ♪ We got joints and bone and gums ♪
00:35 ♪ And Roland Covey streets ♪
00:37 ♪ So give me more ♪
00:40 ♪ Damn poor ♪
00:42 ♪ I can't take this tension ♪
00:44 ♪ It's too much to mention ♪
00:46 ♪ But I spend too small ♪
00:49 ♪ For this kind of vibe ♪
00:51 ♪ I know we're gonna happen ♪
00:54 ♪ It was '77 ♪
00:56 ♪ These people like rain ♪
00:58 ♪ Jamming for the spin ♪
01:00 ♪ Murray Square, Hotshot, Sharlan Street ♪
01:02 ♪ San Fernando, hot jumping and stuff ♪
01:05 ♪ Oh ♪
01:06 ♪ We going down San Fernando ♪
01:08 ♪ Down the avenue, damn poor ♪
01:11 ♪ Heart of steel, of castor jam and sweet ♪
01:15 ♪ And we got joints and bone and gums ♪
01:18 ♪ And Roland Covey streets ♪
01:20 ♪ So give me more ♪
01:23 ♪ Damn poor ♪
01:25 ♪ Where you going San Fernando ♪
01:27 ♪ Where you going ♪
01:28 ♪ San Fernando ♪
01:30 ♪ Where you going ♪
01:31 ♪ San Fernando ♪
01:32 ♪ Where you going ♪
01:33 ♪ San Fernando ♪
01:35 ♪ Damn poor ♪
01:36 ♪ Come lovey get on board ♪
01:38 ♪ And mash up the whole of Trinidad ♪
01:41 ♪ And take it overseas ♪
01:43 ♪ And mash up the whole of the West Indies ♪
01:45 ♪ Damn poor ♪
01:47 ♪ Damn poor ♪
01:50 - Welcome, welcome, welcome to Vintage Unplugged.
01:54 As you can see, today I'm in the presence of royalty.
01:58 Thank you so much for coming on the show today, Marose.
02:01 - Happy am I to be here.
02:02 - Yes, I'm real happy to have you here.
02:04 - Thank you.
02:05 - First off, let me say congratulations
02:06 on all that good stuff of all the successes
02:08 you've been having recently.
02:09 But I want to go back to the beginning, beginning,
02:11 beginning, beginning, the whole beginning of the thing.
02:14 15 years old, when you started to sing Calypso.
02:17 - I start writing at age 13.
02:19 - Writing at 13?
02:20 - Yeah.
02:22 But I was a dummy.
02:23 I couldn't speak.
02:24 And then--
02:26 - So you used to write, write to get out.
02:27 - Yeah, I used to write and have everything in my head,
02:29 locked up in there.
02:31 But you know, age 15, the Lord opened the door for me.
02:35 And that is the time when the late Dr. Eric Williams
02:38 came into power.
02:39 Was a new era for the people in Trinidad and Tobago.
02:44 - Independence.
02:45 - Nope.
02:46 - No?
02:47 - 1955 was when Dr. Eric Williams
02:51 became the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
02:53 - Right, right, right.
02:54 We didn't get that.
02:55 - So you didn't know independence in 1960?
02:57 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, '62.
02:59 - After?
03:00 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:01 - '77 was when we became a republic.
03:05 Oh God.
03:05 Look, I got to, I bring a belt.
03:07 (laughing)
03:08 Bring a belt that put you on my lap and get me.
03:11 - So wait, I really didn't realize that he was in power
03:13 before the independence.
03:15 - Of course.
03:16 - I thought that was when it happened.
03:17 - No, no, Dr. Williams--
03:17 - All right, well, I learned something today.
03:18 - Dr. Williams came into power in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955.
03:22 - Right.
03:23 - Dr. Eric, okay, what was his second name?
03:26 - His second name?
03:27 - Yes.
03:28 - Eustace.
03:29 - I know something, I can't remember.
03:31 - Dr. Eric Eustace Williams.
03:34 And I started from there.
03:36 You see, we had a new era,
03:38 we had a new era where Dr. Eric Williams came in
03:42 and your humble servant,
03:43 little, little, teeny, teeny, ticky head girl
03:48 called MacArthur, but home they used to call me Cathy.
03:51 - Yes.
03:52 - You know, we just changed the name, you know, Cathy.
03:54 - I hear some people look finer,
03:55 if you're looking for your car finer.
03:57 - The car's fine here too.
03:58 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:58 (laughing)
03:59 - So, that's where I started.
04:01 - Okay, so how was Dr. Eric Williams,
04:04 how did he play a role in your career?
04:05 - Oh, when I sang "Glass Tea" for him,
04:09 he said, "You are very good,
04:11 "you should be in the Calypso tent."
04:13 - And you were still living in Tobago at this point in time?
04:15 - No.
04:16 - No, you were living in Trinidad already.
04:17 - I was a little bit tired,
04:18 but you know, I was an adopted child.
04:19 - Right.
04:20 - At age nine, so my aunt sent me home for a little while,
04:23 you know, and I sang for Dr. Williams,
04:25 and when I came home, I tell Auntie what doctor say,
04:28 "You mean doctor say you're good?"
04:30 (laughing)
04:31 I say, "Yeah."
04:32 He say, "Okay, well I will take you down
04:34 "to the Calypso tent in Nelson Street."
04:36 - Only because the doctor say you're good.
04:38 - Not in the tent, but in the Calypso club.
04:41 - Okay, so--
04:42 - Where the mighty spoiler,
04:44 and all, you know, those artists
04:48 from the original Young Brigade used to hang out,
04:52 and you know, play the cards, and do the music,
04:56 and there were the two main owners of the tent
05:01 with a guy they called Mr. Piggy,
05:04 that was his, you know--
05:08 - His nickname.
05:09 - Piggy and Spike.
05:12 So when they asked me, "Here, Piggy and Spike,"
05:15 Mr. Piggy would risk him.
05:16 That must be why they call him Pig.
05:18 - Ah-ha, 'cause, all right, okay, makes sense.
05:21 - And Mr. Spike was a dark, negro guy.
05:23 - He was probably sharp.
05:25 - Yeah, he was very sharp.
05:27 And when they asked me, "What is your name?"
05:31 I say, "Name?"
05:33 I don't remember they have spoiled--
05:35 - Yeah, you need to have a subriquet to be in Calypso.
05:38 - And I said, "Crucio Kid,"
05:40 because I'm a Tobogganian.
05:42 - So Robinson Crusoe.
05:43 - And with the history of Robinson Crusoe,
05:45 I said, "Crucio Kid."
05:46 He said, "No, no, no, no, no.
05:47 "We are going to change your name.
05:49 "We are going to call you Calypso Rose."
05:54 And I asked myself, "Why Rose?"
05:57 - Who's the hidden Miss Piggy and Spike?
05:58 - Yes. - Okay.
05:59 - And I asked myself, "Why Rose?"
06:01 And then they said,
06:02 "Because Rose is the mother of all flowers.
06:06 "And look at today,
06:07 "I am the mother of all female Calypso-niers."
06:11 Not only for Trinidad and Tobago,
06:14 but all over the world. - Around the world, of course.
06:15 - There is a girl from,
06:17 a Japanese,
06:20 singing,
06:21 (speaking in foreign language)
06:24 Fire, fire.
06:24 - In Japanese.
06:26 (laughing)
06:27 - We will get back to that,
06:28 because I know you recorded that song
06:29 in quite a few languages as well.
06:31 We will talk about that later a little bit.
06:32 Let me take a quick break and come back right here.
06:34 Vintage Unplugged 2017, with Maru Uzwai.
06:37 (upbeat music)
06:40 (upbeat music)
06:43 ♪ They say that I reign too long ♪
07:07 ♪ Forgetting that my constitution is strong ♪
07:09 ♪ Instead of respecting me long, long reign ♪
07:12 ♪ They making plot to take down me name ♪
07:15 ♪ I've been breaking down walls ♪
07:18 ♪ Ever since I was small ♪
07:21 ♪ They could stand up tall and strong ♪
07:23 ♪ Like a wrecking ball I would knock them down ♪
07:27 ♪ They say that I reign too long ♪
07:29 ♪ Forgetting that my constitution is strong ♪
07:32 ♪ Instead of respecting me long, long reign ♪
07:35 ♪ They making plot to take down me name ♪
07:38 ♪ Everywhere I reign supreme ♪
07:41 ♪ The one I only call it so queen ♪
07:44 ♪ No man alive or dead could man come ♪
07:47 ♪ And take the clung off me head ♪
07:51 ♪ Them foolish and petty men ♪
08:03 ♪ I don't worry 'bout them ♪
08:06 ♪ They been trying to take me down ♪
08:08 ♪ But to the end I retain the crown ♪
08:12 - Calypso Queen of the world.
08:15 And she's right here next to me, chilling.
08:18 And we inside the big black box today.
08:20 Calypso Rose.
08:21 - Hello.
08:22 - So I want to talk about the first time
08:24 you became officially the queen.
08:27 'Cause I know back then it was a very male dominant
08:30 - It was. - Industry.
08:31 - It was.
08:33 And the Calypso Queen, there was an Indian guy
08:37 from San Fernando,
08:38 been doing the Calypso Queen competition for years.
08:43 And your humble servant have been winning the,
08:46 have been winning the Calypso Queen for a number of years.
08:51 Because I was not the first female Calypso woman.
08:56 - Okay.
08:57 - There were Lord and Lady Irie.
08:59 - Okay.
09:00 - I was small, years and years.
09:02 But I was the first female that came out.
09:04 And for years and years and years,
09:08 with the king, king, king, king, king, king.
09:10 So Mr. Chamber,
09:12 and he was with the head of the Carnival Committee.
09:15 - Right, the NCC.
09:17 - And you see what I mean?
09:18 My brain's still working good?
09:19 - Yeah, man.
09:20 - And when Calypso, if Calypso Rose win the Calypso
09:25 competition. - King competition.
09:26 - The competition.
09:27 - Right.
09:28 - We can't call her, we cannot call her king.
09:32 So they'd be knocking their brain, knocking their head.
09:34 But because I know I come in for that.
09:36 - Exactly.
09:36 - You know, and thank God,
09:38 Trinidad and Tobago became a republic nation in 1977.
09:43 And in a republic nation,
09:48 there are no kings, no queen, they are monarchs.
09:51 But--
09:53 - So they change the name of the--
09:53 - But, but before,
09:55 Mr. I can't remember his name, but in San Fernando,
10:00 he was running the Calypso Queen.
10:03 - Right.
10:04 - And the humble servant, first year, second year,
10:08 third year, fourth year, fifth year, I said,
10:11 nah, I want another female.
10:13 - Yeah, you need some competition.
10:14 - To achieve the glory that I have achieved.
10:19 So I backed out, I did not--
10:22 - And 36 time.
10:23 - I did not know why should I?
10:25 When I want to get somebody--
10:25 - Yeah, you don't prove, exactly.
10:26 - I give somebody the space.
10:28 - Exactly.
10:29 - And I know I want to go higher and higher and higher
10:32 because I dig the ground and I plant my seed
10:35 and I water my seed and I know the root has sprung up
10:38 and that root going to grow up to be a big tree.
10:41 - Yeah.
10:42 - And I remember it very clearly.
10:44 When I did not shop for the competition,
10:48 all the people start to talk a whole set of knowledge.
10:53 And when I received that award, it came to me.
10:57 It came to me, it came to me.
10:59 Anyhow, I wouldn't sing it yet.
11:04 (laughing)
11:05 But I'm gonna sing it before I came off stage.
11:07 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, before we leave you a second for sure.
11:09 But I want to talk to me about,
11:11 you did some work with the great Bob Marley, didn't you?
11:15 - Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh my God.
11:17 The first time I performed with Bob Marley was in New York
11:20 in the month of, what's that,
11:22 we know we say O'Lears night in the Caribbean.
11:24 - They say New Year's Eve.
11:25 - But in America, they say New Year's Eve.
11:27 And we're at the Grand Concourse
11:29 and I could never forget that.
11:31 There was so many snow, snow, snow, oh my God.
11:35 - How did that collaboration come about though?
11:38 - When Mr. Earl Harris, who was the manager
11:42 for the Magic Sparrow in America,
11:45 and they brought me in, I was very, you know.
11:49 And Mr. Earl Harris booked me with Bob Marley
11:53 at the Grand Concourse for the New Year's Eve.
11:56 That is first time I did perform
11:59 with the great son of Jamaica soil, Bob Marley.
12:03 And for this, it was so good and great
12:06 that for the summertime,
12:09 they wanted me to perform with him in Florida,
12:13 in Orlando by the beach.
12:15 And I never seen ladies wear chain with guns
12:18 on the chain around their neck,
12:21 or the hand is chain with little, little--
12:24 - Guns and thing?
12:25 - Guns and all on the anklets,
12:27 a little chain with little guns.
12:29 I said, "Oh, wow."
12:31 And that, I second time I perform it with Bob.
12:34 And then after we performed in London
12:37 and Bob Marley was a great, great.
12:39 Bob Marley was a spiritual person.
12:42 A lot of people did not comprehend or knew.
12:47 Listen to the type of songs that he had recorded
12:49 and sang all the year.
12:51 He was a spiritual.
12:53 You see a lot of people do not know.
12:55 Jesus Christ had 12 disciples.
12:58 In the book of Luke, he said,
12:59 "Go ye into the world and preach the gospel.
13:02 "Wherever you go, I going to be with you."
13:04 Jesus Christ went with Bob Marley.
13:07 He was preaching the gospel in his own way.
13:09 - In his own way.
13:10 - And I have been preaching mine in my own way.
13:14 - Exactly, I was about to say that,
13:15 but not just in Calypso,
13:16 because I understand that you are also ordained.
13:19 - I am an ordained minister.
13:20 - I know, that's what I'm saying.
13:21 - For years, for years.
13:22 - I am an ordained minister.
13:24 Some people say, "Ah, you ordained minister
13:27 "and you're singing Calypso and you're whining."
13:30 I say, "You go to Ecclesiastes."
13:33 Do you read the book?
13:37 - I have, but I don't memorize it.
13:38 I'm not gonna tell you that I memorize it.
13:40 So I don't know which part of Ecclesiastes--
13:41 - There is a time, you go to Corinthians too?
13:45 - Well, no, you gotta tell me, no, go.
13:46 - There is a time for everything there that,
13:48 and you go to Psalm?
13:49 - Uh-huh.
13:51 - In the last part of Psalm,
13:52 the last verse of Psalm, it says,
13:55 "Praise the Lord with timbrels and songs and dances."
13:59 That will be a jump and dance and sing
14:01 in the name of Jesus.
14:04 - Exactly, and it can happen to the music.
14:06 - When they're talking, I'll tell them, "Leave me alone."
14:08 (laughing)
14:10 - You take all the--
14:11 - There is a time for everything.
14:13 There is a time to be born, there is a time to cry,
14:15 and a time to die.
14:16 - Time to dance, time to dance as well.
14:18 - And a time to dance.
14:19 - Exactly.
14:19 - There is a time for-- - No, stop me.
14:21 - Not yet, not yet, time to take a break, let me do that.
14:23 - Yeah!
14:24 (laughing)
14:26 ♪ I'm by the river, down Babylon ♪
14:31 ♪ Where we shot down ♪
14:35 ♪ And where we went ♪
14:39 ♪ When we remember Zion ♪
14:43 (audience cheering)
14:50 (upbeat music)
14:52 - Everybody!
15:00 (upbeat music)
15:03 - Okay, welcome my son!
15:28 ♪ I'm by the rivers of Babylon ♪
15:32 ♪ Where we shot down ♪
15:37 ♪ And where we went ♪
15:41 ♪ When we remember Zion ♪
15:45 ♪ I'm by the rivers of Babylon ♪
15:49 ♪ Where we shot down ♪
15:54 ♪ And where we went ♪
15:58 ♪ When we remember Zion ♪
16:02 ♪ For the wicked ♪
16:04 ♪ Carry us away captivity ♪
16:08 ♪ Require from us a song ♪
16:12 ♪ How can we sing ♪
16:14 ♪ The Alpha song in our strength ♪
16:19 ♪ For the wicked ♪
16:21 ♪ Carry us away captivity ♪
16:24 - Oh yeah!
16:26 ♪ Abathina was no deceiver ♪
16:29 ♪ No one could ever believe her ♪
16:31 ♪ Abathina, oh ♪
16:34 ♪ Who you have there breaking down the door ♪
16:37 ♪ She was lucky to marry a rich, rich man ♪
16:40 ♪ Handsome like Harry ♪
16:42 ♪ Abathina, oh ♪
16:45 ♪ Who you have there breaking down the door ♪
16:48 ♪ She was lucky to marry a rich, rich man ♪
16:52 ♪ Handsome like Harry ♪
16:53 ♪ Abathina, oh ♪
16:56 ♪ Who you have there breaking down the door ♪
16:59 ♪ Tina was no deceiver ♪
17:02 ♪ No one could ever believe her ♪
17:04 ♪ Abathina, oh ♪
17:07 ♪ Who you have there breaking down the door ♪
17:10 ♪ Abathina, oh ♪
17:12 ♪ Who you have there breaking down the door ♪
17:15 ♪ Abathina, Abathina, Abathina ♪
17:19 ♪ Abathina, oh ♪
17:22 ♪ Abathina, oh ♪
17:23 ♪ Now ladies, never marry a man for money ♪
17:28 ♪ Never marry a man for money ♪
17:30 ♪ From the time the ring goes onto your finger ♪
17:33 ♪ The horns of the devil comes out ♪
17:36 ♪ Burup, shut up, go to your room ♪
17:40 ♪ Who you talking to, put the phone down ♪
17:42 ♪ You can't talk to your mother, are you crazy ♪
17:45 ♪ Abathina ♪
17:47 - Now what's interesting, right,
17:48 is the other day I was in a party
17:49 and this song was playing
17:50 and everybody was dancing, having a good time.
17:52 And I said to myself,
17:53 I wonder if they understand
17:54 what she's really singing about.
17:56 - The same thing when I was asked by Mr. Jean-Michel,
17:59 my European manager,
18:01 they want me to do Abathina.
18:02 Abathina is my song.
18:03 - Yeah.
18:04 - That was being done in the '30s.
18:05 - Yeah.
18:06 - And I say, Abathina, Abathina is a painful song.
18:12 And I said, no, I won't do it.
18:13 They said, no.
18:14 Well, we the French people want to do it.
18:17 I said, okay.
18:18 And when that song, and I hit the stage in France,
18:21 and I see people, hands up in the air,
18:23 dancing to Abathina,
18:25 I was shocked and wonder,
18:27 how could you dance?
18:29 - To the sorrow.
18:30 - To the sorrow, the pain of a woman.
18:32 But they don't care.
18:33 Ooh, and that one of the biggest songs
18:35 on the album right now, Abathina.
18:37 - I find that song very interesting.
18:38 It's kind of weird.
18:39 - It is, it is.
18:40 The poor girl, the poor girl couldn't talk
18:43 because her mouth was full of wire.
18:45 Go to your room, shut up, put the phone down.
18:47 You talking to your mother, you're crazy.
18:50 Pow!
18:51 (panting)
18:54 Abathina wanted it.
18:55 But that song now in Trinidad,
18:57 I know in Trinidad and Tobago,
18:59 he's opened the eyes to a lot of people,
19:03 domestic servants.
19:05 Ladies, if you are in a domestic relationship,
19:08 take your children and run.
19:10 Never stay in a relationship
19:13 that is not suitable for you.
19:19 Because remember, all human beings have a mother.
19:22 And I know that your husband wouldn't like nobody
19:27 to ill-treat your mother or your children like that.
19:30 Take your children, leave all the clothes,
19:33 leave the keys and run.
19:36 If you only have two foot, ask God to give you 10.
19:38 - That's a very important message, you know,
19:43 in this time that we're living in as well.
19:44 - It is, it is.
19:45 Because I know there are a lot of abusive men,
19:47 abusive women in Trinidad and Tobago
19:49 who have been abused physically and mentally.
19:51 - And emotionally.
19:52 - And emotionally.
19:53 - And they have financial abuse too.
19:54 - I know.
19:55 - It does.
19:56 - The husband working, he has a nice home,
19:59 a nice wife, nice kids,
20:01 but still have a 10-foot zero out there.
20:05 She don't get in the band,
20:06 spend all the money he work hard for
20:08 to say, "Come take a drink, you don't want a drink?"
20:10 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
20:11 "Where your man?
20:12 "Where your other man?"
20:13 "Oh no."
20:14 "Oh yeah, well, come now, come, come."
20:16 "Don't, don't go for that."
20:18 "Ladies, don't go for that!"
20:21 - Listen to my rules, eh, all right?
20:24 - That's right.
20:25 - All right.
20:26 So I want to talk to you about this whole,
20:28 you say "Aboutina" is a big tune,
20:29 the biggest tune of this album.
20:30 - It's a big, big, big tune.
20:31 - This particular album has gotten a lot of attention.
20:34 - Far from home.
20:35 - Yeah, it's gotten a lot of attention internationally.
20:37 Tell me about the journey to creating this album.
20:39 - This journey was very,
20:42 first, I went to Belize in 2013, March,
20:46 and started recording the album.
20:48 But I wasn't feeling the heavy vibrations I want to feel
20:50 because, you know, all the years I grew up
20:53 and doing recordings, we have live horns and brass,
20:56 and I want to get brass!
20:58 And, you know, when I went to Belize,
20:59 everything was already recorded.
21:02 And I wasn't feeling the vibes.
21:04 I pick up the guitar one day, they had a break.
21:07 I pick up the guitar, pick up my pen, my book,
21:09 and I went in the back room,
21:12 and I start to study.
21:13 "You're crazy."
21:15 And I saw, I saw a bell phone going dong
21:18 and coming up and she hand,
21:20 and I wrote, "Leave me alone."
21:23 Imagine you go to a party with your boyfriend or your husband,
21:26 and the music is blasting and you're enjoying yourself,
21:30 and your husband say, "Come go, come go."
21:32 - You want to carry you home.
21:33 - "Come go to do what?
21:34 "To watch the curtain?
21:36 "To watch the pot and have sex, you crazy?
21:39 "Leave me alone, I ain't going home.
21:41 "You could go."
21:42 And I wrote that, oh my.
21:44 When I came out and I said,
21:46 "Guys, I want you all to listen."
21:49 "What? Come, come, jump."
21:51 - Let's record one time.
21:52 - One time.
21:53 - So that was the first song that you wrote for the album?
21:55 - Yes, no, no, yeah, the first song.
21:58 - The first song that you--
21:59 - But the other songs like,
22:00 like, "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,"
22:01 that was fire in the leaves.
22:03 - Yeah.
22:04 - "No, Madam," all that was my tunes.
22:06 - Okay.
22:07 - But, "I'm an African," my tune.
22:10 "Are We One for Dance?"
22:12 You know, we to be going in and have our African dialect.
22:14 - Yes, a very, very unique dialect.
22:16 - "Are We One for Dance?"
22:17 "Are We African?"
22:18 "Are We One for Dance?"
22:19 All them tune I had written before.
22:21 But then this, "Leave Me Alone," boy,
22:24 and the recorded tune one time.
22:27 And I said, "Jean-Michel, release 2014."
22:32 "Jean-Michel, why you don't release, release?"
22:34 I said, "Every year, Trinidad and Tobago artists
22:38 "need a new song.
22:40 "The Panmen want to hear a new song.
22:42 "The Revelers want to hear a new song.
22:44 "The Brassmen want to hear a new song."
22:48 Wait, wait, don't worry.
22:51 This time, Jean-Michel been looking for a massive label.
22:54 - Yeah, it's a fatotonne.
22:55 - And Jean-Michel, I applaud you and I thank you
22:58 for your diligency and your stability.
23:05 - And you know, the thing that--
23:06 - And proridence.
23:07 - This proves how important it is to have good management
23:09 and get people working on the business side of things.
23:12 'Cause you work on the music and you created a lovely song.
23:15 - That's true.
23:16 - But it wouldn't have been as successful as it is
23:18 without-- - Like when I was hiring him,
23:20 without-- - The proper management team.
23:23 - And then he had this big label called Because.
23:28 And this Because music was released in France
23:31 on the 27th of May.
23:36 - 2016? - Yes.
23:38 And in August, it was sold 70,000.
23:43 The label had five albums that year.
23:47 - Yeah. - And I was the biggest seller.
23:49 - Seller for the label. - Was 2000, 2005, 500,
23:53 one something.
23:54 And Calypso wrote from Trinidad and Tobago,
23:58 the fire lady who sat going down San Fernando,
24:00 sold 70,000 in the month of August
24:04 until the 13th of September.
24:06 They gave me a gold record.
24:08 And now we over 100,000.
24:10 - Yeah, now you're even diamond.
24:12 You understand?
24:13 So, Jean-Michel boy.
24:16 - Jean-Michel, I want to thank you.
24:17 Lorraine, my man, I want to thank you.
24:19 - Timing is everything.
24:20 Lorraine and Jean-Michel, great management team.
24:23 - Yes. - I say that.
24:24 I fully support that because a lot of artists don't realize
24:27 the amount of work on the back end that has to happen.
24:30 - And I did a lot of work because I did a lot of work
24:32 by doing promotions. - Yes.
24:35 - You see, when you want to be construct,
24:37 when you want to gain something,
24:39 you have to work very, very hard.
24:41 Sometimes I have five interviews in one day,
24:43 television, radio, paper.
24:44 And I'm going from here to there.
24:46 Oh my God, I'm tired.
24:48 - I can imagine, it's so exhausting.
24:49 - But I want to be successful in what I am doing
24:52 with this album.
24:53 So I try to bear it.
24:55 And I ask for the stamina.
24:58 And I was really staminalized.
25:00 - Does it ever feel like a job?
25:02 - Staminalized. - Does it ever feel like a job?
25:04 - It is a job.
25:05 - But does it feel that way?
25:06 Or do you just enjoy it so much?
25:07 - It was a job. - Okay.
25:09 - It was a job, yeah.
25:10 It was a job, yes, man.
25:12 - All right. - So now we are--
25:14 - Yeah, so we'll take a break.
25:15 We'll come back, we'll chat some more.
25:16 And we have some "Leave Me Alone."
25:17 I know you had to play that before we go, you know.
25:19 - Oh, yes, yes. - Not yet, not yet.
25:20 Let me get an update on that afterwards.
25:21 Let me take a quick break.
25:22 We are on Vintage Unplugged 2017 with Maruz.
25:26 [upbeat music]
25:29 [audience cheering]
25:33 - I am a powerful woman.
25:36 Very powerful.
25:40 Nothing could stop me then,
25:46 in the '50s, in the '60s, in the '70s, and now.
25:51 Because in the '50s, I started in 1955,
25:58 and I'm still here today.
26:03 I passed through three heart attacks,
26:06 and I'm still here today.
26:08 And I passed through two cancer.
26:12 I am a cancer survivor, and I'm still here today.
26:16 So nothing could stop me.
26:20 I am like a river overflowing its bank.
26:28 You try to stop me, I'm going to find room to pass.
26:32 - Ladies and gentlemen, introducing to you
26:34 the woman that's responsible for all the women
26:37 in the industry singing.
26:38 Denise Belfort, Destra, Faye Alliance,
26:42 Miss Calypso Rose.
26:45 [audience cheering]
26:48 Make some noise!
26:53 [audience cheering]
27:00 - Let me hear you!
27:02 Love you!
27:02 [audience cheering]
27:05 [upbeat music]
27:28 I'm a very loving, charitable person.
27:31 I do not have any biological kids.
27:37 I never had a kid in my life.
27:38 I was always afraid to be close to a male.
27:43 I was raped when I was 18 years of age.
27:49 I got raped by three men coming from a political,
27:54 junior political meeting.
27:57 And after they finished using my body,
28:00 they put a knife to my stomach to take my life.
28:06 Within my mind, I say, "Lord, into thy hands,
28:22 "I commit my spirit.
28:24 "If I die tonight, let somebody find my body."
28:28 And it's the first time I'm speaking it on camera.
28:34 Once you're raped, you never forget that.
28:38 It goes through your life until you die.
28:40 So that took a toll on me and my life,
28:53 but it endowed my spirit culturally.
28:56 I have passed through hell again with my life
29:02 because in the Calypso tents,
29:05 I never slept with any body,
29:10 male, female, musicians, tent managers,
29:15 Calypso-ians, never.
29:22 And because they couldn't get to go to bed with me,
29:25 they start giving me all kind of name.
29:28 "Oh, she's a lesbian.
29:29 "She ain't like man," and all kind of thing.
29:31 And I didn't mind what they say about me.
29:34 I still smiling and I still standing.
29:36 - We are here at the big black box.
29:38 I have the Honorable MacArthur Lewis here with me.
29:42 You might know her, "Calypso Rules."
29:44 And we live in.
29:46 We talking the things. - That's right.
29:48 - Singing some songs and whatnot.
29:49 - That's right. - So,
29:51 I want to talk to you about a documentary
29:53 called "Lioness in the Jungle."
29:55 - "The Lioness of the Jungle" was done
29:57 about four, five years ago. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:59 But then it revealed some very, very interesting things.
30:02 - Yes, it was filmed,
30:04 it was filmed, Pascal Abollo from Africa.
30:08 - Okay. - Yeah.
30:09 She has done the documentary.
30:11 Jean-Michel brought her to Trinidad and Tobago.
30:16 We filmed first in Trinidad. - In Trinidad.
30:19 - Then we did our film in Tobago. - In Tobago.
30:21 - Then from Tobago, Trinidad to New York.
30:24 - Right, right, right. - And I could remember good
30:25 because winter time in New York.
30:27 - It was cool. I saw everybody was wearing their big jackets.
30:29 - Oh, God. Snow again. - Yeah, yeah.
30:31 - And then from New York to France.
30:33 - Okay. - And from France,
30:36 from France to Africa, a country called Benin.
30:40 - And this is since 2013?
30:44 - Before 2013. - Before 2013.
30:46 - Yes, yes. - How long have you been traveling?
30:48 Like that world circuit, because I know that people haven't been seeing you around
30:52 and they don't, they assume in Trinidad that you haven't been doing that amount of work.
30:56 Give me an example of your 2016.
30:59 How many approximately? Do you remember how much gigs you did last year?
31:02 How much performances you had? - I did 74.
31:05 - 74 performances last year. - Performances all over.
31:08 I did Belgium, Holland, Poland, Switzerland, France, England.
31:12 I did a lot, a lot, a lot. And all over France.
31:15 West of France, South of France, East of France, North of France.
31:17 All over. And France isn't that small.
31:20 Germany, France isn't that small little territory. - No, it is definitely not.
31:24 - Not a small territory. I have been to the Nimes.
31:29 - Yeah. - Nimes, where they had the big carnage.
31:34 - Mm-hmm. - Where the guy stole the truck and...
31:37 - And drive down the street, yeah, yeah. - Drive down the street.
31:39 I performed there the week before. - For real?
31:41 - And everywhere I go, I was in Belgium.
31:47 No, Germany. And after leaving Germany, they had suicide.
31:52 Everywhere I go, after leaving, bam, I said, "God, you know that you are really protecting me.
31:58 You are really protecting me." - You have to answer that, huh?
32:00 - Yes, yes. And we were supposed to go to another place there.
32:04 It was where they take in Calypso.
32:07 And that's the reason why they switched me now to go to Spain.
32:11 Because at the airport, they had a suicide. - Oh, wow.
32:14 - That killed a lot of people. - Wow.
32:16 - So I was going to take Calypso in that region, the first Calypso.
32:20 But God is still... God has placed me upon... put my feet upon solid ground.
32:26 He knows where not to take me when I'm supposed to be. - Exactly.
32:29 - Right now, 2017, we have South America, Central America, and more and more Tahiti.
32:36 We're going back to Morocco. - All are happening this year.
32:40 - Oh, gosh. Until... - But we take our vitamins, you know.
32:44 - Yes, man. Of course. - Make sure you take your vitamins and stay strong, yeah?
32:46 - D12 is one and D3000. - D3000.
32:50 - Yeah, yeah. - All right.
32:51 Make sure you take all your vitamins and have your stamina like Maru's.
32:55 - And eat good. Fresh, fresh, fresh.
32:58 And if doctor giving you them garbage medication, go to the bush and drink bush.
33:03 Boil the bush and drink it. It's better than the medication you're taking.
33:07 They gave me for my birth.
33:11 I had pneumonia.
33:13 After the award, I was sick.
33:15 They had to call the doctor at my hotel, and he gave me all the medication.
33:20 Put under your tongue, and it will dissolve.
33:24 Drink this before you eat. Do that before you think.
33:27 I say, "Uh-huh." I say, "I go home just now."
33:29 I haven't taken none yet.
33:32 - There's no pneumonia anywhere there. - I came home. I get my ginger, my garlic.
33:37 - And your nice herbal remedies. - How you mean? And my lemon and lime juice.
33:42 - It can't go wrong with natural. - How you going? And I get my celery.
33:47 You boil them together, and you drink.
33:50 - Maru, I feel you had a piano cooking show just now. - Yes, man.
33:53 - A nice herbal cooking show. - Of course.
33:54 All right, let me take a quick break. When you come back, leave me alone.
33:57 - You ready for it? - Oh, yes, man. - Yes, let me go.
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