Kidnapping calypso stirs Trinidad controversy

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: A Trinidadian calypso song that proposes kidnapping corrupt politicians and drug-dealing businessmen and using the ransom money to fill the state coffers has struck a raw nerve in a country where abductions are a real crime problem.

According to a report by Reuters, in the latest controversy over hard-hitting lyrics in Trinidad and Tobago critics are outraged by "Face Reality." Some say it should be banned.

In the song, calypso performer Weston Rawlins, who sings under the stage name Cro Cro, admonishes sharp-dressing "thieves" to make amends and urges bandits to kidnap those who don't.

"Dey dress with jacket and tie, dey thief and living a lie, dey better pay back all the wrong things they do, or the bandits coming for you," the song goes.

Rawlins, who says he does not see what the fuss is all about, has been getting applause from the audience attending the Calypso Revue, one of the venues where calypso performers unveil new compositions in the run-up to the two days of Carnival that start on February 23.

Rawlins challenges the police to arrest him if he has committed any crime. "I'm going to sing my song every night until the police lock me up," he said.

"...Whoever is against it is harbouring corruption," said Rawlins, who has run into controversy over the lyrics of his compositions in the past.

Critics of "Face Reality" believe that with an increase in cases of kidnapping for ransom in the country, Rawlins should not be promoting the abduction of anyone.

There were 51 kidnappings for ransom last year compared to 29 in the previous year, according to police statistics in the twin-island Caribbean nation of 1.3 million people.

An editorial in the Newsday newspaper last month said that while calypso performers have always been permitted a certain latitude with their songs, society cannot permit anyone to make fun of murder and kidnapping.

"Kidnapping is a very serious crime that has brought death, grief and financial ruin to many families. Under no circumstances can we call for more of it. Not even as a joke," the paper said.

But attorney Anthony Cherry, who has represented entertainers in the past, does not believe Rawlins has committed an offence by singing the controversial lyrics.

"The only way it could be an arrestable offence is if he commits a crime against the state like inciting a coup or a riot. I don't see him inciting anything unless it can be concluded that he is inciting some kind of public offence," said Cherry.

Senior citizen Lenard Elcock agrees. "He is educating the people about the reality of things. Leave the boy alone and let him sing." 

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