THE REAL GYPSY ISSUE

THE relevant Gypsy issue is not whether he should participate in the calypso monarch contest.

That should be obvious to everyone, including those feeding at the NCC trough and sermonising on social media.

No one should be a contestant in a competition funded by an organisation he chairs.

Justice must not only be done but appear to be done.

But the pertinent issue is how this one-time fearless campaigner for social change has gone the way of all flesh, singing claptrap he would have frowned upon in his years of advocacy.

Gypsy is an important national commentator with a singular place in our cultural history.

No matter what side of the political aisle with which you align, you would have appreciated his courage and conscience in challenging the issues of the day.

His blockbuster Sinking Ship at a time of dramatic political change in 1986 is an enduring reminder of our weak national governance.

He recorded his anguish over driftless urban youths long before they degenerated into gang warfare.

In moving from outlier to establishment man, Gypsy lost his moral voice, leaving national issues unattended.

As a mouthpiece of the downtrodden, he may have sung about commercial banks making $2 billion annual profits while the small man is struggling to save his business or pay charges.

Gypsy’s administration of the Carnival industry has failed to inspire innovation in the fast-dying calypso art.

Calypso is at such an ebb that Machel Montano is heralded for invoking its history, a topic discussed way back in Duke’s 1971 monarch-winning What is Calypso.

In contrast, a generation after his untimely death, Bob Marley’s unique place in pop culture is being celebrated in a highly-anticipated biopic to be shown in cinemas within the next few days.

Marley will be eternally remembered as a musical revolutionary championing peace and unity.

His songs are ageless.

Tracy Chapman’s awe-inspiring Grammy performance – with Luke Combs – of her epic Fast Car shows the lasting appeal of a song of empowerment and willpower.

In T&T, Gypsy is in the calypso monarch final with a heap of tripe.