BARBUDA'S FIRST CARIBANA - Antigua & Barbuda

When Rupert “Baba” Blaize was
in his teens, he spent most of his
time listening to music, strumming
his guitar and singing some of the
most popular American songs that
made the pop charts. But when Lord
Canary and Zemaki arrived on the
music scene in 1957-58, Baba was
so infatuated by the lyrics, melodies
and rhythms of their calypsos, that
he found himself gravitating towards
that musical genre, wishing that by
so doing, he could inherit a little bit
of the attention and adoration the
calypsonians were receiving from the
general public.
Unfortunately, he had to stifle his
desire to become “Lord Baba” or
“Mighty Baba” because back then,
Calypso
profile
many parents felt it was
socially unacceptable for
their children to be involved in
steelpan playing or calypso singing.
To satisfy his “singer-man” thirst,
Baba indulged in a steady diet of Nat
King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Johnny
Matthis and Bing Crosby’s music.
However, as soon as he realized
his independence, he began
experimenting with calypso. Harry
Belafonte’s version of “Day O”
and Lord Melody’s “Mama Look A
Boo Boo Deh” were down tempo
enough to fit his beginner’s profile.
Eventually, his stints with bands like
“The Entertainers” and the “Gem
Tones” at various hotels prepared
him for the plunge into the calypso
arena.
Yet it was many years later, after
enviously watching King Short Shirt,
King Swallow and others battle for
the Calypso Monarch title that Baba
felt comfortable singing calypso and
Ceceile H. Porter
Ambassador Rupert Baba Blaize
felt confident enough to enter the
calypso arena. He never had a
calypso name. He competed and
performed under his own name. In
1984, he attained some measure
of success when he was adjudged
first runner-up in the Calypso
Monarch competition. That year,
King Progress walked away with the
crown for his renditions, “Madness”
and “You Getting It.” Thirteen
years later, (1997) Baba without a
calypso moniker, decided to enter
the Calypso competition once
again. His two songs, “Yard Fowl”
and “Antigua,” which were favorites
among calypso lovers, netted him
the first runner-up spot again, with
King Onyan as the winner.
Convinced that singing a calypso
does not make one a calypsonian,
Baba says, “I view calypso as the
corner stone of our indigenous
culture, and calypsonians as the
guardians of our fragile, progressing
democracy.”
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