Canboulay riots
The chantwell became a calypsonian in the 1920s and calypso became widely popular throughout Trinidad and the Caribbean in the 1930s. Harry Belafonte, a Jamaican-born artist, became hugely successful throughout the world with his 1956 "Calypso" becoming a million seller. During the 1960s, calypso was merged with Indian music and later soul and funk to become soca.
Music of Trinidad and Tobago
Calypso music grew together with Carnival. The music drew upon the West African Kaiso and French/European influences, and arose as a means of communication among the enslaved Africans. "Kaiso" is still used today as a synonym for "calypso" in Trindad and some other islands, often by traditionalists, and is also used as a cry of encouragement for a performer, similar to "bravo" or "olé". Highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals characterized the music, which was most often sung in a French Creole and led by a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot (originally a similar traveling musician in West Africa) became known as a "chantuelle", and eventually, "calypsonian". Calypso was popularized after the abolition of slavery and the ensuing growth of the Carnival festivals in the 1830s.