Calypso music
The first major stars of calypso started crossing over to new audiences worldwide in the late 1930s. Attila the Hun, Roaring Lion and Lord Invader were first, followed by Lord Kitchener, one of the longest-lasting calypso stars in history—he continued to release hit records until his death in 2000. 1944's "Rum and Coca-Cola" by the Andrews Sisters, a cover version of a Lord Invader song, became an American hit despite the song being a very critical commentary on the explosion of prostitution, inflation and other negative influences accompanying the American military bases in Trinidad at the time. Perhaps the most straightforward way to describe the focus of calypso is that it articulated itself as a form of protest against the authoritarian colonial culture which existed at the time.
Music of Trinidad and Tobago
Extempo, or extempo calypso, or calypso war, is a lyrically improvised (freestyled) form of calypso. An annual competition is held at the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival for the title of Extempo Monarch. The art form was first recorded in the 1940s in Trinidad. However, its roots reach back to the plantations where slaves used to mimic the slave-drivers.