The power of the word in the rhythm of the word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is Rapso music and Brother Resistance was its chief proponent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born in 1954 in East Dry River, Port-of-Spain, Resistance saw Rapso as a vehicle to uplift and give voice to those who couldn\u2019t be heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRapso would be the music that we use to re-educate the nation, re-educate the communities as a whole, to re-educate the world to live a better life. We talking about a music that would essentially break down the walls, build bridges across humanity, a music that would lead the way to stamp out oppression across life,\u201d he said in an interview with Rituals Music in the 90s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though Lancelot Layne is widely regarded as the originator of the genre, it was Resistance, who changed his name from Roy Lewis to Lutalo Masimba, and his band, the Network Riddum Band, that coined the name Rapso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Resistance and Everard Romany, who went under the sobriquet Brother Shortman, founded the band which comprised a collection of musicians from the Laventille and East Dry River communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a teen during the Black Power Revolution of the late 60s to 1970, which mirrored the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, Resistance was one of the young black men whose African consciousness was fuelled by the movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was proud of his African roots, growing up in a community once settled by freed Yoruba slaves, where elements of African culture such as drumming endured and oppressive laws against such music forced the invention of the steelpan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karega Mandela, who joined the Network Riddum Band in 1975, said the Black Power period had a major impact on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c1970 was a significant space in the country, it had a lot of influence on the younger ones. We wanted the music to be conscious, to be something dynamic and to give people the full realisation that they are beautiful,\u201d Mandela said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lancelot Layne\u2019s groundbreaking song \u201cBlow Away\u201d in 1970 reinforced the idea that it was okay to be themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the song, Layne rapped: \u201cDoh believe what foreigners do is better than you, because that ain\u2019t true, and is a mental block you have to unlock, yuh hard like a rock. You will live an illusion trying to be another man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mandela, who moved from Blanchisseuse to Tunapuna met Resistance when he linked up with a DJ group in Tunapuna. Resistance, he said, was a DJ in Queen\u2019s Royal College and actually won an island-wide DJ school competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was always into music and was always in the record stores trying to find out what\u2019s happening,\u201d Mandela recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1981, Network Riddum Band recorded and released its debut album, a 45 inch record titled Busting Out on which the word Rapso was used for the first time. The album contained two tracks \u201cSquatter\u2019s Chant\u201d, penned and sang by Shortman and \u201cDancing Shoes\u201d by Brother Resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe band was based in East Dry River and he had an obsession with promoting the area, he didn\u2019t believe everything was bad. He called it EDR,\u201d said Mandela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the band practiced in an empty lot that they cleaned up but someone called the City Corporation and claimed they were trespassing. Police showed up and threw all their equipment away. A Wikipedia post said the police action was taken because the band\u2019s music was considered subversive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Undeterred, the band continued to practice on the street until someone offered them a garage to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Busting Out and subsequent songs such as \u201cRing de Bell\u201d (1987) in which he unabashedly showcased his African roots, put Network Riddum Band on the map, particularly with foreign promoters and the band toured extensively through the USA, Europe and even parts of Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mandela said at home, however, the music was considered Carnival music and didn\u2019t get the same recognition as it did abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n