Black Stalin
| Black Stalin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Leroy Calliste |
| Born |
24 September 1941 San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Genres | Calypso |
| Years active | 1959–present |
Leroy Calliste (born 24 September 1941), better known as Black Stalin, is a leading calypsonian from Trinidad and Tobago known for his militant Rastafarian and black nationalist lyrics. He has won the Calypso Monarch competition on five occasions and the Calypso King of the World title in 1999.
Born and raised on Coffee Street in San Fernando to George and Elcina Calliste, he is one of four children. He attended San Fernando Boys' R.C. School. He worked as a limbo dancer before taking up singing calypso in 1959 when he made his debut at the Good Shepherd Hall in St. Madeleine, but did not join a calypso tent until 1962 when he joined the Southern Brigade. He was given the nickname Black Stalin by fellow calypsonian Blakie in the mid-1960s. In 1967 Black Stalin joined Kitchener's Calypso Revue tent and managed to place in that year's Calypso Monarch competition.
Stalin won the Calypso Monarch competition for the first time in 1979 (with "Caribbean Man" and "Play One") and went on to win it again in 1985, 1987, 1991 and 1995.
In 1979 he moved over to the Mighty Shadow's King of the Wizards Tent and recorded his first album, To the Caribbean Man. That year he walked away with his first Calypso Monarch crown for his two compositions, "Caribbean Unity" and "Play One".
In 1985 he won the crown again with "Ism Schism" and "Wait Dorothy", and again in 1987 with a tribute to steelband entitled "Mr. Panmaker" and "Bun 'Em", a song calling for St. Peter to cast the likes of Christopher Columbus, Cecil Rhodes, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan into Hell.
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