Kaiso

Kaiso
Stylistic origins	Traditional music of the Kongo people West African music
Cultural origins	West Africa and Kingdom of Kongo
Derivative forms	Calypso soca brukdown palm-wine music mento
Fusion genres
Chutney chut-kai-pang rapso gospelypso cadence-lypso ska spouge reggae

Music of Trinidad and Tobago
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Calypso Cariso Chut-kai-pang Chutney Chutney Soca Extempo Groovy soca Kaiso Parang Parang soca Pichakaree Rapso Soca Steelpan Steelband soca
Media and performance
Music media	Music television Synergy TV Tempo TV
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem	Forged from the Love of Liberty
Regional music
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba and the Dutch Antilles Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda Bonaire Cayman Islands Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Guadeloupe Guyana Haiti Jamaica Louisiana Martinique Montserrat Panama Puerto Rico St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and Grenadines Suriname Turks and Caicos Virgin Islands

Music television

Kaiso is a type of music popular in Trinidad and Tobago, and other countries, especially of the Caribbean, such as Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia and Dominica, which originated in West Africa, and later evolved into calypso music.

Kaiso music has its origins in West Africa (particularly in present day Nigeria) and in the Kingdom of Kongo and was brought over by the slaves who (in the early history of the art form) used it to sing about their masters. The people would also gather in "kaiso" tents where a griot or lead singer would lead them in song. Many early kaisos were sung in French Creole by an individual called a chantwell. Kaiso songs are generally narrative in form and often have a cleverly concealed political subtext. Kaiso performers are known as kaisonians.

In Barbados, kaiso refers to a form of stage-presented calypso, such as at the crop over festival.

The term kaiso is said to derive from a Ibibio/Efik word used as an exclamation of approval, such as "Bravo!" The word is often used synonymously with calypso today, but often with the connotation that the former is more authentic, showing approval consistent with its original meaning.

The Ibibio people and the origins of limbo and calypso. The enslaved Ibibios and supposedly other slaves would gather, plant two poles on opposite ends, and place a bar across. They would take turns (individually) dancing and negotiating their bodies to go underneath the bar and exit on the opposite end without upsetting it, no matter how low the bar was. The accompanying chant used to egg on and lead the dancer to a successful exit went something like this: ‘kaiso, kaiso, kaiso—–.’ That means go forward, go ahead, more, etc. The dance was later named limbo. Ka means go. Iso means forward. Kaiso therefore, means go forward in the Ibibio language of Southeastern Nigeria. The Ibibios who were kidnapped from the Niger Delta, shipped across the vast Atlantic ocean, and subsequently enslaved in the caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago brought their music, language, and traditions with them. In slavery, their customs and traditions got interwoven into the larger slave culture of the area, but the word kaiso(go forward, go ahead or, more) survived. It later became the name of Trinidad and Tobago’s most popular music. Kaiso evolved into calypso and, that too, evolved into soca music. The very fact that the word kaiso was common and accepted enough to be used for naming a dance or song suggests that the Ibibio slave population of that area was strong and socially influential.

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