Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 02/Feb 04:35

Terri Lyons releases mix of soca, calypso for Carnival

Former calypso monarch Terri Lyons is ready for Carnival 2025 and has already released three songs for the season, including a soca and her calypso monarch contender, Ask Yuh Man. Ask Yuh Man was released on January 29, but the song won her the Regional Queen of Queens Female Calypso competition for the third consecutive year in Montserrat on December 30. She is the first person to achieve such. She said the regional crown was an add-on to her legacy, even though not many people in Trinidad and Tobago knew about it and did not understand how big the title was. Lyons said she re-worked the song and added more lyrics to “make it more meaningful” for the National Calypso Monarch competition. The song advised women who found themselves cheated on, not to fight and argue with the other woman or embarrass themselves with their behaviour, whether in person, on social media or via telephone. “Now you vex with the woman, but you’re still speaking to the guy, knowing he’s been lying to you, or both of you. It ain’t rocket science. Both of allyuh is not the problem, yet no one is addressing the main problem, who is probably going to continue seeing both of y’all.” Instead, she encouraged them to “put back on their crown” because there were other ways to handle the situation. She said the man was the real problem, so they should interrogate him. As the Regional Queen of Queens, Lyons was the calypso monarch of the Caribbean, since she competed against female representatives from other Caribbean countries. While proud of her achievement, she said, like other calypsonians, titles did not do much for her career. She lamented that Trinidadians and Tobagonians tend to ignore those selected to represent the country in whichever field they were in, and only gave praise, support and accolades when that person won or someone abroad acknowledged them. “Especially in the calypso fraternity, people seem to not give respect were respect is due. There are a lot of calypsonians doing great things and are not being recognised on a bigger scale.” “I just find only a lot of talk goes into the culture but not physical and financial action. I would like corporate to be more interested, more involved. When last have you seen a calypsonian as a brand ambassador for a phone company or anything? “Since 1939, we only have five females to ever win the Calypso Monarch. Every time we win, the TT National Library calls you to do an interview because its historical. But, that’s about it. Nothing happens after that.” Lyons said even after years of performing, every year she felt as if she still had to audition to perform during the season, but she was determined to continue, even as people boxed her into the calypso genre while she also sang soca. Her 2025 soca, Forward, is a mix of soca, calypso and Afro beats. Produced by Private Ryan and written by Mela Caribe, it is a positive song encouraging people not to give up. She also released Vintage Vibe on the Future Past Riddim, which had “a splice of The Mighty Shadow melody,” which she believed the “older ones” would appreciate. “If it’s one thing I don’t do is sit back and complain. You have to put yourself out there. There are ears all over the world, not just in TT. We are not the only people who listen to music.” [caption id="attachment_1136533" align="alignnone" width="786"] Terri Lyons is working on producing her concert I Am Lion – The Rising.[/caption] Another challenge, she said, was being a woman in calypso. She said it was a fight because the field was dominated by males. “The men are heard easily but the women have to put in 30 times more in order to be heard. It’s a really a struggle for the women.” She added that her father, veteran soca and calypso artiste Austin "Super Blue" Lyons, always wanted to be a calypso monarch so when she won the crown in 2020, he was extremely happy for her. She said a win for her was a win for the Lyons’ legacy. “Being a Lyons in calypso and soca, there expectations are very high because of who my father is. At the same time, I am not Super Blue. Especially when I now came out, they judged me really hard, and I’ve been beating the road for years.” Plans upon plans Lyons said she had not yet decided on a calypso tent, but she will be in one. But it was sad tents were not making much money, and neither were the calypsonians. In the meantime, she is working on producing her concert I Am Lion – The Rising, and is looking for sponsorship. She said it will not just be vocal performances but intended it to be a theatre production with calypso and soca. Her last concert was in November 2022 and she intends to hold hers later in the year, after all the Trinidad-style carnivals were over and the performers were back in the country. Lyons is also working on a line of clothing for boys called My King’s Wear. The idea came about when she had difficulties getting good formal clothing for her 11-year-old son. She intended to have suits, dress shoes, African wear and more available to her clients. She is also hoping to start a line for women in the next few years. The line will mostly carry accessories to help women style their outfits, but will also have sporty and casual fashions with Caribbean and African styles and patterns. She said the idea was that people did not have to break their bank accounts to look good, something she learned from her mother. She explained her mother, Dionne Phillips, used to be a background vocalist at calypso tents and events. The background singers would buy cloth to make matching dresses and Phillips loved long flowing skirts. After the Carnival season though, she would dismantle her dress and create outfits for her daughters, Lyons and entertainer Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez, or tops and skirts for herself, and they would “empress for less.” She said another lesson learned from her mother was to always walk tall and to be appreciative of whatever they had. “It’s embedded in me more now that I have a son. I always teach him, all you have is all you need. But also to not get too comfortable. Always strive for more, not in a greedy way, but always strive to be better.” Encouraging youths to improve themselves was one of the reasons the Couva resident visited schools, free of charge, to talk to and give advice to the students. She said she saw a “culturally lost generation” because other than some schools having the steel pan, culture was not a consistent part of the curriculum. Also, very few knew their cultural icons, and often called the names of Jamaican artists when asked. She added that many youths showed interest in going into calypso arena but they had no guidance. She said both situations needed to be addressed.   The post Terri Lyons releases mix of soca, calypso for Carnival appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.