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Calypso Rose’s zest for life is as infectious as ever, and 2022 will mark the return of the icon to center stage. Today, the 82-year old Trinidad and Tobago-raised musician has announced her latest album, FOREVER, due August 26, 2022 via Because Music. Throughout the new album, Rose presents original material with a distinctly modern approach, and revisits some of her greatest classics, giving us an album that speaks to everyone and transcends all ages. On FOREVER, the Queen of Calypso is joined by old friends and new artists throughout the fourteen tracks including: world music legend Manu Chao, soca king Machel Montano, Jamaican dancehall icon Mr. Vegas, Toulouse-based rapper Oli, and electro duo Synapson. The album’s first single, “Watina” is out now and features Belize’s The Garifuna Collective along with stellar riffs from none other than guitar legend Carlos Santana who has previously noted, “Calypso Rose is a goddess of música del Caribe: a person who offers her heart & changes people’s lives & destiny.”
Listen to “Watina” here: https://calypso.lnk.to/watina
While the name Calypso Rose will be forever associated with her country Trinidad and Tobago, the love story that has bound her to Belize for almost forty years is part of her music, her career and her life. With “Watina,” she pays homage to the Garifuna, a Caribbean people scarred by slavery, excluded from memory, and part of whose population now lives not only in the United States, but also on the coasts of four Central American countries: Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and thus Belize. “Watina” is a song full of devastating history, and contrasted by cheerfulness and celebration. Ivan Duran, Rose’s Belize-born longtime producer was also the “sound architect” for the late Andy Palacio, who co-founded and led the Belize-based band The Garifuna Collective until his untimely death in 2008. “Watina” was originally a local hit for The Garifuna Collective and, according to Duran, Calypso Rose was the only person who could recapture the frenzy and the impact of this song while respecting Palacio’s legacy. By recording and reimagining the song with the same musicians, she reaffirms her Belizean ties and once again exploits the contrast between the festive spirit and the social dimension of the music.
Watch the gorgeous Belize-filmed video for “Watina” here: https://youtu.be/CCZI9Ai4vcE.
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