Chutney Music - History

History

This contemporary fusion of genres was created by Indo-Caribbean people whose ancestors were from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and the South Indian area around Madras. They were taken as indentured servants by the British to replace laborers on sugar plantations after emancipation. Chutney music was established in the 1940s within temples, wedding houses, and cane fields of the Indo-Caribbean. There were no recordings until 1958, when Ramdew Chaitoe of Suriname, a small country in South America, recorded an early rendition of chutney music. The album was entitled King of Suriname and all of the songs were religious in nature. However, Chaitoe soon became a household name with East Indians not just in Suriname but throughout the Caribbean. Although the songs were religious, they had a dance vibe throughout each track. For the first time Indo-Caribbeans had music that spoke to them and was not Indian, or European/American in style. This was a breakthrough for East Indian Caribbean music but the fame was short lived.

Chutney music exploded again in 1968 with the female singer Dropati, who released an album entitled Let's Sing & Dance, made up of traditional wedding songs. These songs became huge hits within the East Indian Caribbean community. The album gained recognition for chutney music as a legitimate form and united East Indians, regardless of their birthplace.

1970 was the biggest turning point for chutney music because of Sundar Popo. He modernized the music by including western guitars and early electronics into his music. Popo became known as the "King of Chutney." Other artists, such as Nisha Benjamin, followed in his footsteps by adding new modern instrumentation into their music.

The 1980s saw more evolution within the genre. Chutney artists began to fuse calypso, soca and American rhythm & blues, naming their music Indian soca. A young female artist named Drupatee Ramgoonai from Trinidad emerged on this new scene. At first she was criticized for being "dutty" (rude or crude in creole), because she wrote about sex and alcohol. This was nothing new, as she was following in the footsteps of other calypsonians who they sing about issues in their life or what is happening within the community. Drupatee was later given the title "Queen of Chutney." By the end of the 1980s chutney music went global and was introduced in Indian films. Even in Holland, a new artist named Atiya emerged on the chutney scene.

Starting in the 1990s, chutney music's popularity started to outgrow the Caribbean islands. The United States and Canada began to pick up chutney artists for their recording companies. These included the hugely successful Jamaican Me Crazy (JMC) Records, Spice Island Records, Mohabir Records and JTS Productions. The establishment of nightclubs such as Soca Paradise and Calypso City in New York and Connections and Calypso Hut in Toronto, coupled with these new recording companies were all factors instrumental in promoting Indo-Caribbean music overseas and in the West Indies for they provided the necessary outlets for the music to grow.

The modern chutney artist writes lyrics in either Hindi, Bhojpuri or English and then lays them over beats derived from Indian dholak beats mixed with the soca beat.

Chutney is an uptempo song, accompanied by electric guitar, synthesizer, dholak, harmonium, and dhantal, tassa drums played in rhythms imported from filmi, calypso or soca. Early chutney was religious in nature sung by mainly women in Trinidad & Tobago. Chutney is unusual in the predominance of female musicians in its early years, although it has since become more gender-mixed.

Chutney artists include Rikki Jai, Rakesh Yankaran, Devanand Gattoo, Nisha Benjamin, Heeralal Rampartap and the late Ramdew Chaitoe, who composed the Surinamese-based "Baithak Gana" in his album The Star Melodies of Ramdew Chaitoe. Among the best known examples of chutney music are Sundar Popo's "Pholourie Bein Chutney" or Sundar Popo's first recorded song "Nani And Nana", Sonny Mann's "Lotalal", Vedesh Sookoo's "Dhal Belly Indian", Anand Yankaran's "Jo Jo", Neeshan "D Hitman" Prabhoo's "Mr. Shankar", Ravi B's "Rum Is Meh Lova" and Rikki Jai's "Mor Tor".

The nature of current chutney songs are simple. They speak about life and love for many things, whether for a significant other or for an object of possession. Some chutney songs favor the topic of food or drink; however, like most West Indian music, there can be a hidden message found in the song if you read between the lines.