Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases a sound file and lyrics to Drupatee Ramgoonai's 1988 Chutney Soca hit "Roll Up De Tassa". This post also showcases a 1989 remix of this song by Drupatee and Alison Hinds. In addition, this post provides information about Soca Chutney (also known as "Chutney Soca"), and
includes explanations of certain words and phrases in "Roll Up De Tassa".
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
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INFORMATION ABOUT CHUTNEY SOCA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chutney_Soca
"In Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana & Suriname Chutney-Soca music is a crossover style of music incorporating Soca elements and Hindi-English lyrics, Chutney music, with Indian instruments like the dholak and dhantal.
The term chutney soca was first coined by Drupatee Ramgoonai of Trinidad & Tobago in 1987 in her first album entitled Chutney Soca, with both English & Hindi versions of the songs. The current style of spelling of the term was not established then & she spelt it as " Chatnee Soca". The following year her mega hit "Roll up de Tassa" was instrumental in creating a commercial market for this type of music internationally. Drupatee has spoken about the blending of Afro & Indo melodies & rhythms in songs like Chatnee Soca & Hotter than ah Chulha". Chutney is a melody & soca is a beat. Drupatee used an ancient Indian melody called a lawnee with the soca beat in her rendition of "O Tassawalley" & has released a legacy of Chutney Soca music.
Chutney soca is a prime example of how Indo-Trinidadians have established roots in Trinidad also Antigua and have created an original, syncretic art form.[1] Resulting from the intervention of Indo-Trinidadians into Soca music in the 1980s,[2] the addition of chutney soca to the island's musical life signified a consolidation of the East Indian influence on Trinidadian culture and politics, particularly during the 1990s."
-snip-
Also click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soca_music for information about the history of Soca music, and click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chutney_music for information about the history of Chutney music, including this section on Chutney sub-genres:
"The origin of chutney being in the Caribbean has meant that it's been in close contact with different peoples, traditions, and other musical styles since its inception. According to the government of Trinidad and Tobago, roughly 35% of the country's population is of Indian descent, another 34% of African descent, and the remaining 31% composed of a mix of European, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and other ancestry. This has allowed chutney to fuse with other genres and/or implement new instruments into its own style, creating an array of syncretic subgenres including ragga chutney, chutney-bhangra, chutney hip-hop, soca-bhangra, and chutney soca.
Chutney soca is the most notable of these, as it has become virtually indistinguishable from what is considered normal chutney in recent years"...
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Roll up de tassa - Drupatee Ramgoonai
sirgen001, Uploaded on Jun 29, 2010
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Example #2: Roll Up D Tassa BY Drupatee & Alison Hinds [Remix]
llXFinalFantasYXll, Uploaded on Nov 16, 2008
Roll Up D Tassa...New Remake by
Drupatee & Alison Hinds
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LYRICS:
Roll Up The Tassa (1988) Lyrics
(Drupatee Ramgoonai)
This is jam
This is ah soca tassa jam
Man play the ting na
Come on aaha
That is it yea
Aranguez savannah
Red hot with fever
Indian bazaar, and
Dey jammin de soca
Jammin de soca
Old man Bissessar
Take off he kapra
Pull out de tassa
and start jammin de soca
Jammin de soca
Aha
When de music soundin sweet
And de crowd get in ah heat
If yuh hear how people bawl
Bissessar don't stop at all
Roll up de tassa
Roll up de tassa Bissessar
Oh Beta, roll up de tassa,
Roll up de tassa, Bissessar
Rip up de tassa, Bissessar
Ruff up de tassa, Bissessar
Oh Beta
Ah boy things warmin up
Come on
Come on Bissessar
People from a far
Penal and Couva
Come together
And dey jammin de soca
Jammin de soca
A section from Debe
Join and start to play
Indian lavwey
And dey jammin de soca
Jammin de soca
Ay ya yey
When de old man getting hot
And the tassa start to cut
See Rafi from Valley lime
And dulahin start to wine
Roll up de tassa
Roll up de tassa Bissessar
Oh Beta, roll up de tassa
Roll up de tassa, Bissessar
Rip up de tassa, Bissessar
Ruff up de tassa, Bissessar
Oh Beta
Ah Bissessar boy
Look how yuh have dem sweatin
Is first time deey gettin dis kinda soca tassa
Yes roll it up man
Look at Radica, look at Rafi
Man everybody sweatin
Wey buss it up
Buss it up!
Not even Phagwa
Hoosay and laawa
Cudda better
Jammin the soca
Jamming the soca
Ali and Mustafa
Ramesh and Sookdath
Hold on Radhica
And dey jammin de soca
Jammin de soca
When Sita and Parbati
Start a song now in Hindi
But meh nani get on baad
She get the old man stick all hard
Roll up de tassa
Roll up de tassa Bissessar
Oh Beta, roll up de tassa,
Roll up de tassa, Bissessar
Rip up de tassa, Bissessar
Ruff up de tassa, Bissessar
Oh Beta
Look at my nani
She real get on bad yuh no man
It was past de night
Everybody tight
Til no end in sight
But dey jammin de soca
Jammin de soca
Pandemonium rage
Some climb on de stage
De young and de aged
And dey jammin de soca, jammin de soca
Yes man, they doin de ting
Man de action out of hand
With dem rival tassa band
I could tell you without fear
I can't miss this fete next year
Roll up de tassa
Roll up de tassa Bissessar
Oh Beta, roll up de tassa,
Roll up de tassa, Bissessar
Rip up de tassa, Bissessar
Ruff up de tassa, Bissessar
Oh Beta
Ah ha ruff it up ruff it up ruff it up
Yes yes
Roll up de tassa, Bissessar
Come on, come on
Rip up de tassa, Bissessar
My god look at Robin!
Look at dulahin
Yes man shake de waist
Roll up de tassa
Roll up de tassa Bissessar
Oh Beta, roll up de tassa,
Roll up de tassa, Bissessar
Rip up de tassa, Bissessar
Ruff up de tassa, Bissessar
Oh Beta
Whey
Heat in this place man
Heat in this place
Source: http://islandlyrics.com/lyrics-drupatee_ramgoonai-roll_up_the_tassa_1988.htm
Comment: Lyrics to Roll Up De Tassa (Chutney Lyrics 1989)
The song that possibly made Drupatee a well known name and icon in Trinidad and Tobago and throughout. This hit back in 1988 was also a Soca Road March contender as it was a soca chutney tune."
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EXPLANATIONS FOR CERTAIN WORDS & PHRASES IN THIS SONG
Aranguez is a suburb of San Juan is a town in Trinidad and Tobago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan,_Trinidad_and_Tobago
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Bissessar is a Hindu personal name and family name. Other names mentioned in this song are Rafi, Ali, Mustafa, Ramesh, Sookdath, Radhica, and Beta.
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dulahin. – An [East] Indian bride. http://wiwords.com/word/dulahin
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jam = song ; jamming – enjoying yourself singing, dancing, playing music
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kapra - same as kata? a roll of cloth or vegetation placed on top of the head to cushion the skull from the weight of a head load ; http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/worldlit/caribbean/dictionary.htm#k
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Nani – children's nurse [nanny] or grandmother (nana)?
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she really get on bad - she's dancing very well
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Tassa
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tassa
"Tassa is a form of kettle drum, presumably of Persian derivation. Tassa drums are widespread all over India. Typically, one or more tassa drums are played together with a heavy bass drum called dhol, perhaps along with brass cymbals or a metal shaker. Tassa-dhol ensembles of three to five players are especially common in street processions, whether associated with weddings, political rallies, or Muslim Muharram commemorations. In Maharashtra, ensembles of several dozen drummers compete in festivities honoring the deity Ganesh. Drummers in these ensembles are often amateurs, or specialists in other drum traditions. Brought by indentured workers to the Caribbean in the 19th century, tassa ensembles have flourished with great dynamism in Trinidad, where they were used in the Muslim Hosay festival, and also in Florida, Guyana, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Canada and various other places where Indo-Caribbean communities are found."
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Thanks to Drupatee Ramgoonai for composing and performing this song. Thanks also to Drupatee and Alison Hinds for their remix of this song. Thanks to the transcriber of this song and thanks to all others who are quoted in this post. Hat tip to pancocojams commenter slam2011 for emailing me an inquiry about Chutney Soca music.
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