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Feuds within the music business are nothing new but a vital part of it (not only since the war between the East- and West coast American hip-hoppers).
Indeed, competition runs like a red thread throughout the musical history of the Caribbean. In Trinidad, where Calypso rules, whoever verbally surpasses his fellow competitors will be considered the Calypso King. In public competitions, the ability to spontaneously add new verses to one's songs is both required and admired.
In these improvisational verses, the singer must not only extol his own virtues, but dis his competitors. Whether or not the musical rivals actually hold animosity towards each other is of no importance. The main goals are to show off the contestants' verbal dexterity and amuse the audience. (The verbal fights, before the action, which happen nowadays between Wrestling champions are not so dissimilar, and also Mohammed Ali and Joe Frasier in the '70s earned well by their word-fights).
In the sixties, Prince Buster and Derrick Morgan fought their verbal battles over several singles, which resulted in a sales increase of their records. In the seventies, a war broke out between I Roy and Prince Jazzbo, who took to belittling each other with absurd insults. And even in modern Jamaican Dancehall-Reggae, singers try to soil their competitors reputations.
With "Open Season" in 1995, Django from the Stubborn All-Stars brought the verbal tradition into the world of nineties Ska. As is typical in these verbal sparring matches, he declared to the world that he was the king of all deejays (in the sense of U Roy, Dennis Alcapone, etc.), and that he would not stop for any victim.
A few years later, Mr. Luxo (aka Alex Désert of Hepcat) answered with "Open Season...Is Closed", a disrespectful reply to Django's bragging. He closed the season asserting that Django was lucky, as it was the only way for him to "live another day". Désert prounced that Django's "lyrics mountain" was just a molehill, and piled on even more degrading insults. But this didn't leave Django speechless - he quickly shot back with "Hepcat Season", telling Désert, "you may be the desert, but I am the oasis."
At that point I decided to enter the ring with "No Reason For Season." In it, I simply say that it doesn't matter whether hunting season is open or not, because when you are in your own territory, you can shoot when, why and whoever you want. In my musical jab, Django's "lyrics truck" becomes a "wheelbarrow with a broken wheel", and Mr. Luxo's closing of the season is commented on with the request "to keep a little seasoning that could add a little spice to your tasteless reasoning."
So the fun goes on - the audiences enjoy themselves and the artists keep working on outsmarting their competitors with better puns and funnier and more insulting metaphors. (Of course in my opinion, the pathetic wailing of Django and Mr. Luxo are nothing more than hot air).
by Dr. Ring-Ding
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