‘WATINA’

‘WATINAIn her latest single, “Watina”, featuring renowned Belizean guitarist Carlos Santana and the Belizean band, The Garfiuna Collective, The Calypso Queen of the World, Calypso Rose, “pays tribute to the Garifuna people and shows her love for Belize,” according to Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.

The publication said on Friday that the single was released the day before.

“In a media release Santana said Calypso Rose was a goddess of Caribbean music, a person who offers her heart and changes people’s lives and destinies,” Newsday said.

“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 US, but also on the coasts of four Central American countries: Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Belize,” the statement said.

Newsday said the song is “full of devastating history contrasted by cheerfulness and celebration,” adding that Watina was “a hit for the Belizean band.”

“Ivan Duran, Rose’s Belizean-born, long-time producer was also the sound architect for the late Andy Palacio, who co-founded and led the Belizean-based band The Garifuna Collective until his untimely death in 2008,” Newsday quoted the statement as saying.

It said Palacio was a Belizean Punta musician and an activist for the Garifuna people.

Newsday said “Watina” was the name of Palacio’s final album and a single on it.

“In the release Duran said Calypso Rose was the only person who could recapture the frenzy and the impact of the song while respecting Palacio’s legacy,” Newsday said.

It said Machel Montano, world music legend Manu Chao, Jamaican dancehall icon Mr Vegas, Toulouse-based rapper Oli, and electro duo Synapson also join Rose on the 14-track album, which will be released on Aug. 26.

Newsday said Calypso Rose’s career has been “booming internationally since her 2015 release of ‘Far From Home’, featuring multiple collaborations with Manu Chao.”

It said Rose has since performed at about 200 concerts in four years, including Les Vieilles Charrues, We Love Green, World of Music, Arts and Dance festivals and Olympia Hall in Paris, France.

She also performed at the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2019, “becoming the oldest artiste to do so,” Newsday said.

“With her music, Calypso Rose carries an optimism that shines through her music: a delicate balance between tradition, modernity and universality,” said the statement from The Garifuna Collective.

“The Calypso Queen combines all of that and her universal messages and views on societies with the world on her new album,” it added. “She also brings up as many hedonistic subjects like partying or the energy of youth as she does the battles waged throughout her career: feminism, equality between peoples and individuals, her unwavering hope for a better tomorrow.”