PNM women slam ‘Rowley mother’ song

PNM women slam ‘Rowley mother’ song

By Seeta Persad
December 23, 2017 – newsday.co.tt

Massive Gosine (Nirmal Gosine)Chutney Singer Nirmal “Massive” Gosine’s latest song Rowley Mother Count has triggered a heated online debate on what should pass for composition at the national level.

Yesterday, Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis joined the chorus of opposition to the play of words, describing it as distasteful and loathsome.

“No matter what someone may feel about Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, at least the office he holds should be respected,” Robinson-Regis said.

She also condemned the role of popular music arranger, Leston Paul, for producing the song for Gosine.

“The song is disgusting, repugnant and loathsome,” Robinson-Regis added.
Full Article : newsday.co.tt

25 thoughts on “PNM women slam ‘Rowley mother’ song”

  1. MASSIVE GOSINE RESPONDS

    I find the objection by the PNM women’s league to my calypso “Rowley Mudda Count” to be amusing and hypocritical.

    It is an interesting paradox that the PNM would be calling for a Boycott of a song it deems to be “a massive fail”. I thank them for helping me to publicize my song as I have in fact received several more bookings for performances and thousands more hits on you-tube as a result of their intervention.

    Double entendre is a well-established tool in the calypso art form that has never troubled the PNM before. Robinson Regis did not object to “Oma Account Big” – Rootsman, “Paul yuh mudda come”- Crazy and “Yuh mudda can’t” – Sprangalang.

    That the PNM Women’s League league has suddenly find it’s voice and concern for women after remaining silent about Dr. Rowley’s humiliating and degrading comments about women speaks volumes about the sincerity of their objection. Where was their concern for “the boundaries of good taste” and “obscene word play” when Dr. Rowley openly:

    • Told women to choose their men wisely
    • Compared women to a Golf Course that needs grooming
    • Referring to a 65-year-old woman by using the term Jammetery
    • Telling a woman, she could bark at meh dog, because I goh ignore she cyat.

    It is good that Robinson Regis recognizes that “there are significant divisions across the country”. It is sad that she did not see it fit to issue a similar call for calypsonians to desist from singing songs that would deepened those divisions when Cro-Cro and Sugar Aloes sang openly racist calypsos against the Indo Trinbagonian community. It is strange that she did not object to lyrics that dubbed “Oma Panday a kitchen mechanic”, certain UNC supporters “lick bottom Africans” or the violent open challenge to Indians to “Come in Tong and yuh go see”.

    The PNM does not own Calypso. For far too long it has been used in support of the PNM to the exclusion of other groups. There is a noticeable reluctance by calypsonians to criticize Rowley and the PNM and this exposes the inherent political bias in an art form that is suppose to be a part of our national culture.

    Calypso is funded by tax payers of all races and political persuasions. The biting, hard hitting and unforgettable lyrics when Panday and Kamla was in power seem to have disappeared when the shoe is on the other foot. We must be able to call a spade a spade as the naked and raw reality is there for all to see.

    Calypso tents are closing down as many Indians have stopped patronizing because of the racial and political abuse and insults. My song is no different to the popular 80’s hits “Hey Pocky A-Way” by The Meters and “Paul yuh mudda come”:

    As for my use of props promoting stereotypes, perhaps Ms. Robinson Regis’s political amnesia can be easily addressed if she cares to take a look at the type of obscene and vulgar props that have been used by other Calypsonians over the years to denigrate, humiliate and insult the Indian community to the glee and delight of many. I therefore make no apologies double entendre and local jargon to express the public frustration with the government and what they would really like to say to PM Rowley. What sweet in PNM goat mouth now sour in de bam bam!

    1. This response confirms that the intent of the lyrics IS NOT cultural musical entendre as the singer supposes. Its INTENT IS POLITICAL (just as his response supposes).
      Those are his reasons for the song and nothing he subsequently can erase ‘HIS INMTENT’.

  2. Sita Ram, Buh Massive is a PNM too, Is it because Nirmal “Massive” Gosine ethnicity is INDIAN and he is a Hindu Brahmin that the Peon Dem PNM Women League lacks the decorum to pull the PM of PNM Mr. Kieth Rowdy up when he wine up like pedophile on the child Ravina in a Carnival fete?

    Where is your Christian morals that you try to convince Hindu and Muslims and Baptists and Atheists Trinbagoindians that you have?

    PNM Womens league and the Black Backside Brigade of Bible Thumpers try applying some of that Christian morals you boast of in real life instead of targeting a Top Brahmin like Nirmal “Massive” Gosine who we all know is a PNM Stallwart.

  3. Good points. Maybe the PNM women can’t take the jammin! Ras Shorty is the power broker in calypso. Ah got to stop, too much black cake and poncha crème.

  4. When the MIND is “DUTTY”, we will see a hurricane in a teacup, now, what is wrong with this CALYPSO?, wasn’t calypso meant to carry a different ENTENDER? this is a clear case of mis-education on the PNM’ women part. I’m waiting to hear a statement on CRIME, from the PNM” women arm, why not a concentrated voice on the present political path of the country? we have much more important misgiving points presently, than putting emphasis on Gosine’ music. Calypso’ like “FOR CANE, TWO KNEE HORTIN SHE and many many more, brings with it whatever meanings one wants to add. In the early days of Calypso, women was ridiculed in song, today, the woman has been termed into a BUMPER, what ever that is.

    1. Cooper, this is NOT a defense of culture! This chutney/calypso is just plain racist garbage, wrapped in the “culture” war. Yes, there is a culture war and if you open your eyes, you would see this piece of garbage for what it is. Rowley Mudda C-unt??????????? Think Man!!!!!

  5. “Rowley Mudda Count”…….????????

    Double entendre..?????? What is double about that? Is that a GOPIO project??????

    Listen, Trinidadians enjoy a good calypso with subtlety but Rowley Mudda C-unt???
    What is subtle about that?

  6. *Calypso is funded by tax payers of all races and political persuasions. The biting, hard hitting and unforgettable lyrics when Panday and Kamla was in power seem to have disappeared when the shoe is on the other foot. We must be able to call a spade a spade as the naked and raw reality is there for all to see.*

    So wait nah… Didn’t Mr. Pamday BAN Iwer George’s ‘Bottom in de Road’ song?
    So why is Sharon and the Kool-Aid crew ‘bitching’ on Iwer Station? Telling me,”We Africans must not allow this?!” (Ent we doltish?)
    It shows the WEAKNESS of the PNM’s PM… BAN the DARN song like how Panday banned Iwer’s song.
    Stuppes.. Put up or shut up!

    BTW, I want to wish the Protective services a Merry Christmas too… just like our dear PM..
    There live at least 2-3 Police, Fireman/Woman, Army on every street of Maloney Gardens.. How can they function without water (in their pipes) for 3 weeks?

    stuppes..

    http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2017-12-23/pm’s-christmas-message-time-thank-protective-services

  7. Indian politicians and Indian people in T&T have been the subjects of numerous calypsos over the years. Indians have been ridiculed, slandered, minimized, and mocked by so many calypsonians that at one time a boycott was organized against the tents in POS. Everyone laughed, enjoyed and emphasized the humour and double entendre which these “songs” presented.
    Now that the shoe is on the other foot, there is a loud hue and cry by people like Robinson Regis, expressing their dissatisfaction. Get over it!. It is calypso. It is carnival! Let’s go For Cane.

    1. TMan, if you are saying that Massive as an artiste, have the right to protect his right to free speech; tittle our imagination with his renditions; be politically astute in his compositions; be historical in his compositions; render unto us reality in song; be politically active; have the ability to mix humor, reality, politics, race etc etc etc into his compositions, I AM IN TOTAL AGREEMENT YOU! NO one is denying Massive’s right to perform in any way he can.

      License is given to an artiste to earn a living, by presenting his products to the public for acceptance or rejection. It is his/her way of earning a living just like any other business person. We (the customers) also have that same right to give any rendition of the products a THUMBS UP OR THUMBS DOWN. When a song is pleasing to ear, taste, quality, passion and rendition it makes for being called a HIT. IN Massive’s case some see it as a hit and most see it as something done in bad taste. In my case, I see Rowlee Mudda as being done in extremely poor taste and lack of artistic command of the reality that the content of his song has on the population. In terms of lyrics and content I see this song as:
      1. A total disrespect for the Prime Minister
      2. Fixated on the PM mother’s private parts.
      3. Does not give us a story on the Pos mother not
      does he tell us what he knows about her ‘private
      parts.
      4. It is synonymous with with one of our national
      cuss words, which what the song is really about
      5. His response to criticisms about the song is
      all political in nature
      6. The rendition is demeaning – the PMs mother, tall,
      black, big backside, big breasts, trying to wuk
      garden, – an affront to black women especially
      7. The song lacks tact, a special ingredient in story
      telling
      8. It is racist in content and lost the meaning of
      ‘double entendre’

      I expect to hear in response that calypsonions as Cro-Cro and Sugar Aloes do it, so why can’t Massive? And to that I say – taste, passion and quality is what those before Massive presented. Calypsonians are a needed commodity in our culture. The are the only ones who says what is on our minds and put it in song and melody. We sing their songs in our lonely moments, we praise them when they hit our at our enemies, we lament the thoughts they express when we are compromised and we sing their melodies when we think of the quality of life they sing about in their songs.

      So NO!, I do not want the calypsonian to be edited, censored or banned from selling their products, after all it is a market place as anywhere else in business. But they must be mindful that not just because they have a license, they can say whatever they want or do whatever they want; they have an obligation to those who buy their products. Those products will either catapult them into stardom or make them an objectionable quality to the art they profess to represent. Massive is a massive failure in this rendition of his product and I’m sure most right thinking people will agree and give him a THUMBS DOWN.

  8. This song is in poor taste and could have made the same points without disrespecting the Prime Minister’s mother. In his defence Massive says that other calypsonians have been disrespectful in the past. Not a good reason for doing the same.
    Reminds me of a line in thepaly Henry V. “If the enemy is an ass and a prating cockscomb you should also not be an ass”
    Happy holidays to all.

  9. Calypso’s no sacred cows
    With Nermal “Massive” Gosein’s “Rowlee Mother Count”, chutney has definitively entered the arena of social commentary, a field pioneered and dominated for a century by the artform of calypso. Like so many of the most biting examples of the craft, Gosein’s 2018 offering has rattled T&T at its core, stirring a public controversy that is deeply polarising and far beyond what the lyrics actually say. As far as calypso goes, Gosein’s composition is standard for the category of political commentary. It is irreverent, naughty and gleefully disrespectful of societal norms in pushing the envelope with a hefty dose of double entendre, a well-established technique favoured in kaiso.

    Soca bards support Gosein
    The artiste found support from veteran calypsonian Franz “De Lamo” Lambkin who said Gosein’s composition was no different to calypsoes sung in previous years by various calypsonians and should just be left alone. Lambkin said that while the song is “in bad taste” it shouldn’t be taken so far as to have Gosein and/or the calypso to be barred from competitions and any other arena.

    1. Calypso was born out of slavery. It was the means by which the embittered slaves vent their feelings of the wrongs done to them in song and dance. It developed into an art form that even the slave masters learned to appreciate. Performers of the art were used by the masters to entertain them at functions given on important occasions. It is an authentic Trinidadian art form that was around way before the year 1845. It preceded the immigrants/indentured servants who came after that period, whose experience were not as harsh and prolonged as the Africans.

      Calypso was and continues to be the preferred way African people relate their experiences, hopes, entitlements, future, wishes and concerns. Performers like Massive, in spite of his twenty two years still do not have the natural affinity to what constitutes ‘double entendre’ and as such used bad language about an innocent victim (Rowley’s deceased mother) to prey upon for financial gains. To add insult to injury, he finds it more appropriate to sing about her c-unt. That is nauseating by any standard. I do not care if DeLamo gives support or not. His composition should NOT be allowed as standard practice. What if we continue in Massive’s trend and sing about Sat Maharaj’s wife count; Kamla Persad Bissessar’s Count; Massive’s mother Count; Panday’s mother’s count. That was never done before, because it IS IN BAD TASTE. So those who give support to this kind of nonsense are in fact encouraging a trend, that they will eventually regret. The true masters of calypso can and will handle neophytes like Massive handily if it is to become normal. We do not need people like Massive to alter or degrade this art form.

      Calypso is historically Trinidadian in nature and those who wish to pursue it should follow the rules. The rules are of course unwritten in the over two hundred years of its existence. It is for this reason, we do not need a hindu pundit to tell us how calypsos should be written or sung, nor do we need a hindu calypsonian to alter the art form to induce obscenity as accepted lyrics to be consumed.

    2. *Calypso’s no sacred cows

      To Gosein and his supporters, the reason is obviously a case of partisan politics trumping the calypsonian’s freedom of expression; to critics, the reason is obviously a case of debased double entendre. Some critics have gone further to condemn the song as racist, citing, in particular, the music video portrayal of “Rowlee’s mother” in black face, a theatrical style that has become a symbol of racism in the United States.*

      Who be writing these things, boy? Trinidad is really a MAD society, we.

      What ‘blackface’ the writer is talking about?! Massive Gosine’s face is Blacker than the average Afro-Trini (Please, look at the video).

      And, what past calypsoes are these folks telling me, ‘Hurt Their Feelings’ and was offensive to their ‘RACE’ (Mind you, India is not a homogeneous society)?

      Disclaimer… I am not defending Dr. Rowley-Singh here, but.

      I find it strange that a man can fire three African ministers (After returning from a night out at the Nagar on Diwali night), replace them with three Indians. Tell the world that ‘Mr. A&V Drilling and Workover’ is his friend (all $100,000,000 worth) and have we calling his daughter Senator too. Billions in State contracts for Indian Construction Companies that they tell us ‘defrauded the state’. One would think that Kamla and her Indian party never left.

      Now, Massive Gosine want to cuss him stink.. They say ungratefulness worst than a Kali Puja.
      Allyuh can keep that.. That… That.. That Doctor… Allyuh own him.. We doh want him..

      Happy new year.

  10. Not so massive
    All artists — from mas man Peter Minshall to the neighbourhood soca parang side — enjoy the right to freedom of expression, enshrined in our Constitution for the benefit of all. But that right is not absolute, legally or morally, and it comes with an obligation not to harm the welfare of society. In practice, the line between free expression and offensive speech is hard to demarcate, but in the case of Massive Gosine’s song the line has clearly been crossed.

  11. MASSIVE WARNING: Radio watchdog on ‘Rowlee Mudda Count’
    The controversy surrounding Nermal “Massive” Gosein’s “Rowlee Mudda Count” deepened yesterday after the Telecommunications Authority (TATT) deemed the song derogatory to women and urged the Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), in an unprecedented development, to avoid breaching its concession by broadcasting the song on the radio airwaves.

    Women’s network objects
    The International Women’s Resource Network (IWRN) has added its voice to the condemnation of Nermal “Massive” Gosein’s “Rowlee Mudda Count” song, saying yesterday in a media release, that it disrespects all women.

  12. It’s pointless to add specifics to this thread only to say the summary for 2017 is the sum total seemingly for yesteryears double standards for calypso. Can’t imagine the displays and portrayals for jouvert morning in 2018. What a hypocritical society we belong to and do weave by ourselves? I support Clyde Weatherhead’s commentary on this issue. The hits on this song is increasing by the minute on You tube, WhatsApp etc.

  13. As the debate over Massive’s ‘Rowley Mother Count’ continues, there is an obvious sign that we are only ONE NATION in name. On one side there is the African, Middle Easterners, European descendants and Far Easterners while the supporters of
    Massive’s attempt to curse the Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley by using his mother’s private parts as the means, happens to come from those who consider themselves East Indians. There is a demarcation line that separates us as nationals of this country. Politically it can be said and viewed, that there is a UNC element, which primarily consists of Indians who view themselves as hindus, muslims and cultural Indians. The other element may be and sometimes referred to as PNM. This view, two sides of the same country, lends itself to be divided solely on one’s racial preference. It is so embedded in our culture that to be called a ‘PNM’ (in terms of its use) is to be called African or African supporter. Those using that term usually do not see being called a ‘UNC’ as derogatory but expects calling someone ‘a PNM’ to be taken as such.

    The argument to support Massive’s claim of PNM bias, years of calypso’s abuse of the Indian, African’s rule over culture and other unfounded claims, see cursing of the Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley as vindication for historically singing about Indian people. Massive further went on to say that his license as an artiste allows him the authority to say anything he wants. I know of no civil society where one is allowed to do whatever he wants. While laxity is permitted in a democratic system, there is always self-restraint, in making commentary that might be considered ‘crossing the line’. Massive neither admits to ‘crossing the line’ nor does he see his license to operate as something he should consider as editing devices to how he presents his product. By civilized western standards the product ‘Rowley Mudda Count’ is vulgar, obscene and disrespectful. Massive’s subject, Rowley Mudda (who is now deceased) was never a public figure … her son is … but he chose to depict her in ways that does not make sense or tell a story that is enlightening, relevant or revealing to us audience.

    It is because of these views, that we continue to be divided along racial and cultural lines. The continued push towards racial and cultural animosity CANNOT be considered good for us.
    The list of things that divides us grow each year as we find reasons to separate ourselves for every available occasion. One of those occasions that I find disconcerting is the use of OATHS.
    An oath is simply a solemn promise often invoking a divine witness. In our country, oaths are designed to be used as solemnity towards religion, which makes the purpose religious and not a promise to be faithful the task at hand. The use of religion to take an oath is in essence a mockery. There is no single deity where religion is the means to divinity. So when a national leader takes an oath (based on his/her religious beliefs), I am not sure he/she is obligated to be of service to those not covered by his beliefs. In my view, an oath should be standard, regardless of one’s religious affiliation. This way there can be no mis-understanding of the purpose for which one is making a promise.

    1. Thanks for letting us know that the Africans are on the side of the 1%…keep it up…the island is doing great!

  14. ‘We haven’t banned ‘Rowlee’ song’*
    Juhel Browne—SENIOR Counsel Gilbert Peterson, chairman of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT), says “we haven’t banned” chutney soca artiste Nermal “Massive” Gosein’s controversial song “Rowlee Mudda Count”.

    Tatt warns broadcasters about airing Gosein’s ‘Rowlee’*
    THE Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) has warned television and radio stations that it considers Nermal “Massive” Gosein’s chutney song “Rowlee Mudda Count” to be “inappropriate and denigrating to women, with particular reference to mothers?

    Song took no thought*

  15. Stupes… double standard fools who will always remain backwards in ways and knowledge. The song is a song which expresses frustration as was always done. Smh Kian get a life.

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