Is Mento Music the Same as Calypso

A Comparative Study of Two Caribbean Musical Traditions

---

Introduction

In mid-20th century tourist brochures and record sleeves, Jamaican mento and Trinidadian calypso were frequently presented as interchangeable—a result of marketing strategies that blurred national distinctions to sell a generalized “Caribbean sound.” However, despite their surface similarities, mento and calypso are not the same. Each genre reflects the cultural, political, and musical history of its respective island, shaped by different colonial legacies, performance traditions, and socio-political concerns.

This article outlines the key similarities and differences between mento and calypso, correcting common misconceptions and affirming each as a distinct musical tradition with its own legacy.

---

1. Historical Origins: Different Islands, Different Legacies

Calypso originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the 19th century, evolving from French Creole chantwells, African kaiso traditions, and colonial masquerade culture (Hill, 1993; Guilbault, 2007). It became the primary form of musical commentary during Carnival, with deep roots in political protest and community storytelling.

Mento, on the other hand, emerged in Jamaica’s rural parishes during the same period, rooted in African folk music, British quadrille dances, and the oral traditions of formerly enslaved Jamaicans (Lewin, 2000; Manuel, 2006). Mento was never connected to a national festival like Carnival, and its growth occurred largely in informal, community-based settings.

---

2. Instrumentation and Sound

Both mento and calypso use acoustic instruments, often including banjo, guitar, maracas, and hand drums. However, mento’s hallmark is the rhumba box, a large thumb piano that provides bass lines, while calypso developed with larger ensembles including brass, steel pan, and piano (Bilby & Leib, 2009; Barrow & Dalton, 2001).

Mento’s rhythm is more syncopated and laid-back, often in a 2/4 or 4/4 time signature, with repetitive basslines and a rustic feel. Calypso typically features a livelier 2/4 beat, with more melodic ornamentation and harmonic variation (Manuel, 2006).

---

3. Lyrical Content and Language

Both genres use satirical and narrative lyrics, but with different emphases. Calypso lyrics are often political, topical, and laden with double entendre, reflecting the role of the calypsonian as a social commentator or “town crier” (Guilbault, 2007; Hill, 1993). Classic calypso tracks frequently critique government, social inequality, and international affairs.

Mento lyrics, while also humorous and metaphorical, tend to focus more on domestic life, rural gossip, immorality, and sexual innuendo. Songs like “Night Food” or “Rough Rider” exemplify mento’s earthy, comedic tone (Katz, 2003; Hope, 2006).

Additionally, language use differs: mento artists heavily use Jamaican Patois, which grounds the genre in a specific cultural-linguistic space. Calypso, meanwhile, blends English, French Creole, and Trinidadian dialects, depending on the region and time period (Lewin, 2000; Cooper, 2004).

---

4. Performance Contexts and Audience

Calypso developed around Carnival tents and later formalized through calypso monarch competitions, attracting wide public engagement. By contrast, mento grew in more informal contexts, such as rural dances, street corners, and hotel gigs. The rise of tourism in the 1950s brought mento bands into hotels, but this also led to it being mislabeled as “calypso” to suit international markets (Bilby & Leib, 2009; Henriques, 2011).

This mislabeling was especially evident in the marketing of Jamaican artists like Lord Flea, whose recordings were released under the calypso brand even though his music was stylistically mento (Katz, 2003).

---

5. Influence on Later Genres

Both mento and calypso influenced later Caribbean genres, but along different trajectories. Calypso evolved into soca, rapso, and influenced early Caribbean pop. Mento, in contrast, contributed directly to the birth of ska, rocksteady, and reggae in Jamaica, especially in terms of rhythm and lyricism (Chang & Chen, 1998; Manuel, 2006).

Reggae artists such as Bob Marley and Toots Hibbert often incorporated mento themes and rhythms in their early works, while Trinidadian artists like David Rudder modernized the calypso narrative voice within soca frameworks.

---

6. Misconceptions and the Role of Tourism

The confusion between mento and calypso stems largely from how Caribbean music was packaged for American and European audiences in the 1950s. Record labels, hotel managers, and cruise line promoters used “calypso” as a catch-all term for any tropical-sounding music (Hope, 2006; Cooper, 2004).

As a result, many mento recordings were marketed under the calypso label, erasing national distinctions and diminishing mento’s unique identity. This historical conflation has long-term effects on how Jamaican music history is taught and remembered.

---

Conclusion

While mento and calypso share common Afro-Caribbean roots and occasionally intersect in form and function, they are distinct musical traditions born out of different social contexts, histories, and cultural landscapes. Conflating the two erases the cultural specificity that each genre holds within its island of origin.

Recognizing mento as Jamaica’s indigenous popular music, and calypso as Trinidad’s lyrical chronicle, not only restores historical accuracy but also deepens appreciation for the Caribbean’s rich musical tapestry.

---

References

1. Barrow, Steve, and Dalton, Peter. The Rough Guide to Reggae. Rough Guides, 2001.
2. Bilby, Kenneth, and Leib, Jonathan. “Mento, Revival, and the Persistence of Cultural Memory in Jamaica.” Caribbean Quarterly, vol. 55, no. 3, 2009, pp. 35–58.
3. Chang, Kevin O’Brien, and Wayne Chen. Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music. Temple University Press, 1998.
4. Cooper, Carolyn. Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture at Large. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
5. Guilbault, Jocelyne. Governing Sound: The Cultural Politics of Trinidad’s Carnival Musics. University of Chicago Press, 2007.
6. Henriques, Julian. Sonic Bodies: Reggae Sound Systems, Performance Techniques, and Ways of Knowing. Bloomsbury Academic, 2011.
7. Hill, Donald R. Calypso Calaloo: Early Carnival Music in Trinidad. University Press of Florida, 1993.
8. Hope, Donna P. Inna di Dancehall: Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica. University of the West Indies Press, 2006.
9. Katz, David. Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae. Bloomsbury, 2003.
10. Lewin, Olive. Rock It Come Over: The Folk Music of Jamaica. University of the West Indies Press, 2000.
11. Manuel, Peter. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. Temple University Press, 2006.
12. Warner-Lewis, Maureen. Central Africa in the Caribbean: Transcending Time, Transforming Culture. University of the West Indies Press, 2003.