The music of the Lesser Antilles encompasses the music of this chain of small islands making up the eastern and southern portion of the West Indies. Lesser Antillean music is part of the broader category of Caribbean music; much of the folk and popular music is also a part of the Afro-American musical complex, being a mixture of African, European and indigenous American elements. The Lesser Antilles' musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. The African musical elements are a hybrid of instruments and styles from numerous West African tribes, while the European slaveholders added their own musics into the mix, as did immigrants from India. In many ways, the Lesser Antilles can be musically divided based on which nation colonized them.
Bhojpuri is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bhojpur-Purvanchal region of India and the Terai region of Nepal. It is chiefly spoken in western Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and northwestern Jharkhand. It is an eastern Indo Aryan language and as of 2000 is spoken by about 5% of India's population.
Chutney music is a fusion genre of Indian folk music, specifically Bhojpuri folk music, with local Caribbean calypso and soca music, and later on Bollywood music. This genre of music that developed in Trinidad and Tobago is popular in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius, and South Africa. Chutney music emerged mid-20th century and reached a peak of popularity during the 1980s. Several sub-genres have developed.
The music of Suriname is known for kaseko music, and for having an Indo-Caribbean tradition.
The music of Guyana encompasses a range of musical styles and genres that draw from various influences including: Indian, Latino-Hispanic, European, African, Chinese, and Amerindian music. Popular Guyanese performers include: Terry Gajraj, Eddy Grant, Dave Martins & the Tradewinds, Aubrey Cummings, and Nicky Porter. The Guyana Music Festival has proven to be influential on the Guyana music scene.
Indo-Caribbean or Indian-Caribbean people are Indian people in the Caribbean who are descendants of the Jahaji Indian indentured laborers brought by the British, Dutch, and French during the colonial era from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. A minority are descendants of Indians or other South Asians who immigrated as entrepreneurs, businesspeople, merchants, engineers, doctors, and other professional occupations beginning in the mid-20th century.
Dougla people are Caribbean people who are of mixed African and Indian descent. The word Dougla is used throughout the Dutch and English-speaking Caribbean.
Indo-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese, are people of Indian origin who are Guyanese nationals tracing their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. They are the descendants of indentured servants and settlers who migrated from India beginning in 1838 during the time of the British Raj.
In Trinidad and Tobago, and other parts of the Caribbean, the term tassa refers to a drumming ensemble drawn from an amalgamation of various North Indian folk drumming traditions, most importantly dhol-tasha, a style that remains popular today in many parts of India and Pakistan. Beginning in the 1830s and lasting until 1918, dhol-tasha was taken around the world by Indian workers, mostly from present-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, enmeshed in a global scheme of indentured labor in British, French, and Dutch territories.
Indo-Caribbean Americans or Indian-Caribbean Americans, are Americans who trace their ancestry ultimately to India, though whose recent ancestors lived in the Caribbean, where they migrated beginning in 1838 as indentured laborers. There are large populations of Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians and Indo-Guyanese along with a smaller population of Indo-Surinamese, Indo-Jamaicans and other Indo-Caribbeans in the United States, especially in the New York metropolitan area and Florida. The Washington metropolitan area, Texas, and Minnesota also have small numbers of Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Trinidadians. Indo-Caribbean Americans are a subgroup of Caribbean Americans as well as Indian Americans, which are a subgroup of South Asian Americans, which itself is a subgroup of Asian Americans.
Laxmichand "Babla" Virji Shah and Kumari Kanchan Dinkarrao Mali-Shah were an Indian husband-wife musical group best known for work in the chutney music and Desi Folk music genres. They performed together for forty years until Kanchan died in 2004. Babla Shah is the younger brother of famous music director duo Kalyanji Anandji.
Caribbean Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Caribbeans and the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. It is mainly based on the Bhojpuri and Awadhi dialects. These Hindustani dialects were the most spoken dialects by the Indians who came as immigrants to the Caribbean from India as indentured laborers. It is closely related to Fiji Hindi and the Bhojpuri-Hindustani spoken in Mauritius and South Africa.
Indo-Caribbean music is the musical traditions of the Indo-Caribbean people of the Caribbean music area. Indo-Caribbean music is most common in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, and Suriname.
The 'Southern Caribbean is a group of islands that neighbor mainland South America in the West Indies. Saint Lucia lies to the north of the region, Barbados in the east, Trinidad and Tobago at its southernmost point, and Aruba at the most westerly section.
Baithak Gana is a form of music originating in Suriname by the Indian community. Baithak is a social gathering. It is a mix of Bhojpuri folk songs with other Caribbean influences. It is similar to Chutney music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago. The most popular exponent in Surinam of the genre were Ramdew Chaitoe and Dropati.
The Bhojpuri people or Bhojpuriyas are a group from the Indian subcontinent who speak the Bhojpuri-language and inhabit the Bhojpuri-Purvanchal region. This area is now divided between the western part of the Indian state of Bihar, the eastern part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, northwestern Jharkhand, along with some neighbouring districts in the Madhya Pradesh and Madhesh of Nepal. A significant diaspora population of Bhojpuris can be found in Trinidad and Tobago, Netherlands, Guyana, Suriname, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, South Africa, and Mauritius.
Persaud is a Hindu surname, primarily found in Guyana, Suriname, Fiji, South Africa, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and other parts of the Caribbean. It is derived from the Hindi surname प्रसाद which is predominantly transliterated as Prasad in India. Other variant forms include Persad, Persard, Pershard, Prasada, Prashad, Presad, and Presaud.
Rampersad also spelt as Ramprasad or Rampersaud is a surname common in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, the Caribbean, Fiji, South Africa, and Mauritius. It is of Indian and Hindu origin, derived from the Sanskrit words Rama Prasada, and is not affiliated with any certain caste. In India it is used as a first name, but the descendants of the indentured laborers in the European colonies used their fathers' first name as their surname. The name is common among Caribbean Hindus, but also as a result of ethnic mixing. It is also common in Christians as well. Many people of this surname have migrated to the United States and Canada as well. Sundar Popo wrote a song called Rampersad. Ramprasad is a common name among Bhojpuri speaking areas of the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh of northern and eastern India. From 1834 to 1917, indentured plantation workers from this region were dispersed far and wide across the world including the Caribbean, Suriname, Fiji and Mauritius. Prasad in Sanskrit means gift from god. There has been a long practice of having a second name, in general, in northern India. For instance Bihari, Kumar, Chandra and Prasad. These are not family names, it's just that the name is in two parts. A person called Ras Bihari may name his son Gokul Prasad etc. Many a times the two words are written as one for example Ramchandra or Krishnakant. Although Sanskrit word is pronounced as Prasad, in Bhojpuri the pronunciation changes to Parsad or Persad.
Bhojpuri music is a form of Hindustani Classical Music and includes a broad array of Bhojpuri language performances in distinct style, both traditional and modern. This form of music is mostly created in Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other countries like Nepal, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana, Netherlands, Mauritius and other Caribbean Islands.
Kaise Bani or Phulauri Bina chutney kaise bani is a traditional Bhojpuri Folksong. It was first modified and released by Trinidadian singer Sundar Popo in his album Nana and Nani (1969). This song got immense popularity after that and remade by many different artists and used in albums and films like Ghar ki Izzat (1994), Dabangg 2 (2012). Its popularity led to the formation of a new Music genre named Chutney music, which is the fusion of Bhojpuri and Caribbean music.
