Brother Resistance

Brother Resistance is a musician from Trinidad and Tobago. Born Lutalo Masimba, Brother Resistance became the lead singer of the Network Riddim Band, a Trinidadian soca ensemble, in 1970. The name of Brother Resistance has long been associated with the artform called Rapso. It is an art form that many feel he invented. But Brother Resistance himself insists that Rapso can be traced back to the oral traditions of Africa, when the Griot was the historian, counselor and poet of the tribe. After the middle passage, on the sugar-cane plantation, the Griot's name was changed to Chantuelle.

Born Lutalo Masimba, Brother Resistance became the lead singer of the Network Riddim Band, a Trinidadian soca ensemble, in 1970.

The name of Brother Resistance has long been associated with the artform called Rapso. It is an art form that many feel he invented. But Brother Resistance himself insists that Rapso can be traced back to the oral traditions of Africa, when the Griot was the historian, counselor and poet of the tribe. After the middle passage, on the sugar-cane plantation, the Griot's name was changed to Chantuelle. The role played by this individual was transformed as well, and he became the voice that made the suffering of the slaves bearable. The evolution of the Chantuelle saw the emergence of the talkers of the early Carnival, the Midnite Robbers, the Pierrot Grenades and also the Calypsonian. The Rapso artiste is therefore the revitalisaton of the old Griot / Chantuelle traditions in perspective of our modern-day society.

Resistance, as he is commonly called, is considered the spearhead of the Rapso movement, a movement born almost thirty years ago, when the late Lancelot Layne successfully challenged the musical and literary status quo of the Caribbean. Drawing on the folk traditions of the Carnival characters of Trinidad and Tobago, Layne recreated the vibes of the "Chantuelle", "Pierot" and "Midnite Robber" to establish the reality of what is today called Rapso. The musical experience, which fueled the new art form, came directly out of the steelband yards, the drum yards and the calypso arena. The vibes and the flavour came out of the social movement of a people for true liberation and self-determination.

The birth of the Network Rapso Riddum Band at the end of the 1970's with its lead chantuelles, Brother Shortman and Brother Resistance heralded the new reality of roots music from Trinidad and Tobago. The music now as defined by Brother Resistance is "the power of the word, in the riddum of the word." In essence, it is the poetry of Calypso blended with the African rhythms of Trinidad and Tobago. It is also referred to as the Rap of Soca. It is interesting to note that paralleling the development of Rapso in Trinidad and Tobago was Dub Poetry in Jamaica (the Poetry of Reggae) and African-American Rap music in the United States of America.

In between completing studies at the University of the West Indies, Brother Resistance continued to write music for the Network Rapso Riddum Band, and his 1981 debut album, Busting Out, became a major hit, defining the musical genre that would come to be known as rapso.