Shanto Music in Guyana
History
Shanto is a form of Guyanese music that is related to both calypso and mento music. It became a major part of early popular music in this area. It is also a conflation of “shanty” which are the work songs sung in the hinterland. This kind of music developed in Urban ghettos and hinterland work camps and then matured in Vaudeville circles. Shant is considered a special form of calypso originating in British Guiana, and in the 1930s Shanto music achieved national and international prominence. Shanto with Bhagee also became popular in 1930s British Guiana. Shanto and Calypso music that was composed during this time period commented on social and economic conditions that the poor and working class population were experiencing in urban British Guiana at this time. The Kumfa and Queh Queh musical traditions were also combined and this created a musical revolution that represented a graduation from that originally portrayed at masquerades stages during pre-emancipation feast and festival days when slaves donned costumes and performed antics to mimic their slave masters. The combined Kumfa and Queh Queh also created a new dimension to hybrid Kumfa Queh Queh rhythms to develop this art form. The up beat tempo had to be slowed in order to accommodate the lyrics of these songs since the Guyanese dialect and accent do not possess the rhythmic (sing song) that fits so beautifully into calypso and therefore the birth of shanto took place. These new musics that were created are quite visible at every party and they are also beginning to dominate younger generations. Shanto helped reenergize the praise song/blame song/ridicule song tradition associated with the colonies African heritage and with exponents such as sweet sago.