2 weeks ago
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The National Action Cultural Committee (NACC) has unveiled its Top 20 Calypsoes for 2025, spotlighting the best of Trinidad and Tobago’s calypso tradition and its contemporary evolutions.
Among the standout selections are Machel Montano’s Pardy, Freetown Collective’s Take Me Home, and Neval Chatelal’s Vibration, along with popular releases such as Full Blown’s Good Spirits, Kes’ Cocoa Tea, Squeezy Rankin’s Justice, Lyrikal’s Dotish, and Calypso Monarch Helon Francis’ To Whom It May Be.
The songs were chosen by a panel of 40 judges, who assessed lyrics, music, and originality from a pool of 40 calypsoes submitted to the NACC. Each judge submitted their individual top 20 list, which was used to determine the final selections.
Eligible calypsoes were required to have been performed, released, or broadcast between Carnival and June 2025. The NACC emphasized that the review process considered the full spectrum of the calypso artform, including kaiso, soca, chutney soca, rapso, and gospelypso.
The top 20 artistes and their compositions will be honored at the Top 20 Stars of Gold and Calypso of the Year Awards Ceremony, scheduled for November 28 at the Government Campus Plaza Auditorium, Richmond Street, Port of Spain.
“The ceremony seeks to showcase and give deserving recognition to the best calypso compositions within a particular year, thereby allowing the public to fully appreciate the excellence of those works outside of competition and Carnival festivities,” the committee said in a statement.
NACC’s Top 20 Calypsoes of 2025 (Alphabetical Order):
- 65 and Still Relevant – Ann Marie Parks Kojo (Twiggy)
- A Leader – Karene Asche (The Calypso Princess)
- Ask Yuh Man – Terri Lyons
- Bon Appetit – Kerine Williams Figaro (Tiny)
- Carry It – Ian Alvarez (Bunji Garlin)
- Cocoa Tea – Kees Dieffenthaller (Kes)
- Dotish – Devon Martin (Lyrikal)
- Good Spirits – Full Blown
- Justice – Anthony La Fleur (Squeezy Rankin)
- Kaiso to the World – Duane Ta’zyah O’Connor
- Look to Press – Roderick Gordon (Chuck Gordon)
- Pardy – Machel Montano
- Rhythm of a People – Stacey Sobers-Abraham (Stacey Sobers)
- Sing It in Kaiso – Roslyn Reid
- Take Me Home – Muhammad Muwakil (Freetown Collective)
- The Weaker Sex – Sonia Francis (Singing Sonia)
- To Whom It May Be – Helon Francis
- Vibration – Neval Chatelal
- We Rise – Akhenaton Lewis (Yung Bredda)
- Your Turn Now – Kurt Allen
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