GUYANA “COOLIE BAI” NOW BECOMING AN INTERNATIONAL SINGING STAR

Aug 30, 2015 Features / Columnists, From the Diaspora

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It was going on 9 pm; the 3000 plus crowd has been there about at least six hours,  waiting patiently for the star of the show, the headliner, the feature singer, Romeo Mystic, more known internationally as the “Coolie Bai”.
His popularity stems from his famous song “Coolie Bai, which seems destined to become a cult song. It’s a standard, a must if you will at all Guyanese weddings. The song has been so popular on social media, YouTube and Facebook. You Google the song and you find so many covers or versions of it.
But there is only one Coolie Bai, and the crowd was willing to wait. Earlier, the show was opened by the royalty of Calypso, the Mighty Sparrow and Calypso Rose. These two legends opened the show, and for those of you who may not have heard Sparrow and Rose live, believe me, age has not diminished their voices.
Sparrow’s melodious voice is still there, and when he opened with “THE CONGO MAN” the young crowd most of whom were not born yet when that song was released, sang the refrain “never eat a white meat yet”.
And there was Rose with still a lot of fire in her voice and performance to her standard unforgettable “FIRE IN YUH WIRE”
I mention these two icons, to show how far Romeo Mystic, has come internationally, and headlining a show with these two legends.
Romeo ‘Coolie Bai’ Mystic has been selling out shows in London, Canada, Barbados, and in various cities in the United States. He is appearing for the third time in New York this weekend, after successful shows in Minnesota.
His show in Orlando earlier this month was his second in Orlando and saw one of his largest crowds.
So who is this little “Coolie Bai” that is dominating the music overseas, especially in the Caribbean communities of the Diaspora?
If you speak to Romeo Mystic, born Romeo Nerpaul, the first thing he will tell you is “I from Black Bush Polder”, with great pride. That is not so of many Guyanese, most of whom are ashamed to say the villages they are from. That has been my experience. Just look at Facebook profiles of Guyanese; more than half would say they from Georgetown.
Romeo would tell you he had a rough childhood. His father was murdered when he was just 10 years old. With the breadwinner of the family gone, life was tough. His family depended quite a few times on the generosity of family and friends. Life was tough in Black Bush Polder; his mother eventually moved to Georgetown with relatives.
Mystic actually began singing from a young age, “Ah used to bust some bhajans but I started singing in church.”
He spent his teenage years in the city and started to “hang out” by “Brutal Track Records” the same recording studio that Lisa Punch used.
While he is mainly known for his “Coolie Bai”, he is actually a Reggae singer and a very good one at that.
After listening to him live I can tell you that Mystic can hold his own against any from the birth place of Reggae, Jamaica. He is more la Beres Hammond kind of singer. Mystic says that Hammond is one of his inspirations.
So when he comes on stage opening with Reggae songs, people are surprised that he is truly a Reggae singer.
There has been great debate and controversy of the title and lyrics of his hit song “Coolie Bai”. But criticisms are misguided; there is nothing derogatory in the use of the words, the lyrics speak of the cultural behaviour, modes and attitudes of most Indians in Guyana.
It’s the same old story; pay attention to the message not the messenger.
It’s all social commentary, as Mystic told me all the great Calypso singers are social commentators and they reflect what is happening in the society.
In the music world, there is a mini controversy whether the “Coolie Bai” song is Soca or a Chutney song.
It’s really difficult to place the song in a category, so I asked the man behind the beats, Ken “Dabeatmaker”Taylor, the genius behind the recordings at Brutal Tracks Recording Studios in Georgetown.
The “dabeatmaster” would only say that it’s a fusion of beats, incorporating Soca, Chutney and Reggae.
Another surprising fact is this young Reggae/Chutney/Soca singer sings only his own songs.
He is very adamant that he will not cover other people songs in his shows, this surprised me, and not knowing all the songs he sang were his own recordings, with the help of Ken Taylor. According to him, he wants to build his career on singing original songs.
Romeo Mystics prides himself as a rice farmer first, and a singer after. He disclosed that he has invested some of his earnings back in rice farming, buying tractor and equipment. He is still a rice farmer at heart.
Well if the present trends continue, he may have to rethink his priority, because at present he probably spends more time touring overseas than at home, as demand for his performance increases. I posed this question to him, but he was ahead of me; he already has “back up” plans, with a relative to oversee his rice cultivation.
So when you at a wedding or rum shop, or on social media and you hear the “Coolie Bai” tune, just remember it is sung by a real coolie bai from Black Bush on the Corentyne.
Don’t be surprised when you hear some of the best reggae songs if you YouTube him. After all he is one of the best Reggae singers to emerge out of Guyana.
Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: [email protected] and Facebook

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