Uncover the rich tapestry of history and vibrant culture that defines Grenada's Spice Mass with Carlene Humphrey and Carry Onan on Nutmeg Nation! Discover the fascinating origin story of this spectacular festival dating back to 1877, and join us as we correct some common misconceptions about its timeline. Our deep dive into the past sets the stage for understanding how Spice Mass has evolved over the years, adding layers of excitement and tradition to its celebrations. We also explore the musical heartbeat of the festival, demystifying the differences between calypso and soca, and examining their cultural significance. Learn about iconic artists like Ajamo, Machel Montano, and Kes, who bring the festival to life with their electrifying performances.
Feel the infectious energy of Spice Mass as we bring you closer to the action leading up to the grand parade. Experience the thrill of the "Road March" and its pivotal role in energizing the carnival crowd. For those planning their first visit, we provide essential tips to make the most of your experience, such as the mesmerizing steel band orchestras that are a must-see. Whether you're a seasoned carnival-goer or a curious newbie, this episode is your ultimate guide to embracing all that Grenada's most famous festival has to offer. Don't miss out on these insights and stories that turn Spice Mass into an unforgettable celebration!
Thanks for listening to Nutmeg Nation - I would like to thank my Editor Sean for helping with the audio of show, thanks to my Designer Yim for creating the logo and images for the show and thanks to my Guests!
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Episode Transcript
you're listening to nutmeg nation with carlene
humphrey.
We are back and we're talkingabout spice mass.
You know one of grenada's verypopular events.
It's a tourist attraction.
I hope you already bought yourticket because if you haven't,
it's going to be super expensive, like we're talking like 2000.
I was looking up ticket pricescarry onan and it's it's, it's
(00:24):
high, it's way up there.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Listen, it's always expensive to travel to Grenada,
but if you're doing it duringsomething like Spice Mass, then
yeah, it's going to be more.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, so we were talking about, like the history
of Spice Mass.
Yeah, but it looks like yeah,no, I think.
I think we may have flubbed alittle bit on the history.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, no, I think I think we may have flubbed a
little bit on the history.
So, from what I rememberreading, spice Mass was first
held in Grenada in 1877, almost100 years after the first
carnival event in Trinidad.
So that's, I think, what we gotwrong with the, with the time
frame.
But 1877, that's, that's whatthat's when it was held.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
OK, well, there we go .
We have a historical momentthere 1877, that's when it was
held.
Ok, well, there we go.
We have a historical momentthere 1877, that's a long time
ago.
And obviously, spice Mass haschanged.
They've added more events.
And you know, there's one thingthat we need to talk about when
we talk about Spice Mass andall the events leading up to the
big parade is the music.
It's all about the music, right?
So for those people that don'tknow the difference, like
(01:27):
calypso, soca, like you know alittle bit about both, yeah,
yeah, genres of music yeah, socalypso is more of the
traditional sense.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Calypso is like a little bit similar to kaiso,
which is from africa.
I guess we can give an example,like the feeling hot, hot, hot,
or like the cent price and tencent dollar.
That's, that's calypso, yeah,where it evolves along the way.
Um, or another example, I guesslike from ajamo in grenada,
ajamo on the road.
Again, my middle name iscalypso.
Like songs like that, that'scalypso.
(01:56):
Okay, soca, soca is the moresoca is, the more fast, fast,
faster paced, more upbeat tempomusic.
You have like more moderniterations.
I guess more popular nameswould probably be like basha
montano, kes.
You know you've got bon tequilaand then you've got other
artists like that, inspecta andgrenada as well, people like
that.
That's more calypso, sorry,soka, which is more upbeat,
(02:18):
upbeat and faster.
Yeah, yeah whereas calypso is alittle bit slower, like in terms
of tempo right yeah, andcalypso also like, if we go back
to like the whole politicalaspect, calypso calypsonians, I
should say tend to put moremessages in their music, uh,
more political messages andwhatnot.
It's always trying to teach youa lesson or something in their
music right.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
so, in terms of music , I find, like you know, every
year there's like a hot songthat leads up, that's leading
the way to the parade, don't youfind?
Like?
I think, like even in Trinidad,there's always the winner of
like the most popular, not onlythe popular band Like, there's
always the winner with that, butalso the very popular song that
(02:58):
was played over and over againduring Carnival.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So yeah, you know what that's called.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
No, why don't you tell me Roadm, road, march,
right, right, I'm, I'm learning.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I'm learning my lingo here, I'm brushing up.
You know, road march songs areusually the ones that get the
crowd moving the most, so that'swhy it's sort of judges like as
the crowd mover.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That's why that's what road march and what other
things do you think that youshould know if you're going to a
carnival for the first time?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Watch out for steel band orchestras.
They're usually on trucks orpeople have them on the side of
roads at different parties, oris this?
What's it called Panorama,which is like the competition
for steel band bands?
I should say steel bands.
They have their competition aswell, similar to like the
Calypso monarch and like thesopa monarch stuff right there
(03:46):
we go, which is, which is thecompetition for all of those
different genres and stuff.
Uh, what do you what?
What else do you have?
What else do you think it'speople should okay?
Speaker 1 (03:55):
so there's.
There's this.
You know we were talking aboutthe jab jab and how the jab jab
is known for.
You know their historicalcostume design when it comes to
slavery.
But there is also shortening.
Did I say that, right, right?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Shut me yes, shut me yes.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
So they're one of the most iconic and recognizable,
and they're also known forscaring people, like I think
they're scary because they havethe powder and they're walking
around, you know, down thestreet and you'll see all kinds
of colors, textures.
You don't see their facebecause they're wearing a mask,
and it's also in terms oftradition.
(04:33):
They're African and French andthey've been around a long time,
right?
I mean, I don't know thehistory, I don't know the
historical significance there,but it's definitely something
you can't miss when you're incarnival, right?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
yeah, yeah, that's one as well.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, absolutely so when you're going to carnival,
what do you think you needbefore you head down to a parade
like what's?
What kind of things should youbring with you when you're
attending?
What are your must-haves?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Maybe a pouch for your cell phone.
So if it gets wet or anythinglike that, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, yeah, okay, how about some water Stay hydrated?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
It's kind of hot, yeah Well, yeah Well.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Well, you got to have your water on the road with you
, so yeah, Okay, I guess wecould talk about both ways,
because if you're a spectatorit's one thing versus being a
part of the parade, rightBecause?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
when you're a part of the parade.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
They usually give you .
You know they give you food,they give you water and stuff
like that.
But if you're just going towatch the parade or if you're
doing a little cheap like Karenand doing, you know, juve
morning, right, it's not cheap,I'm just razzing you there but
it's a more affordable.
Right, it's not cheap, I'm justrazzing you there, but it's a
more affordable Right.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
It's called maximizing your experience.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
What I do is I go to all the parties beforehand, or
as many as I can go to, and thendo juvie and then just enjoy
the mass watching it, right, ok,so what do you mean?
You go to as many parties aspossible, because I know in
Trinidad you guys are partyingfor a month.
They don't party.
I mean, they party a lot ingrenada.
I think it's the week leadingup to carnival.
It's maybe like a two, almost atwo-week celebration, but I
don't know.
Trinidad's pretty extensive interms of how much they plan it
(06:08):
in advance, right?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
well, turn that like turn out, starts partying as
soon as boxy day hits, up untilcarnival.
So that's, that's.
That's how it works in trinidad.
So you get a lot more partiesand everything is a party.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
So yeah, yeah, what do you think of the costumes,
though?
I think, like some of thecostumes, like you know, it
really is all about the colorsand the feathers and the design,
but some of the costumes are alittle bit revealing.
You know what I mean.
Like why do you think?
Like it's so out there, likeit's kind of like.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
You know, depending on what kind of costume you get,
there's some that I I don'tknow I think you take artistic
interpretation to a level andthen you know you say this is
how I want to be, so I want tobe free.
Some people like the morerevealing ones and others don't.
Because there are variations ofthem.
Right, you can get differentlevels of them.
You can get like a full bathingsuit, you can get a bikini top,
you can get like a wire bra orsomething like that, you know.
(07:01):
So there are variations of thecostumes.
So it's whatever people want tobuy.
They have the choice.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, you know what?
There's one more thing that Ithink we have to talk about when
we talk about carn, you knowwhat?
Do you call it?
Snow cone, oh snow cone yesyeah, you know, especially
during carnival time, you're hotand then you get a nice little
(07:27):
snow cone, you know, whileyou're attending the event and I
don't know, what do you like toeat during carnival?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Not anything in particular.
It depends on, I guess, whichcountry Both Grenada and
Trinidad.
Snow cone's a must.
Yeah, when I'm yeah, what Imean when I'm internet in
general, it's usually all aboutlike any kind of food, basically
, because the foods are soflavorful.
You've got doubles roti, baconshark, bacon shark.
Yeah, there's also all thesedifferent flavors of ice cream,
(07:54):
that like guinness ice cream.
There's now like doubles icecream.
There's a whole bunch of otherstuff that's there.
Double have you ever tried.
Um what?
Yeah, exactly exactly.
Have you ever tried JackDaniel's Snoqual?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
No, I haven't See there you go.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
They got all kinds of stuff down there.
So yeah, I wouldn't even likewhen I just go, I just have food
in general.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Yeah, no, it is about the food too, right, you know,
even like when I'm in Grenada, Idon't really like rum and
raisin, but when I'm down there,like a good rum and raisin ice
cream is really good, and Idon't know, I like KFC better.
In Grenada they add a littlebit more spice to it.
You know what I mean?
And I don't know, people arealways waiting in line for KFC.
I don't understand it, but it'sone of those things.
(08:37):
It's not just about the KFC,it's about the authentic food,
like you were saying.
And for me, when I went totrinidad, I was only there for a
day and when I did go, like wedid go to a restaurant and we
had roti and I'm I don't know ifI'm kind of afraid to say this,
because I'm from the island,but I don't really like mango
that much, but I got to give itto the trinidadians because they
(08:59):
put mango in the roti and ittasted amazing, it was so good.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
You should try it with pumpkin too.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah, Okay, yeah, for sure Next time.
And you know how you're saying.
You don't notice much of adifference.
So I stayed longer in Tobagoand I find that Tobago reminds
me of Grenada because of the onebeach that I went to.
Yeah, yeah, a lot of nicerbeaches I find in Tobago than
Trinidad went to.
Yeah, yeah, a lot of nicerbeaches I find in tobago than
(09:26):
trinidad.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
But to each his own.
Everybody has a difference ofopinion, right?
No, yeah, no for sure, tobagohas way nicer beaches than
trinidad especially.
You get that like that whitesandy sort of beach style in in
tobago.
You don't get that in trinidadreal, because I'll depend on
which beach you go to.
But yeah, you get, you probablyget that more las cuevas or
something like that in trinidad,but like Tobago is known to be
like the touristy side andTrinidad is more the industrial
(09:47):
sort of side too, yeah, whereasGrenada you get nice beaches
basically on any one of them,right, any part of the island, I
should say Right.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Yeah, well, you know, if we're, since we're adding
one more thing to this Grenadahas is a three island state, so
it's Grenada, caracoo and PetitMartinique, for those of you
that don't know, and all theislands are beautiful, from what
I've heard.
Mind you, I haven't been toCaracoo, have you?
Nope, I have not Okay.
So that's on your list of placesto check out.
(10:13):
So tell me, out of all thethings to do in Grenada, what is
one of the things that you mustdo when you're visiting?
Say you're going this year fora carnival, where would you head
to first?
Like you're getting off theplane, you land at the airport,
where are you going to first?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
I just go visit family.
Family is my main attraction inGrenada Family, you know.
But if I were to visit aparticular, I guess, place, I
would say that's a good question.
I don't really have a specificplace.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I'll say that okay, okay, yeah yeah, because I don't
have a.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Yeah, I don't have like a go-to spot, maybe just
any beach, because I just lovegoing to the beaches so just any
beach, yeah but you don't havea particular beach that you like
, like well, granddad's beach isthe one that's basically most
talked about, so I guess I canstick with that one.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Well, I'm I'm biased in my opinion because I like
Grand Anse Beach because it'sclose to where my grandmother
lives, so, but there's a fewother beaches I haven't checked
out, to be honest, and I feellike I have to see the other
beaches.
Like, obviously, I've been toBathway Beach in the country,
but I haven't been to MagazineBeach, and there's a few others
that are nice as well.
(11:24):
But yes, like you said, thetourist attraction is Grand Isle
Beach.
It's right close to the water,beautiful views, lots of resorts
there and the sand isabsolutely gorgeous, right?
So I mean, can't go wrong withGrand Isle Beach at the end of
the day.
So well, I think we touched onit.
A little history on Spice Mass.
(11:45):
So if you're going to Carnivalthis year, I hope you have fun
and enjoy the festivities we'recounting down.
But I think it's important toknow the history of Carnival
because it's come a long wayfrom what it was originally.
There's more events now and Ithink it's good to check out
what's going on before you buytickets, or if you already
(12:06):
bought the tickets, you knowwhat I mean.
It's always good to know inadvance before you head out for
the festivities, right?
And like you said, and you alsomentioned carrying a pouch for
your cell phone.
It's handy right.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, so that way it doesn't get wet yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
All right Sounds good .
I'm Carlene and this is NutmegNation.
I'm with my co-host tonight,keron, and I hope 2024 is a
great year for you and take care.
Thank you for listening toNutmeg Nation with Carlene
Humphrey.
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