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Artist
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. 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 fu