♪♪♪ Neff: On the edge of the Caribbean Sea, the voice of an island has been growing.

♪♪♪ What started as a whisper hundreds of years ago has grown into a melodic roar.

♪♪♪ It sings of culture and tradition.

♪♪♪ And it's been calling us, tempting us to listen... to Antigua and Barbuda.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [ Caribbean music playing ] ♪♪♪ The Caribbean is known for many things -- exotic islands, beautiful beaches and its music.

♪♪♪ The many rhythmic styles of the Caribbean are easily recognizable, steelpan, calypso and reggae.

But beneath the surface of these infectious musical styles that conjure images of sun, fun and vacation is a complex arrangement of sound and story.

I'm Mirissa Neff, journalist and world traveler, and I'm chasing the rhythms of Caribbean music and lifestyle to explore the differences between these styles of music and how, over time they've blended into the very foundation of Caribbean culture.

I've come to the twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

1,300 miles east of Miami, these two islands have a history steeped in sugar, trade, rum and melody.

I think all the islands had it because of the onus of calypso.

It was slavery thing, and it was an art form that was created for the slaves on the plantation to enjoy themselves so that the master, if you will, didn't understand what they were saying.

It is sort of double entendre, hidden lyrics, whatever.

That's -- that's what makes the better calypsos.

I meet a veteran calypso musician at an oceanside restaurant called Beachlimerz.

The musician and owner is this soft spoken, gentle soul, Scorpion.

The non-calypso Scorpion is nice.

The calypso Scorpion tends to have a sting to his lyrics and his music.

And what are people singing about today in the calypsos?

Anything that's big in the news will end up on the calypso stage during the calypso season.

And that's why people go to calypso, because they get a sense of what's happening in the country.

Even the politicians get a sense of their popularity or lack thereof based on what the calypsonians are saying.

Calypso is very popular in Antigua and Barbuda, so popular that musicians would compete annually to be Road March champion during Antigua and Barbuda's carnival season.

What is a road march?

I'm not sure.

People keep talking about.

Scorpion introduces me to another calypso legend here in Antigua and Barbuda.

His name is Calypso Joe.

What are the lyrics about?

[ Laughs ] ♪ I say, Ella, let go my hand ♪ ♪ Let me jump in the band ♪ ♪ Don't tell me it's a band so sweet ♪ ♪ Coming down Market Street ♪ Okay.

[ Both laugh ] What year was that?

1970?

[ Laughs ] Neff: Antigua and Barbuda's musical influences have deep roots in African rhythms.

And beyond that you'll find that the British, who colonized the islands in the 1600s have had a lasting effect on Antigua's culture.

Richie, what is cricket?

Tell me.

Cricket?

I don't know.

You don't know?

You're the expert.

Well, cricket is a beautiful game.

I believe it was created by the British many, many, many, many moons ago.

Cricket is the sport of choice, and many players from here have represented the West Indies, like Richie Richardson.

It has a lot of similarities to baseball.

I started playing from the time I was born on the beach, you know?

You know, backyard.

We were a colony of Britain at the time.

You know, you were born, you were exposed to the game, and it's very, very popular.

He played during the 1980s and '90s and eventually became the captain of the West Indies team that dominated the sport for many years.

Announcer: Beautiful strike by Richie Richardson.

Neff: I find Richie playing a game of pickup cricket along with another Antiguan artist known as Menace.

Menace, what time come?

No!

♪ N-n-n-n-n-n-no ♪ ♪ N-n-n-n-n-n-no ♪ ♪ Stop that ♪ ♪ N-n-n-n-n-n-no ♪ ♪ Don't take sand to the beach ♪ ♪ No, baby, no ♪ ♪ Don't take sand to the beach ♪ Break this down.

I don't want sand to the beach.

What does that mean exactly?

Sand to the beach is a local term.

A lot of a lot of us in the Caribbean use it.

It's definitely simple as you're not taking excess to where there's a lot of.

So you won't take sand to the beach because there's a lot of sand at the beach.

You won't take a girlfriend to a party when there's a lot of girls at the party.

Oh, I see.

You won't take your boyfriend to a party where there's a lot of dudes at the party.

Really?

Simple as that.

That's simple.

You won't take a rock to a mountain.

That says a lot of things.

♪ Father, they screech ♪ ♪ You can't sand to the beach ♪ I tend to mix the calypso where you tell a story, like in the sand to the beach.

First, let me admit I have a problem.

Going everywhere with my girlfriend.

You can actually visualize what I'm trying to say to you, and that put it in a up-tempo beat.

Now that mix the calypso with the soca and you get the Antiguan song.

♪ Screech ♪ ♪ You can't take sand to the beach ♪ The beaches around Barbuda are probably the most spectacular in the world.

Neff: The island of Barbuda sits about 30 miles north of Antigua and can be reached within 20 minutes by plane.

During certain parts of the season, the sand on that beach turns pink.

I have a sample of it here, and that is one of the unique features of the beaches right here in Barbuda.

Neff: The island is also one of the few underdeveloped paradises in the Caribbean, making the Barbuda Bird Sanctuary an ideal habitat for more than 170 species.

The magnificent frigatebird is one of the major attractions to Barbuda.

Neff: The voice of an island is a blend of different harmonies, music, art, sports and food.

Combine them all together and you'll begin to enjoy the true taste of Antigua and Barbuda's story.

Thank you.

That's what I call the good stuff.

So this is saltfish, and this is what we eat every Sunday.

Mmm.

That is really good.

Back on Antigua, I'm introduced to Shermain Jeremy.

She's a well known musician who's currently recording her next album.

We meet at the Sugar Ridge Hotel.

I started singing in high school, and that led to pageants.

Two of the most notable ones, of course, being Miss Universe and Miss World.

And there I won talent For singing?

For singing.

Yeah, yeah.

And that's what led to me creating an album.

♪ La, la, la ♪ ♪ Land me be the one ♪ The funny thing is, I never saw myself as a "pageant" girl, even though eventually I got tagged that way.

Right?

I just wanted a stage right where I could sing.

♪ I can be the one you hold all night ♪ So is this where all the cool musicians in Antigua hang out?

Sugar Ridge is known for putting our artists out there.

You know, they've got this great lounge where we play live music, where I performed several times myself.

♪♪♪ Shermain offers to show me around Antigua, so we begin on the water with some of Antigua's friendliest residents.

Alright, ladies, welcome to Stingray City, Antigua.

One of the friendliest places in the world.

Let's go have some fun.

[ Laughter ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Oh, my God!

Okay.

She's not feeling us at all.

[ Laughs ] ♪♪♪ Shermain, why did you leave?

That was enough for me.

I did as much as I could.

You know what?

I don't blame the stingrays.

It's me, okay?

[ Laughing ] It's me.

Alright.

God, they're going to be like, "Shermain is such a sellout."

[ Laughter ] The island's best kept secret is probably kiteboarding at Jabberwock.

You know, the usual conditions are like anywhere from 15 to 20 knots.

You know, nice flat water.

A busy day for us is like 10 to 15 kiters, whereas like you go to other places and it's like 50 to 100 candidates.

So, you know, kiting for me changed my life.

Like, as a young kid, I got into it super young and it kind of just consumed me.

I've won a few things in Russia.

Won, like, Best Kicker Trick.

It's like, take me all around the world.

I've been to places like Europe, Czech Republic, you know, all over the world.

And, you know, it's always good coming back home because the conditions for what I do, it's just perfect.

You know, it's the means of transportation.

Once there's good wind, you can pretty much go wherever your body can physically take you.

Neff: Antigua's history goes back to the Carib and Arawak Indians who first populated the island.

Christopher Columbus landed here in 1493, but Europeans had a difficult time settling on the island until the 1600s.

It was around this time that the island was becoming a thriving enterprise for a very important resource.

This is Betty's Hope sugar plantation.

This was one of Antigua's first and largest sugar plantations.

Sugar was big business here for more than 300 years, but it's a business that was built on the backs of slaves.

Slavery was abolished in 1843 and the sugar industry soon fell apart.

We no longer have a sugar industry, but we do have something that is made from sugar.

Ooh.

And what's that?

The Antiguan rum.

Shermain and I head over to the Antigua Distillery Limited's very own rum tasting room where we meet my new friend Calbert.

So it's this rum..

The molasses that came from our estate was called fancy molasses locally or what was called muscovado molasses.

Cheers.

And that gave rise to our first product Muscovado Cavalier Rum.

We sample a five-year and a 10-year oak-barrel-aged rum, and both were delicious.

[ Laughter ] Finally, we try the 25-year.

1981 represents the year Antigua gained independence, and the rum inside of this bottle is the last remaining rum from the original still that was at the distillery when we first started in 1932.

To think that someone had the willpower to let rum sit for this long is mind boggling.

I'm not going to let their efforts go to waste.

Yeah, there's a lot going on here.

That one's good.

I really like that one.

Here's a bottle of our Muscovado Cavalier rum.

We got this from an old friend.

It was sitting in his cellar, and this bottle has been around since the 1940s.

This is the last of the Muscovado Cavalier rum, probably on the island.

We're not far from downtown St. John's, the largest city in Antigua and Barbuda.

St. John's is the economic hub of the island and where Carnival is held every year.

We head to the market to do a little shopping.

Fresh fish, fruits and vegetables can be found here, including the Antiguan black pineapple.

While shopping, Shermain makes a call to her good friend, Claudette Peters.

Welcome to the studios of Vibz FM.

And we head over to Vibz FM to meet her.

Hi, Shermain.

Hi, Claudette.

How are you?

I'm good.

It's so good to see you.

It's been so long.

It's been too long.

You're here at Vibz FM.

Yes.

What's going on?

We're here to see you.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, so... You got it, You got it.

♪♪♪ Along with hosting a morning show on Vibz FM, Claudette is a veteran musician and performer here in Antigua, so I take the opportunity to learn a little more about her musical roots.

Of course, you know, in those days you have to go to church with Grandma.

Like, on a Sunday you'd go to church like three times.

During the week, you probably go every day, and we'd have Sunday school and, you know, you would basically go up into in front of the church and probably recite a memory verse or something.

I would be the one singing.

♪ From the first time I met you ♪ ♪ I know you will always be my boo ♪ Being in the business for quite some time, I have to make sure that I come up to par with the, you know, folks.

Of course.

And the music has changed and the sound has changed some bit.

And so I had to basically go with the flow.

[ Playing piano ] Claudette explained that there are artists on the island who are experimenting with the sound of Antiguan music.

She recommends meeting a musician who's both famous and infamous for his hypnotic rhythms and live performances.

We head to his studio, where he's finishing the mix on his latest track.

Well, I'm planning to go out a little bit, you know, on a limb here.

Oungku has won the Antiguan Road March twice as a solo artist and five times as member of the Burning Flames.

He agrees to show us his latest.

Doing something fresh, new, different.

But you will feel it.

You must feel it.

♪ Red hot nation ♪ ♪ Ooh, yi, yi, yi ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ Sounds pretty complex.

Yeah.

It's actually one person.

So just to give you an idea how this works.

I can say right here, ♪ Cut the music ♪ That's me.

♪ So hot ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ That's me again.

♪ So hot ♪ That's me again.

But the... ♪ So hot ♪ ...the engine, you know for the song is the the rhythm.

[ Drums playing ] ♪♪♪ [ Snare drum plays ] That's a snare drum.

[ Indistinct ] [ Instruments joining in ] All this is coming together, you know?

Doing that you feel -- feel it, feel it.

♪♪♪ We're targeting the instruments, the synthesizer.

♪ It make you ♪ ♪ It make you wanna, wanna ♪ ♪ Take off the top ♪ ♪ Take off the top ♪ ♪ Take off the top ♪ ♪ Take off the top ♪ And it's there now.

♪ So hot ♪ That's me.

♪ So hot ♪ ♪ You got it ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ You got it ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪♪♪ And I think because of the foundation of this song, the foundation of the music, the beat, it makes you dance.

And it's very -- it's very important when you're creating music of the day.

♪♪♪ Where does the name Oungku come from?

From birth, and somewhere -- somewhere along the line, somebody said something all the way and it stuck.

And that's the way nicknames are formed.

And nicknames seem pretty important in Antigua.

Pretty, pretty, pretty important.

Actually, a nickname could be more popular than your real name.

Well, I'm determined to get a nickname before I leave Antigua.

You might have to help me with that.

Oh, that would be no problem.

You know?

I call her Curly.

[ Laughter ] That's a good name.

I like it, Curly.

You like it?

Nice to meet.

Nice to meet you, too.

[ Laughter ] ♪ Hot, hot, hot, hot ♪ ♪ Ooh, yi, yi, yi ♪ ♪ Hot, hot ♪ The game of Oware.

As you see, it's played on a board.

It's six holes on each side, two in the end, which are the housing for the captured seeds.

And incidentally, the greatest players in the world are right here in Antigua.

[ Indistinct conversations ] The game actually came from Africa during the time of the slave trade.

And apparently, you cannot quote me on this, it's used to settle incidences where there was an impasse.

The kings of each village would get together and play a game of Oware, and the winner would then make a decision as to what happened.

And the game is continued on through Antigua, where mainly at the taxi stands, the bus stations, the airport.

You could see guys playing Oware each and every day.

It's, you know, the greatest board game there is.

Neff: The music of the Caribbean has always found its roots in the spirituals and hymns of the church.

♪ Jesus will walk with me down to the valley ♪ ♪ Jesus will walk with me over the plains ♪ Antigua and Barbuda have a large number of churches on the islands, and it's possible that Antigua's call and response style of music came from the early church hymns that were brought to the island.

♪ All the way through ♪ To find out more, I reach out to one of the young up and coming gospel artists on the island.

♪ There's something inside me ♪ ♪ That burns on the inside ♪ ♪ There's something inside me ♪ Romancia Kingston blends her soulful voice with a modern sound on her latest single, "Hallelujah."

♪ It makes me say ♪ ♪ Hallelujah-h-h ♪ I meet Romancia on the northeast part of Antigua, a remote and wild area known as Devil's Bridge.

The bridge's name comes from the stories of slaves who would walk to this part of the island from nearby plantations and throw themselves into the sea to escape the bondage of slavery.

[ Waves crashing ] The bridge was carved out over thousands of years by the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

It's here that Romancia begins to sing a powerful hymn.

♪ I'm going to lay down my burdens ♪ ♪ Down by the riverside ♪ ♪ Down by the riverside ♪ ♪ Down by the riverside ♪ ♪ I'm going to lay down my burdens ♪ ♪ Down by the riverside ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ Antigua is known as a very religious nation.

We have a lot of churches.

We have a lot of different churches.

♪ Ain't gonna study war no more ♪ ♪ I ain't going to study war... ♪ And it is truly a foundation of everything that this nation is built on, and we're very happy to share with everyone.

♪ No more ♪ From a young age, I grew up in church and, you know, it has just been a very great encouragement to me.

You know, it has kept me humble.

♪ Down by the riverside ♪ ♪ Down by the riverside ♪ ♪ Down by the riverside ♪ Historically, our background and our roots is truly gospel.

♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ It's where we started from our Negro spirituals and folk songs, and it built and it built to our calypso and soca.

♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪ Study war no more ♪ And it has truly been a foundation to the music that we have in our nation today.

♪ Study war no more ♪ ♪♪♪ [ Applause ] ♪♪♪ Overlooking the south part of the island is Shirley Heights.

It's here that the island as a whole comes to celebrate young and old, locals and tourists, and the view is absolutely stunning.

Everyone gathers to witness one of the most spectacular sunsets in the Caribbean.

♪♪♪ Perched above English Harbor, I see familiar faces and dance with new friends.

♪♪♪ It's here that I finally connect with the culture.

I'm no longer a visitor, no longer a guest.

It's here where everyone feels that they belong.

And out of nowhere, the muse of Antigua makes one last appearance.

You having a good time in Antiqua?

♪ Menace nation ♪ ♪ Ooh, yi, yi, yi ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ We come out ♪ ♪ To party ♪ ♪ And pull off ♪ ♪ Get naughty ♪ ♪ We move it ♪ ♪ The whiskey ♪ ♪ And sweat it profusely ♪ ♪ You've got to move it ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ Neff: Oungku would tell me later that it's been almost 15 years since he's performed at Shirley Heights.

But tonight it feels like it's everyone's first time.

We laugh, dance and move to Oungku's powerful rhythms.

♪ Pick up the cup ♪ ♪ Pick up the cup ♪ ♪ Pick up the cup ♪ ♪ Because it's ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ Because it's ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ We party into the night.

We celebrate.

It's here that one can feel at home away from home.

At this moment, I hear the music calling loud and clear.

[ Synthesized singing ] ♪ Pump the music ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ Everybody ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ [ synthesized singing ] ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ You got me ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ You like that ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ You like that ♪ ♪ So hot ♪ ♪ I said ♪ ♪ It make you, it make you wanna, wanna ♪ ♪ Pick up the cup ♪