Recording artist AbiYah Yisrael has released her third Cadence-lypso recording
titled Levé.
Levé means to rise, to wake up, to get up and this is what AbiYah sings of in this
recording, an awakening. In Levé, AbiYah briefly reminds us of the fight of the
Negre Mawon and Kalinago whose efforts allowed the Commonwealth of Dominica
to remain “unconquered” by the colonial masters. The Kalinago and maroons
played a key role in upsetting slavery on the island, eventually forcing the British to
abandon slavery.
AbiYah Yisrael Releases New Cadence-lypso Single
“Levé“
Recording artist AbiYah Yisrael has released her third Cadence-lypso recording
titled Levé.
Levé means to rise, to wake up, to get up and this is what AbiYah sings of in this
recording, an awakening. In Levé, AbiYah briefly reminds us of the fight of the
Negre Mawon and Kalinago whose efforts allowed the Commonwealth of Dominica
to remain “unconquered” by the colonial masters. The Kalinago and maroons
played a key role in upsetting slavery on the island, eventually forcing the British to
abandon slavery.
AbiYah says, “It is a song that reminds us of the type of resilience, endurance and
will power that existed and still today is epigenetically programmed into us a peo-
ple. We are the descendants of those same Kalinago and Negre Mawon warriors
who together could not be conquered. So to in the 21st century, I believe that if
the citizens of Waitukubli Levé ,with our freedom fought for by our ancestors as a
weapon we can conquer the world, a world that did not defeat us at Massacre, a
world that is afraid of who we are and our potential. Remember their names and
their stories, tell it to your children and grandchildren and tell it to the world. To
name a few Kalinago( Carib) Warner, Calypso, Rosay, Balla, Jacko all provided an
archetype for our independence.”
Although she is known for her reggae grooves AbiYah also sings cadence as well
as soca and calypso. She views cadence-lypso as Dominica’s very own form of con-
scious music through which Dominicans should continue to convey our freedom of
thought and expression. She encourages young musicians to get more involved in
cadence music. It is a high level musical genre and product unique to us which still
has room for musical exploration and expression.
The track was produced and mixed by Hilroy “ObadYah’ Alfred and mastered by
Dernel Green.
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