It’s always fascinating for us to look at the statistics for the Caribbean Beat website over a year. And what’s always of particular interest to us is which pieces — both from new issues, and from deep in our archive (dating back over 30 years) — generate high traffic as they’re published, and/or continue to earn consistent traffic over months and years. Here are the results from 2023!
Sheryl Lee Ralph. Photograph by courtesy Tom Estey Publicity and Promotion
1. Caribbean Hollywood
This one from our May/June 2015 issue (#133) always makes me smile, because it was incredibly challenging to write, but faithfully tops our most popular articles list from year to year. As the headline suggests, it looks back at the first generation of Caribbean movie and TV stars, and profiles some of today’s headliners who can claim Caribbean roots.
Peter Minshall on the road with the band. Photo by George Tang
2. Masman: Peter Minshall
Peter Minshall has been one of the most controversial and influential Trinidadian artists of the last 30 years, and this consistently popular piece from the archive — written by Nicholas Laughlin, Georgia Popplewell and Attillah Springer for our May/June 2006 issue (#79) — is a testament to his enduring legacy.
3. Miracle mother
In a small town in Trinidad, both Hindus and Roman Catholics honour a dark-skinned statue which answers their prayers. Some call her Siparee Mai, others La Divina Pastora. It’s a fascinating, intercultural, interfaith story that continues to inspire and intrigue, as Keith McNeal explained in this piece from our March/April 2002 issue (#54).
4. I Used to Live Here Once by Jean Rhys
This is a new one in our “most popular articles” list, as it didn’t appear before 2023. It’s a short ghost story by that Caribbean master of atmosphere, Dominica’s Jean Rhys. And look how far back in the archive it was: the end of 1994 (issue #12)! We have no idea what made it catch on nearly 30 years later, but we’re here for it!
5. Miss Lou’s Love Letter
Issue 14 (Summer 1995)
This is an evergreen favourite from the archive (issue #14 from mid-1995), frequently in the top 10 from week to week. In it, Louise Bennett, the legendary Jamaican poet and story-teller, explains how a good Jamaican male proposes…!
Kees Dieffenthaller. Courtesy Kes The Band
6. Ten for the road (march)
This one didn’t explode the way we thought it would when it first came out nearly six years ago…but since then, it’s found a new life. Of the 80+ songs that have won the official Road March title at Trinidad Carnival, some are little remembered, some have become “back-in-times” favourites, and a few are considered landmarks — whether for their musical qualities or for trends they ushered in. This piece charts all the recorded Trinidad Carnival Road March winners from 1930 up to the present — and includes our picks for an all-time Road March top 10. The piece was published in our January/February 2018 issue (#149).
7. Nearlin Taitt: the secret hero of Jamaican music
This is another piece that’s gained traction in recent years, long after its original publication in September 2008 (issue #93). Kim Johnson turns the spotlight on one of the mysteries (and controversies) of Caribbean music: Nearlin Taitt, a Trinidadian, started in steelband, then invented rocksteady in Jamaica. It still generates heated debates in the comment sections wherever it’s posted…!
Fancy Indians of fifty years ago. Photograph from the Collection of Adrian Camps-Campins
8. Creatures of the mas
This was an epic piece by Dr Dylan Kerrigan that always gets a lot of traffic. A year after the January/February 2004 issue of Caribbean Beat paid tribute to the major designers of the “pretty mas” era of Trinidad Carnival, Dylan paid tribute to the creatures of the mas in the January/February 2005 edition (#71).
9. Wining words
Originally published in the January/February 2006 edition (#77), this one has been so consistently popular that we actually republished it as a “Classic” in 2019. In it, Lisa Allen-Agostini offers a wining vocabulary lesson in time for Trinidad & Tobago Carnival…!
10. Orisha Trinidad
Another staple in the annual top 10. Orisha, an African-rooted religion practised in Trinidad and Tobago, has survived for generations despite much misunderstanding. David Tindall shared more in the November/December 1998 issue (#34).
