Brother Resistance

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Brother Resistance was the stage name of Lutalo Masimba, born Roy Lewis in 1954, and regarded as the spearhead of the rapso movement. As a Queen's Royal College pupil he was shaped by the events of 1970 and by Lancelot Layne's "Blow Way", which he heard on the radio that year. At the end of the 1970s he became a lead chantuelle of the Network Rapso Riddum Band, which released its debut album "Busting Out" in 1981. His albums include "Tonight is de Nite" (1988), "Heart of the Rapso Nation" (1992), "De Power of Resistance" (2000) and "When De Riddum Explode" (2006), with hits such as "Ring De Bell", "Mother Earth" and "Handclapping Song". He published the book "Rapso Explosion" in 1986, received the Hummingbird Medal, Silver in 1992, and played the Dragon in Earl Lovelace's "The Dragon Can't Dance". He served as president of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation and of the Copyright Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago. He died in July 2021.