Ungrateful Mother: A reply to Rowlee Mudda Count

No stranger to throwing picong in his songs, entertainer Wayne Modeste, better known as Impulse, has composed Ungrateful Mother, a reply to the controversial Rowlee Mudda Count sung by Nermal Gosein better known as Massive.

Despite what some people say is a heavy bashing for Gosein, Modeste assured the aim of the song is to bring some elements of humour into the calypso arena.

“There is no bad blood between us. He is my friend and he gave me his blessings on the song. Ungrateful Mother is really comical relief, and this is what the Carnival has been missing for the longest while,” Modeste said.

“Massive visits my home and he loves a dish I make and call pepper bone. It is cutters made with chicken neck.”

In his new tune, he sings about the mother of “a partner named Massive from south” who was ungrateful to him.

Modeste sings about assisting the mother by taking her to live with him because of problems with her husband. He returns home one day to discover that the “ungrateful mother gone” (the chorus) and even took things from his house.

Many people have condemned Gosein’s song, saying it was distasteful and even racist. In it he sings about Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s mother planting and selling vegetables. She falls victim to thieves, then counts her losses.

Modeste decided to write his response because many people commented on Gosein’s controversial song. He opted not to comment on the lyrics of that song, saying from the perspective of an entertainer Gosein’s song was a good one.

“Some people may say people of Indian descent may not like my song, or the African people may not like his song. It is wrong. Everybody is supposed to like everyone song, because we are all artistes. I wrote this song in a day. It started off as a skeleton and then I put the body in after,” Modeste said.

Modeste is a member of the Kaiso Showkase Calypso Tent at Palms Club, Pointe-a-Pierre Road in San Fernando. The singer/comedian is hoping he is among the 40 calypsonians who will compete at Calypso Fiesta at Skinner Park, San Fernando, to get into the Calypso Monarch finals.

Modeste has many popular songs including Macco, Elisa and Dhanraj. Ungrateful Mother was uploaded and published on January 10 on the YouTube channel of his son Kevin Modeste. As of yesterday, the song had had 7,200 views.