From cop to king – Man Zangie

Twenty-four-year-old Zamfir Adams had a feeling that this was going to be his year.

The police constable, who goes by the stage name “Man Zangie,” told reporters moments after being crowned the 2014 Calypso Monarch, that after reassessing his situation and making pivotal changes to his writing team,{{more}} he was confident that he would take the title with his two songs, “Act before it’s too late” and “The Victims Cry.”

He said he believed his two hard-hitting commentaries that dealt with juvenile delinquency and rape were timely, as they addressed social issues that were affecting Vincentians, especially women and children.

“I removed myself and tried a different writer from Tobago, Mr (Nigel) Nelson, and when he gave me my first song, I felt so overwhelmed I said Mr Nelson, I think you have to write me another song, because the people love it and definitely I need to win this crown and it is time enough and I think I am ready….,” Adams told reporters in the week hours of Monday morning.

“Being a police officer, I hear the cries and I listen the radio and I hear the people, the women especially, and I hear them saying what they are doing and a lot of rape and murder cases against women…. So, I am here tonight to open an ear to the Government and everybody to look into it and see how we could make a change.

“‘Act before its too late’ is all about the juveniles and parents need to set a good example because the youths are going astray and we need to pull them back….” Zangie, a former junior calypso monarch, pointed out.

The content of his songs, along with realistic dramatizations, were enough to capture the audience’s attention and support, as well as the approval of the judges, who placed the youngster ahead of veteran calypsonian Robert “Patches” Knights King, who sang “Build Again” and “Ring the Bell,” and defending monarch Shernelle “Skarpyon” Williams, who, despite having two crowd pleasing songs (“The Blight and “Rising Higher”), was relegated to third place.

Zangie, jubilant about his latest promotion, admitted that the road to the throne was not an easy one, and that he had many persons to thank for his accomplishment, including Commissioner of Police Michael Charles, Assistant Superintendent of Police Jonathan Nichols, and other members of the rank and file of the police force, among others.

“I want to thank Ann Miller, Upstage Calypso Tent; they welcomed me. Thanks to my manager Josel, Winston “Chief” Davis and the performers….

“I hope this win will encourage the young people to take a part in developing the art form because it is difficult. I got turned down, I was barked at. I was thrown out of a tent; they discarded me.”

The Barrouallie resident said that he believes through his music and continuing work by the police force, a change in the issues he sang on would come about.

Adams won the secondary division of the junior calypso competition in 2006, while a student of the Bethel High School, with his song “Save We Children.”

He is the second person to win both the national junior and senior calypso titles, following in the wake of Anthony “Papa Das” Glasgow, who first won the junior calypso crown in 1981, and followed up with the senior titles in 1989 and 1990.