Calypso music originated from West African Griot tradition, with African slaves singing and drumming on sugar plantations in Trinidad. Calypso rhythms were created with the African drum, and songs ridiculed the colonial elite and slave owners. Carnival competitions, led by chantwells, greatly helped the genre's evolution to a ballad style, with humorous or biting social and political commentary. Standout calypsonians emerged in the 1930s and 1940s, including Atilla the Hun, Roaring Lion, and Lor