Popular Gospel in the Caribbean: Gospel Video as a Site of Meaning

Abstract

This essay provides a perspective on aspects of the current trends within
popular gospel culture in the Caribbean. It represents an important
intervention, since there is relatively little published about this subject in
academic and critical journals. This essay, therefore, introduces the reader
to Caribbean popular gospel culture; provides an overview of the state of
Caribbean gospel music culture; lists some of the global trends within gospel
culture; zeros-in on the gospel music video as a site of cultural expression,
and examines two main music video templates in western popular gospel
culture; and shows how the Caribbean’s leading chorale group of the late
1990s and early 2000s responds to and transgresses these western models.
All in all, the essay provides a description of the kinds of influences that
currently drive contemporary Caribbean gospel-music culture.