Yes, it *does* have something to do with that. But my opinion of what exploitation means is *very* different to yours. Before Harry Belafonte became popular, the Lord Invader, Macbeth the Great, the Roaring Lion, and Lord Kitchener (later than the first three) were recording in New York City for Folkways and Decca. Belafonte got "Don't Stop the Carnival" from recordings of Invader. I think (and lots of people agree with me) that if those calypsonians were never acknowledged by Belafonte as influences, they deserve to be acknowledged. And I said Belafonte has his place- if I'd never heard him I wouldn't be talking about this, for one thing.I don't want to do this only for commercial reasons- I am also looking into it as I am very interested in the tradition. I believe calypso has been commercialised enough and does not need to be again. Chalkdust, a calypso historian and calypsonian, uses the analogy of "water in de brandy" to describe commercialised calypso. I want to become a tent calypsonian, not a calypso singer. A tent calypsonian is traditional - there is no "revival" in calypso - a calypso singer isn't. Besides, extempo and picong (insult improvising) sound like fun. More fun, in my opinion, than being just a calypso singer- not to say that isn't good!