Music of the Garifuna

Hopkins is a Garifuna village. The Garifuna closely identifies with their music. It is an important part of who they are and their culture. Their music style is known for its distinct drumming. The smaller drum is called the primero and the large one is called the segunda. The primero leads and the segunda follows. Drums are hand-made from local woods and tuned individually, covered with deer skin, and the drummer beats his until he wears off the hair and it becomes leather.

The traditional music is called piranda and punta. The late Andy Palacio is considered the “Elvis of Belize,” as he experienced world-wide acclaimed success in response to his music. His album, Watina, whom many consider his masterpiece, was originally recorded at Sandy Beach Women’s’ Cooperative in Hopkins, located on the south end. Palacio died in 2008 at age 47.

To continue in Palacio’s tradition, the Garifuna Collective keep the piranda music alive. Most of the members of the collective are from Hopkins and have their individual recording contracts as well. Lloyd Augustine, who performed at Palacio’s funeral had one of his cd release parties on the beach. It was held at his family’s land, where his sister, Felicia, operates Queen Bean restaurant. They had large tents covering the beach and hundreds attended. Lloyd was also the featured artist at the Piranda Fest one year, where he began playing at 5am and continued until 7am when the event was over. (The evening started around 9pm.)

Wawa or Warren is from Hopkins and played the most sets of any musician at New Orleans' Jazz Fest a few years back. Warren is the middle child playing the drums in the popular Belize postcard of kids playing the drums on the beach. Warren is an adult and parent now. C-Wills is another popular musician who has toured around the world and performed in Madison Square Gardens.

~DRUMMING~

Want to know where you can find drumming in Hopkins Village? Check out Hopkins Happenings on Facebook. It is a public page for tourists to see what is going on in the village. It also has a calendar as well.