Ca­lyp­so was among the ear­li­est gen­res of mu­sic record­ed in Eng­lish in the West­ern Hemi­sphere. It pi­o­neered so­phis­ti­cat­ed rhyming pat­terns, nar­ra­tive song struc­tures, and top­i­cal lyrics—traits that dis­tin­guished it from con­tem­po­ra­ne­ous gen­res like blues and vaude­ville in the late 19th cen­tu­ry. Over time, ca­lyp­so’s in­flu­ence would per­me­ate glob­al mu­sic, in­spir­ing and shap­ing gen­res and cul­tures from reg­gae to so­ca to hip-hop and be­yond.