The Africans creolized the French word for the evil Satan, diable, and created a devil masquerade that is now popularly known as the "Jab Jab". While other carnivals such as in Trinidad and a Labor Day in Brooklyn, have their Jab Jabs, nothing compares to the jovial, villainous Jab Jab masqueraders who playfully haunt the streets of Grenada at J'Ouvert.

Traditinally, Jab Jabs would use any available sustance, including stale molasses, tar, grease or mud to darken their skins to an extreme blackness. Sparsely dressed and accessoriesed with items such as broken pots and pans, cattle horns and cow chains, the intent to the Jab Jab was and still is to horrify and gross out the onlookers. Jab Jabs now appear in various colours, including yellow, red and blue.

Jab Jab has also spawned its own calypso spin-off, Jab Jab Music", which is the most glaring indigenous, locally made artefact of Grenada's carnival. Jab Jab music is characterised by a deep rhythmic bass accompanying conch or flute blowing and a repeated chant as part of the chorus. For example, Grenadian Tallpress scored a mega reginal hit with his "Ole Woman" calypso. Audiences everywhere were singing the refrain:

Ole woman we taking home ole woman alone Ole woman alone we taking home Ole woman alone

This all starts in the dark, 3:30am and there was a huge turnout of locals and tourists both.

Enjoy "J'Ouvert Madness" photo album!

Dudley and Bec,