'Beat It' did not work last year for the Monk; and, after tasting defeat at the hands of the Ultimate Rejects Machel Montano was driven to ensure that the outcome of the 'Road March Competition' was different this year. Machel's goal was to ensure that the coveted title of the most popular song 'on de road', a.k.a. "Road March", was emblazoned with his name for posterity! This year he tapped into new blood using the 'Travis World Camp' to achieve his goal. Travis Hosein created the music while the rest of the team, Joseph Figueroa, Machel and Austin "Superblue" Lyons, lending their creative genius to the lyrical content. They all loved the outcome but never envisioned winning the road march title by such a wide margin.
The results were phenomenal for the Monks Production team:
Soca Kingdom - Machel Montano x Austin 'Superblue' Lyons - 336 plays
Savannah - Neil 'Iwer' George - 140 plays
Sweet Fuh Days - Patrice Roberts - 112 plays
He had a plan and with the help of Joseph 'PrincePronto' Figueroa and Travis World the Monk came up with a plan with the assistance of the creator of the jump and wave phenomena in Soca to achieve his road march goal this year... Victory! Superblue joined the production and his hook line in the song sent the nation salivating to get on the road and propel "Soca Kingdom" to higher heights. With the release of his song, Soca Kingdom, and the instant appeal of the song the first victim of the song release was Patrice Roberts 'Sweet Fuh Days'. All hopes of competing for the road march died the day 'Soca Kingdom' was released. On the other hand, Iwer George was confident that his song, Savannah, had the right formula to not only take on ‘Soca Kingdom’ but defeat the two-time current leading Road March Kings. Iwer also had the power of youth on his side using Kyle Phillips of Badjohn Republic fame to take on the shy Travis Hosein of Travis World Fame. However, in the end, it does not matter how much effort the singers and producers put into the production, what matters most is the hype the song creates, the needed hook to reel in the masqueraders and a measure of luck to achieve the goal of Road March champion. Machel and his team won it all with a very comfortable margin of victory.
One thing is certain from this year's carnival is that the youth movement is strong and taking charge. Unlike the Calypso Monarch competition which saw last year's winner (Chalkdust) end up in the cellar position with a young champion taking his place, Machel used the youth movement to rise to the top again! New blood, great music and a newly found comfort zone for the future of Soca music in Trinidad and Tobago. Congratulations are extended to PrincePronto, Machel Montano and Travis Hosein on their Soca Monarch Victory!
Please use the comment feature of this post to share your thoughts about the victorious team here with your peers. All comments will be posted, Please don't forget to visit us on our new 'Facebook Fan Page'. Use the search term @sokah2soca. Enjoy!
Machel Montano's Instagram Post:
On behalf of the people of T&T and all Soca and Carnival lovers , I would like to thank this 20yr old @princeprontomusic on my left and 22yr old @travisworldmusic on my right ....writers and producers of the #socakingdom !!!!!
Thank you for sharing your vision and allowing us to realize it’s true potential !!!! Psalms8:2 “ Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” I give thanks!
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