Soca artiste Machel Montano believes he has the key to taking soca to the Grammys and other international award shows.
Montano made the comment at a media conference yesterday, ahead of his One Show, which is carded for Fantastic Friday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain from 9 pm.
Montano expressed the view that in his experience, Groovy Soca will not be the genre to put T&T’s culture firmly on the map but rather Power Soca. He said Power takes a grip of audiences more than Groovy.
“How do we get this into the Grammys?” he asked.
This is a question he thinks he has the answer to as well.
“I do have hope. There is one beat that I am sitting on and I call it the future of Power Soca, because I think with this beat, I could get into the award shows and still do the Power Soca and still present it in a way,” he said.
Montano said local artistes need to sit together in a professional writing camp united with that goal.
In that regard, the five-time Power Soca Monarch and two-time Groovy Soca Monarch felt that competitions should be a thing of the past.
“Right now, we are focusing on beating one another on a stage and come out on top and who is the monarch and who is the king. It is going to be a distraction, because our efforts will no longer be in one direction, it will be diluted,” Montano explained.
Montano pointed to the fact that some of the well-known and experienced artistes, including himself, have moved away from competition because it takes a lot out of them.
He stressed that taking soca music forward will require more time and increased effort. However, right now, he said his effort is on putting on his One Show event.
He revealed that aside from appearances from scores of local artistes, there will be a significant presence of Nigerian performers, which highlights his love for Afrobeats.
“I am a huge fan of Afrobeats music...Something about it is tender, something about it is royal,” he said.
However, Montano briefly highlighted one of the challenges he and his team are facing as it relates to these African artistes.
“Why is it so hard to come from Africa to Trinidad?... These things are issues that we have to address,” he said.
Another element of the show, according to Montano, will be a tribute to the Black Stalin and his family.
There will also be a re-enactment of the 1881 Canboulay Riots, which is customarily done at 4 AM on Carnival Monday in Piccadilly, Port-of-Spain.
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