The Trinidadian soca legend holds nothing back reflecting on his career in the film "Machel Montano: Journey of a Soca King."
Machel Montano is synonymous with soca music. Entering the industry at age 9, he has grown alongside the artform. While Montano matured as an entertainer, soca grew in an intensely competitive way that only pushed him to improve. Now known across the globe as the facilitator of fête, he is telling his life story through a documentary.
In the film about his life recently screened at the Pan-African Film Festival entitled, Machel Montano: Journey of a Soca King, Machel bares it all. Teaming up with director Bart Phillips, he takes viewers on a guided tour of his triumphs and torments as a young man forging himself from poverty in Trinidad and Tobago. Tougher times were met with tears and a spiritual growth that has influenced his studies of religion and wellness practices. He openly discussed the physical and psychological price that one pays in order to regularly deliver award-winning songs and performances. After watching the documentary, we spoke with Montano in-depth on what he shared in the film, as well as a better idea of what goes on in his mind.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Kaéche Liburd for OkayAfrica: Give readers a brief history on what soca music is. Why try soca?
Machel Montano: Well, first of all, soca music is a happy music. The sound or the soul of the Caribbean. You know, soca music started off as the soul of calypso. It was a branch of calypso that was based on the unity of East Indian rhythms and African rhythms. Calypso and East Indian beats. And soca music is the soundtrack of Carnival. Carnival is the celebration of freedom that is expressed across the Caribbean.
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