Machel, SuperBlue rule Soca Kingdom

An image from the video for the new release Soca Kingdom by Machel Montano and SuperBlue.
An image from the video for the new release Soca Kingdom by Machel Montano and SuperBlue.

Road March royalty Machel Montano and SuperBlue (Austin Lyons) have collaborated on a new track called Soca Kingdom which may see Machel reclaiming his crown and SuperBlue returning to the throne after five years.

The three minute, 22 second video of the song was posted on Machel’s YouTube channel on Friday and has received more than 145,000 views and the comments were almost unanimously positive, with many declaring it as Road March 2018. The image on the video shows images of Machel and SuperBlue back to back. The song begins slowly with Machel declaring “Soca Kingdom” and “Who ready?” The beat then picks up and Machel sings about getting ready to head out for Carnival.

“Get ready to mash down, all in the stadium, the whole of the kingdom come down,” he sings.

Machel Montano

SuperBlue comes at the chorus singing “wine and wine and fling it up” at a breakneck pace tailor-made for the Queen’s Park Savannah stage. He is also heard later during a slower bridge where he calls on people to lift their hands in the air and then in an up-tempo bridge when he calls on people to “party like a VIP” and “stamp your name on the stage.” On YouTube the song has six thousand thumbs up and 249 thumbs down.

“I get goosebumps! Somebody say Road March! We Kings on Rise!” one poster declared.

“Machel Monday here I come! This is Road March 2018! Machel and SuperBlue this is fire,” another wrote. One poster said Soca Kingdom would win the Road March followed by Iwer George’s Savannah and then Patrice Roberts’ Sweet Fuh Days. Another poster congratulated Machel and SuperBlue on their collaboration while yet another declared, “Meh prayers to the soca gods have been answered.”

One poster predicted that Machel would open his annual Machel Monday concert with the song while another said they were so emotionally happy and had been replaying the song for hours. The song has been getting heavy rotation on local radio stations like 96.1 WEFM and 107.7 FM.

Machel is an eight-time Road March winner and is tied with Sparrow (Dr Slinger Francisco). In 2016 Machel won the title for the third consecutive time with his mega hit Waiting on the Stage after ruling the road with Like ah Boss and Ministry of Road in 2015 and 2014 respectively. Machel first won in 1997 with Big Truck and then in 2006 with Band of the Year with Patrice Roberts, 2007 with Jumbie, 2011 with Advantage and 2012 with Pump Yuh Flag. Machel was dethroned in 2017 by the runaway hit Full Extreme by Ultimate Rejects featuring MX Prime.

SuperBlue

SuperBlue is a nine-time Road March winner, thrice with his previous alias Blue Boy, while the still undefeated ten-time winner is the grandmaster Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts).

SuperBlue last won the Road March in 2013 with the Carnival anthem Fantastic Friday. His previous eight wins were: in 2000 for Pump Up, a tie with Iwer George and his Carnival Come Back Again; in 1995 with Signal to Lara; in 1993 with Bacchanal Time; in 1992 with Jab Jab; in 1991 with Get Something and Wave; in 1983 (as Blue Boy) with Rebecca; in 1981 with Ethel; and in 1980 with Soca Baptist.

Machel’s hat-trick from 2014 to 2017 was the fourth in Road March history: Kitchener won from 1963 to 1965 with The Road, This is Mas and My Pussin; Christopher “Tambu” Herbert from 1988 to 1990 with This Party Is It, Free Up and We Ain’t Going Home; SuperBlue from 1991 to 1993; while Rafael “Roaring Lion” De Leon is the sole four time consecutive winner copping the title from 1935 to 1938 with Dingolay Oy, Advantage Could Never Done, Netty Netty and No Norah Darling.

Sunday Newsday spoke with a publicist for SuperBlue who directed questions to contact Machel’s camp. Efforts to contact Machel’s camp were futile.

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"Machel, SuperBlue rule Soca Kingdom"

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