Machel, Bravo launch Pineapple Riddim, call for more investment in culture

SOCA star Machel Montano believes greater investment in arts and culture is needed.

He said while for young calypsonians and soca artistes being part of the Soca Monarch contest might seem exciting and had done a lot for people’s careers, it was now a shifting world.

He also spoke to why he believed this was a time for unity and not competitions. He also reconfirmed that he would be defending his Calypso Monarch crown for Carnival 2025.

Montano spoke as he and Dwyane “DJ Bravo” Bravo unveiled their collaborative riddim, Pineapple, which features Montano, Patrice Roberts, Lyrikal, Barbadian soca icon Rupee and new artiste 47 Ronzy.

The launch of the riddim took place at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club, Port of Spain on December 18. The riddim is a collaborative effort between their studios, 47 Productions and Monk Music.

Sitting on a studio-like stage, flanked by DJ Bravo and Lyrikal, along with Rupee and 47 Ronzy, Montano called for more investment in arts and culture, saying Trinidad and Tobago has been a nation where a lot of investment had been made in oil and business, but culture was taken as something secondary.

“Where Trinidad and Tobago is rich in culture. Caribbean music, soca music is a Caribbean product and Monk Music has embraced that platform for us to support the young people.

“We want to encourage a lot of relationships with Apple and Spotify and YouTube and Empire and all the links that these young people may not have – we want to be that bridge.”

Asked about Soca Monarch and the recently unveiled government-led soca competition, Montano used an aphorism to illustrate his point: “There is a saying: ‘What get you here would not get you there.’

“There is a desire for some people to go back to the Soca Monarch, to go back to the glory days of Soca Monarch the competition.

"In life, we don’t get to go back, we can only go forward and, as I say, what get us here, wouldn’t get us there.”

Montano said to go back to the Soca Monarch meant going back to Machel versus Bunji versus Fay Ann versus Destra versus Iwer versus SuperBlue.

He said that was a moment people were building together ,and called on those present to applaud the work of Soca Monarch founder William Munroe.

Soca Monarch did a lot for them as artistes who were rising, but in this new era, collaboration was needed instead of competition, he said.

The local music industry needed to focus on the quality of its music, its writing, its marketing and messaging, he added.

This was necessary to inspire young people and the nation, Montano said.

“I don’t personally feel we need a competition right now to take us where we need to go that has done its thing. That will happen organically again at some point.”

He said Afrobeats was becoming the more popular music globally, and it sounded like soca.

Montano said access was the missing tool to take soca global.

“We could have access to India, Africa, London. We could have access to the young people, the new generation and rising artistes. We need to focus on soca music being a global product.

“Carnival would always be there, competitions would always be there, but our focus is on working together to go to higher heights.”

He said he believes soca is next in line to be mainstream. Montano said there was a German contingent here learning about soca and investing in it.

Both Montano and DJ Bravo spoke about how the riddim came about, Bravo’s persistence in working with him and their desire to develop younger aristes like 47 Ronzy.

Each of the five artistes on the riddim performed a snippet of their songs. Roberts was abroad and did not physically attend, but spoke about her work on the riddim via a video message.