Machel Montano: More than meets the eye

Posted by Kelly Meehan in Entertainment, Featured, Interesting News, Interviews | 1 comment

Don’t let Soca musician Machel Montano’s easy going demeanor fool you, this man can tear up the stage.

Looking into the sea of his adoring fans, gathered around a make shift stage in downtown Manhattan’s J&R Music on a rainy Saturday afternoon — one might never guess Machel once struggled to maintain popularity against mainstream music.

As a young boy in Trinidad, Montano witnessed mechanized pop music override the raw beauty of Soca — a calypso-like genre created by Ras Shorty through the fusion of Trinidad’s Indian and African populations’ musical expressions.

To combat the movement away from Trinidad’s cultural music, Montano fathered the modernization of Soca, by blending combining the traditional beats genre with modern hip-hop rhythms.

“When I played lines from popular [songs], the crowd would go crazy,” he boasted, but his focus on calypso often drew stares of boredom.

As a young artist, who gained fame during his primary school years, Montano recalls spending hours on end to master the musical techniques of hip-hop.

“For the next 10 years I worked to modernize the music,” he said, believing he was the first to introduce reggae to the soca crowd — a quick-loving group of fans who shot Montano to stardom at the ripe age of 11 with his first song, “Too Young to Soca.”

Montano’s most striking cultural contribution is not his limited in his genius musical ability, but in his drive to give back to the world that has “given him so much.”

Montano recently penned his first children’s book with a dual message: cultural awareness and preservation.

In “The Boy and The Magic Drum,” a young boy faces the adverse affects of Caribbean industrialization — only to find joy in recycling an oil drum into a Steelpan Drum, bringing him happiness and revelation.

“I think it is so important to reach out to the young children,” Montano, a father himself, says, “I am always thinking about the future.”

These words often ring true during his well-attended concerts that also feature Montano’s hand selected collection of up-and-coming Soca musicians.

“This is the future,” he said into the microphone while introducing rising Soca stars Patrice Roberts and Nappy Farmer, and the crowd could not have been happier.

Those who collaborate with Montano are “eternally grateful,” explained the soft-spoken Roberts, whose dream is to perform with Rihanna.

“We all want to give back,” she said,  “like Machel.”

And with career bookmarked by sold out concerts in Madison Square Garden, a drive to give back, and a strike of musical innovation — it is clear the new father of Soca is destined for ongoing success.