Nikki Birch | January 13, 2025 The first law of soca music, according to Machel Montano, is: "it's dancing time all the time." And in his Tiny Desk Concert, the "King of Soca" provides irrefutable evidence to support that statement.
Montano's performance is the first to bring soca, the high energy dance music of the Caribbean, to the Tiny Desk. The genre was born in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 1970s when calypso artist Lord Shorty (who later chose the name Ras Shorty I) added traditional Indian percussion instruments and rhythms to calypso music — itself a fusion that incorporates elements of African, Venezuelan, French and American music.
A proud Trinidadian, Montano's contribution to soca has earned him awards and recognition since his youth. His career began in earnest when he was 7 years old, and by the time he was 10, he'd shared the stage with Calypsonian pioneers and icons, most notably performing at Madison Square Garden with Mighty Sparrow, Lord Kitchener and The Mighty Shadow.
Indeed, Montano's Tiny Desk Concert was representative of his 40-plus-year career and, to the delight of those in attendance, included some of his biggest hits: "One More Time," "Famalay," "Like Ah Boss" and "Soca Kingdom."
Guests who attended Montano's performance came ready to fête! They jumped, they wined and they waved the flags of their respective Caribbean islands up high, singing along word for word. Being a Barbados-born, Saint Lucian-bred gyal, seeing and feeling the spirit of unity inherent to the cultural sound ingrained in my DNA — and foundational to my upbringing — represented at Tiny Desk made me beam with pride. If this is your first exposure to soca music, I suggest you stretch and loosen up your waistline before pushing play on this one, because there is no sitting still when soca fills the room.
SET LIST "One More Time" "Dance With You" "Fast Wine" "Like Ah Boss" "Famalay" "Soca Kingdom"
MUSICIANS Machel Montano: vocals Dwain Antrobus: keys Duane Williams: effects Bayete Williams: keys Damien Neblett: bass Melvin Alick: drums Kyle Peters: guitar Modupe Onilu: percussion Rhys Thompson: percussion Etienne Charles: trumpet, flügelhorn Lamar Robinson: background vocals Michael Chandler: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM Producer: Nikki Birch Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern, Alanté Serene, Mitra I. Arthur Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro Photographer: Sofia Seidel Tiny Desk Team: Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer, Kara Frame Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
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