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Reigning Calypso Monarch Machel Montano will be defending his title tonight with his Carnival 2025 release Bet Meh.
The tune has gained popularity in the pan scene, with steel orchestras like Massy Trinidad All Stars, BP Renegades and Heritage Petroleum Siparia Deltones choosing to feature it in this year’s competition.
“I feel this is my calypso year to be like the Black Stalin—Tonight the Black Man Feeling to Party or Burn Dem,” said Montano in an interview with Soca Hive.
“I remember watching those performances, and it was soca songs making the Grand Stand and North Stand shake and dance but still saying something. Bet Meh is saying, ‘You want to bet me I can do this?’ So I am going in there confidently.”
Montano had a jam-packed week, moving from Monday Madness to Class @ QRC, then on to the National Panorama stage, and National Chutney Finals last night.
“I have to rest the limbs and voice in between,” he said.“The exciting part is taking up the challenge and doing whatever it takes to show up. We are going to make history either way.”
He joked that inspiration for his chutney tune Pepper Vine with Drupatee and Lady Lava came from a meme that circulated after he won the calypso crown in 2024.
“This started as a joke for me when they ‘memed’ me last year—next thing you know, he will win Chutney Monarch. I was like, wait a minute, maybe I could do that,” he said.
“It’s been 25 years since I sang Real Unity with Drupatee. She’s beautiful and still doing her thing—her voice is really great.”
Montano again joked that one day, we might just see him on the Panorama ‘Big Stage’ with pan sticks in his hand.
“I am very excited about
playing pan,” he added.“I am
very excited about what the steel
pan can do to help further our
nation, especially at this time. My whole thesis was about that.”
This year has been quite hectic for the King of Soca, who spent two years focusing on his degree in Carnival Studies with the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT).
“I never expected to be back doing a big show on Carnival Monday night,” he said.“It feels good to be back in the Carnival season. It is one of my best Carnival seasons, and everything is happening in divine order.”
The entertainer, who is celebrating 25 years in the business, launched his album—One Degree Hotter—at the Monday Madness event.
“My wife made the joke that I am ‘one degree hotter’, and I said, ‘That’s a good name for the album,’” he joked.
“The album reflects that. You see us with a huge chutney hit, you see us with a Road March contender, you see us with one of the groovy songs on the charts, with one of the retro riddims going into the calypso world. This is an album we felt is on the cusp of something really, really huge.”
Montano and his team are getting ready for the globalisation of soca music.
“Really taking it to the corners of the globe,” he added.
“It is popping up in more than one place that you would never expect. Soca is big in Jamaica all of a sudden when you know soca was second to dancehall. A lot of people are going to the soca fetes and loving it and seeing it in a greater light.
“All over the international press, there is soca popping up here and there. Machel on Tiny Desk representing for soca—NPR, Kennedy Center, Barclays Center, UBS Arena.
“These are big looks, and we feel that if we support this with the right lyrics, the right music, we could be on the cusp of something big for soca.”
Montano and his team at Monk Music—Che Kothari, Dana, Nate, and Roxy—launched the Soundbridge Project at the Hilton Trinidad on February 20. Set to unfold over the next year, Soundbridge will provide local artistes, producers, and songwriters with resources and training to navigate the evolving musical landscape.
Spearheaded by Monk Music, the Shaping the Future of Innovation (STFOI) project is a partnership between the Ministry of Planning and Development, the European Union (EU) and IDB LAB, in collaboration with the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (Cariri).
“We’re at a digital transformation age, and we have technology that is rapidly advancing that could help these youth enhance their careers, manage their careers, and execute their dreams,” Montano said.
“Soundbridge is going to provide tools where they can pick up their phones and see where their music is being distributed. There is no management school in the Caribbean where you can learn these things—you learn it on the fly.
“IDB LAB helps to give finances so we can go in there and work with the underprivileged youth and people who don’t have access to information and technology, and we can make something of them.”
At the Soundbridge launch, Montano surprised the audience with an acoustic performance of Pardy, his Road March contender. While he has performed the popular hit at several Carnival events, it was his marketing campaign for fans that grabbed people’s attention.
“It is always a dream to have a big song in Carnival and run out to a big crowd with it,” he said.
“We made a joke—those who wrote Pardy, Andre Jeffers and Nevon, who produced Kyle from Badjohn Republic, they were worried about the fact that I was not performing in all the fetes,” he said.
“I said to them, ‘Don’t worry, you don’t have to win the race the same way.’ And I said, ‘What we can do is throw a campaign—maybe someone can win a Machel fete because we will have a lot of free nights.’”
The fans certainly didn’t disappoint, with many entries for the Pardy campaign. Ultimately, the winner was the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities.
While Montano forges ahead, criticism continues to come his way.
“Everybody will have an opinion,” he said.“I know what I have been doing for the industry. I sit sometimes in my bed or my chair with a big smile on my face when I see Farmer Nappy, when I see Patrice, or when I see any other artiste doing something that I know I struggled to establish, and they can use it.
“I do not need validation from anybody. I know what I have done, and I just let it be because I understand the nature. Before I try to let them understand how I feel, I seek first to understand why they would say or do what they do. And I always bring it down to human nature.”
In just a few hours, we’ll know if Montano holds on to his crown.
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