Montano pushing for soca supremacy

Popular soca entertainer Machel Montano recently expressed his hopefulness at the genre's ability to exceed reggae and dancehall to become the 'sound of the Caribbean'.

Montano, who took part in a panel discussion at the Caribbean Investment Forum 2012 in Trinidad alongside Solid Agency head Sharon Burke, and Tamsen Reed, CEO of Celebrity Headliners in the United States, spoke on the topic of Trinidad and Tobago's creative industry.

Of the vision to surpass Jamaica's signature sound, Montano is quoted by The Trinidad Guardian as saying, "I think we need to come together as a unit. I am pushing for soca to be the sound of the Caribbean."

But before that is done, he said issues such as the squabble between elders and youngsters on the topic of music need to go.

Among the other issues he spoke on was the need to embrace and capitalise on technology and the construction of a proper entertainment industry.

He is also quoted as saying that more focus, formality and construction need to be introduced to the soca product for its advancement, "We have been distracted by the oil and the gas, and we are primarily an energy country. Look in the mirror. Let us constantly be our greatest critics. Let us constantly analyse where we are at and be honest. "This is something I wanted to say, because I am a person who is always positively dissatisfied, meaning that I am constantly improving my product and I want to do that until the day I die, because it is who I am - to become a higher expression of who I am."

(from Jamaica Star)