title taken from "Sweet Fuh Days" by Patrice Roberts
WHO WILL TAKE HOME THE ROAD MARCH CROWN?
The time is here, folks! The Road March race is on. For those who are not familiar with the term, Road March is the song that is played most when masqueraders cross the stage in front of the judges. True masqueraders live for this moment. Playing mas in a beautiful costume, chipping through the streets, drinking, bouncing up old friends and making new ones. All of this builds up to the moment when they approach the judging point and they are encouraged to "get on" and show off. So whose song will inveigle this response?
COULD:
It would be great if a woman could win the 2018 Road March title. Not since Fay-Ann did it in 2009 has there even been a strong woman contender and no woman has worked for it like Patrice Roberts. Since she stepped out from the shadows of Machel Montano's HD band, she has been working to create a whole new brand for herself. She is not only one of the most talented singers, she now has the stage confidence and style (kudos to Neil Young & Co Ltd) to be a soca superstar.
"Sweet Fuh Days” has been gaining traction on the airways and Patsy has enough support from her fellow soca artistes to actually take it this year.
But let's be honest. Although the song could win Road March, with her competition being Iwer George and Machel Montano, it's an uphill battle.
SHOULD:
Iwer George always produces crowd pleasers. His energy is infectious, which is exactly what a good Road March tune needs and "Savannah" is full of energy. From the time masqueraders hear “Mama, we reeeaaach!” they will have no choice but to "mash up the Savannah stage!"
It was like an early Christmas present when Iwer dropped this tune. We had been waiting for strong power soca track and he brought it. Without prompting (although the song literally prompts this), everyone was shouting, "George fuh di road!"
That is, until Machel Montano dropped his power soca.
WILL:
Within an hour of "Soca Kingdom's" release, the Soca world was talking. Machel Montano and Super Blue came together on a power soca track! Posts suddenly popped up on social media with captions like “Road March King!” and “Machel does it again!”
Hmmm. I suspect this was more out of respect for the two soca legends rather than a true belief in the song’s ability to snatch the crown from Patrice and Iwer. However, I predict this song will be the Road March. Why? Because it’s Machel and Super Blue. They could literally have sung the alphabet together and deejays would have it in heavy rotation.
That is why this song will win the crown. Machel was unable to defeat Ultimate Rejects for the title last year so he came stronger this year. Teaming up with the original soca king was brilliant! In my opinion, the song can't lose. Get ready to crown Machel once again.
However this shakes out, I am happy to see that artistes are more focused on Road March than the International Soca Monarch competition. The annual competition has seen dwindling attendance and viewership for years and now, with funding issues and a reduced prize of $300,000, artistes have even less incentive to participate. And after the shitshow we witnessed on January 25th, I am much more interested in who wins Road March.
Damn! Now I want to take a trip to Trinidad. Hmmm...
