3 Times Soca Monarch Tief
by November 10, 2017With Machel no longer entering, the International Soca Monarch competition isn’t as big as it once was. In spite of that it still is the highlight of the season for many foreigners flying in. We’ve had many winners over the years. Super Blue, the OG, dominated early on in the competition’s tenure. Bunji had his period. Sherwin did his thing. Fayann had a year when she swept almost everything. And most recently, Machel has dominated for the last 3-4 years. And don’t forget Voice who like Drake did it “back to back”.
For veteran viewers, what also stands out almost as much as who won is who didn’t win. Destra, one of the biggest soca artistes in the world, has never won. Benjai hasn’t won. And there have been times when the eventual winner has been head scratching. But that’s the nature of competitions. Personally I feel we trinis love upsets almost as much as the predictable wins. We love walking out the event drunk and vex exclaiming “dey f*cking tief!!!! Dey mudda****!!!!”.
And with that said, let’s relive some of those head scratching moments
Nadia & Kes – MY LAND (2007)
Big big throwback here. We have a fat Nadia Batson. We have a Kes with locks (a thousand females wept). In 2007 they were on the come up looking to take down the big guns. “My Land” was a song way harder than most people expected. In a lot of ways it was a vision of the future pre-dating what Destra would later popularize – power soca with RnB melodies. This grainy video doesn’t do it justice but they shelled dong the place. The eventual winner – Iwer with “Fete after Fete“. Sigh.
Machel & Destra – IT’S CARNIVAL (2003)
The most recognizable soca song of all time never won soca monarch? Or Road March? WHAT!!! Say it eh so.
I wish I could. To add insult to injury, she brought up Machel on stage at the height of his powers for the performance. Who won? Iwer with “Ah Home“. The water lord strikes again.
Iwer George – COME TO MEH (2011)
2011 was a contentious Soca Monarch. Machel decided the money was worth it after all and returned to take “Advantage”. Bunji and Fay-Ann bristled and grumbled but plotted to take down boy. Destra, going through some beef with Machel at the time, self destructed spectacularly. Everyone was out for blood. Iwer, the king of minimalism – he can often be found mashing up fetes propped up on a speaker with a single blue waters bottle – surprised competitors and viewers by actually putting out effort and money for soca monarch 2011.
It was visible from tv screens across the world and to those that attended live that Iwer had the best performance and by far the most crowd support. Even this guy, who is a Machel fan had to give it to the Point man. But alas, as it was written in the ancients, Machel walked away with the prize.
So that’s the three there. Sound off regarding any I missed in the comments.
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