Machel Montano Makes History with Soca at NPR Tiny Desk!

Machel Montano's appearance on NPR Tiny Desk is an important moment in music history - It marks the first time in it's 17 year history that Tiny Desk has featured a soca artist.

Soca is a style of music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago, but has globally been in the shadow of reggae music of Jamaica, possibly due to its smaller population and different migratory and colonial histories. This does not mean that soca is a particularly niche artform. With its origins in calypso, it emerged in the 1970's in Trinidad and Tobago, and can be heard and experienced worldwide at carnivals and fetes. For many around the world, soca music not only represents having a good time, but invokes a sense of pride in the music, the island and the artists.

Machel Montano is the most well known soca artist of the last 30+years, with a standing so big in his home country, that the monday before the annual carnival in Trinidad being named after him (Machel Monday). He is often referred to as the 'King of Soca' being a 10x Trinidad and Tobago Road March winner (second only to Lord Kitchener), and 6x International Soca Monarch.

Featuring Etienne Charles on trumpet and flugelhorn, he performed some of his biggest hits including 'Like Ah Boss' and 'Soca Kingdom', and has already amassed over 300k+ views in just over 24 hours.

This might be one of the best Tiny Desks of the year already. Enjoy and be prepared to move!