Soca Chronicles
Monthly Soca Podcast - Hosts Arkayo and Sharnz explore the people, history, and unforgettable moments behind Soca music and the Carnival experience – from legendary artists and DJ's to personal stories from the road.
Soca Chronicles
Machel's Record Road March
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We tackle Trinidad’s Road March result, the record 12th title, and the swirl of promotion, DJs, and people power shaping what plays at judging points. Then we tour February’s carnivals, pick our Song of the Month, and plug two London fetes you should not miss.
• record 12th Road March title and reaction
• what defines a Road March song versus a popular hit
• DJ influence, judging points, and calls for fairness
• spring carnival calendar highlights and budgeting
• Song of the Month: Voice – Cyah Behave
• London events: Supah Nytro’s birthday and Brawlin anniversary
Follow us on IG:
@djsharnz
@thearkayo
@soca_chronicles
www.socachronicles.com
Sponsored by:
www.acesir.com
Welcome to the Soka Chronicles Soka Chronicles with Sharns and Arcayo. Welcome to episode 54 of Soca Chronicles, the podcast that brings you everything Soka. I'm Arka Yo, and I'm digitally sitting next to the one and only Shards.
SPEAKER_05:Yo yo yo.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, that sounds a bit Christmassy, but in February, but I'll allow it.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I mean I in my head had the la la la la la La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La.
SPEAKER_05:That's what I had in my head.
SPEAKER_01:So the yo yo yo I I think your mic just gave up.
SPEAKER_05:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Nice. Thank God for the mic giving up. I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But yeah, I used to sing that song as well when I was younger. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:So that's where wow. That's where um the yo-yo yo was kind of inspired from, but I just kind of changed it a bit.
SPEAKER_01:I'll allow it. I'll allow it. Anyway, welcome in February, end of February. That means that we are now past the opening season of 2026 soca season. Mm-hmm. Treinet Carnival happened. And bye. What a big one.
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:A record was shattered. That rhymes right. Am I a rapper?
SPEAKER_06:Sure.
SPEAKER_01:Alright, awesome.
SPEAKER_06:MCRKO.
SPEAKER_01:Treineth Carnival happened. And boy, the road march. Marchio Montano taking his 12th road march title this year. Officially beating Kitchener and being the most road marchy guy in the world right now.
SPEAKER_06:The flip. The most roadmarchy guy. Yeah, I would say the Trinidadian with the most roadmarch titles in Trinidadian history.
SPEAKER_01:That that applies that there's maybe Jamaicans with more roadmarch titles from Trinidad.
SPEAKER_06:Well I I don't know. I don't know. He he just yeah, he's the most roadmarchy person.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. That's clear, right? Everybody understands what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_06:Sure.
SPEAKER_01:He is Roadmarch right now. But yeah, he did win. The most roadmarches everyone, I think, is the right way of saying it.
SPEAKER_06:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:And it wasn't without controversy. Um, I will start by saying it was a good song. I will continue by saying personally, I might have been a fan of another song more, but it's not it wasn't a day and night difference, if you know what I mean. Like it wasn't a total awful song. I know I've seen on Instagram as well, Macho Montano did the most promoting a song. Oh my goodness. I don't know how many shows he did in a row. Um he released a movie, uh sort of an autobiography at some point as well. That guy put in the work. So fair play. Fair play. Congratulations to Marshall Montano for winning his uh record 12th road march. And I wonder if he's not gonna retire or not.
SPEAKER_06:Well, he did say that he's not gonna enter the road march competition anymore, but you know, you see he could say that now, and then come next year it might be like, oh, maybe I could go for 13. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01:Wait, and did wasn't that exactly what happened last year, this year with Bungie Garland?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah. He said, I'm done with the road march, I'm throwing my toys out the prime because I didn't win last year. Bah bah. And then boom, he tried to have the what's it how does it go?
SPEAKER_01:The eat the cake and eat a two.
SPEAKER_06:Entry of the century.
SPEAKER_01:Oh shit.
SPEAKER_06:How does it go again?
SPEAKER_01:Eat the cake and eat a two, I thought, but it's the entry of the century, yes.
SPEAKER_06:Best late entry of the century, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Best late entry of the century. There we go. Because he he posted a picture two days before, right? Like his entry uh yeah, check or whatever.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah, the$500 that he paid.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:And um I did not expect that one.
SPEAKER_01:But he was happy with third place, he even posted exactly because I that it was it was a roller coaster for me because Bunchie Garden last year was very clear he would never enter road march again. Yep, he believed it was a setup. Now comes the year of potentially Martial's winning his his record, you know, uh road march. Obviously, well, obviously, sorry. Um, it has been discussed that potentially it didn't matter who else would join because Marshall would win anyway for Trinidad to honor his role in Soka. If you know what I mean. Again, I I I don't think it's a bad thing to say, but don't make it a competition then. Um but here he goes, entering anyway, and then becoming third. So I was expecting another like declaration of war or something. And instead he goes, Yeah, let's drink some champagne, we got third place, nice, and fair play, it's a good result. Yeah, the the actions don't follow up to what I've been seeing in the past, but yeah, it's been an eventful uh um eventful one. I keep saying, and I will still say it now, for me, it wasn't Marcel Montano, it wasn't Bonji Garland, they were both having great songs, but the winner this year for me was Voice.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, fair enough. I mean, this is probably the most popular song out of the three. Um, but then a lot of people are saying that it's not a Road March song, so obviously it's not power, you know, it's just it's not got that Road March feel. Obviously, if we listen to the lyrics of Mashell's song Encore, that in itself is a road march song. Do you know what I mean? Like the lyrics and everything. And what it took me a while to notice, so I actually had to watch a TikTok to know that Encore is basically just party 2.0, it's more or less the same beat. I didn't even I didn't even pay attention to it because do you know why? I'm not really a fan of party, and I'm not really a fan of Encore, so I wasn't really paying attention to the song like that. And obviously, now that the person said it, I'm like, oh yeah, damn, Daniel.
SPEAKER_01:And and there is some some truth in that, right? Because I think even Marcel said, listen, it's funny when these groovy songs do well and they want to enter Rogemarch, the first thing they do is they have to hop in the studio and do a road march remix or whatever.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Fair play, fair play. It shows that it's not designed to be, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Is it now are we then actually saying that Rogue March is a whole category on its own? You know what I mean? Like, there's good songs, and if they're good, they should be able to win.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, no, definitely, but look how DNA won. DNA was what, 2023? Yeah, 2023.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and that's actually exactly, and that's actually a very good realization to have as well. There's there's people saying, like, hold on, you're acting like Marshall wins every single time. No, no, no, no, no. Look at the previous winners, you know, like there were some really good songs out there that won. Um so yeah, there's definitely something to say for that as well. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, no, definitely. Was it 23 DNA or was it 24? I feel like hard fit. No, Hard Fit was 23. DNA 24. Yeah, because 24 was the year that Mashell took off, no? Remember, he took a year out, yeah, and then he came back in 2025 and basically won everything. He won like the Chutney. Yeah, 2025 was party.
SPEAKER_01:And then yeah, exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_06:So, think about it. If Mashell didn't take that year off in 2024, would DNA still have won? That's the question.
SPEAKER_01:If he dropped party, then probably not. But that brings us to another topic, right? How democratic is the road march, and how democratic should it be? Because clearly there was another well, couple of discussions about how Marshall has the most DJs on his side or in his pocket, however you want to frame it. Um, you know, like it is politics, it is uh pushing songs, it is you know marketing, all that stuff. But then we also saw a video, uh Sharon's uh where um the DJ was basically saying, Right, we're about to uh cross a judging point, uh, we have three options to play. I want to hear people shout if you if you want to hear that song, and basically like get a vote.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Which I liked. Um I don't say it's the way to go, but you know, it's it's it's a matter for thought because food for thoughts, sorry, that's the one. Um you know, how democratic should it be? Should we look at actually, I don't know, Spotify plays, YouTube plays, or you know, should we include a category public uh favourite or something?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, I mean that is a good shout, RKO. The the people's champion, the people's champion, exactly. Yeah, because obviously, you know, um on the road, obviously it got the most plays, but is it really the song that people like?
SPEAKER_01:Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_06:So obviously the artists can influence DJs or whatever, get DJs to play it over and over and over again and all this stuff. Um, but obviously that doesn't tell us what the most popular song was at the end of the day. So I think it is a shout to maybe add people's champion in there and let them win a prize.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_06:I feel like if that happens, there may not be so much controversy around Road March. What do you think?
SPEAKER_01:I think there will always be controversy because it's always gonna be a matter of taste, but still, um I would like to see that, and I would base it really on numbers, not on because you know you used to have I think Barbie is it as well, right? Where you can vote for your uh your people's choice, you have to text this number to that number, and you know, I I don't believe in that sort of voting because it's so easy to rig.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Um so just have a look at the total Spotify sales because that also helps the artist in the end, right? If if people want to support, go to Spotify and listen to the song the whole day for all that matter, because the artist is still getting paid then. Yeah, exactly. This is even if it is a quarter of a quarter, but you know, and it did help, I guess.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_01:But yeah, definitely who are we to to change these uh traditions that have been ongoing for for so many years, exactly fair enough, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:But hold on, I didn't even answer the question. Do I believe the revellers should choose which song is played at judging point? I think it's an interesting one. So for me, I believe it's a good idea for the revellers to actually choose which song that they want to cross the judging point um with because that way the songs that are being played when you're crossing the judging point would be more like the people's champion as opposed to the song that the DJs are pushing or the artists are pushing. Because what I heard was that Machel was like he jumped on one truck, he performed, went back across the judging point, went on another truck, performed and he was just hopping, he was truck hopping. Yep, which is mad, but I respect it because he's doing what he needs to do. That that guy went to a million and one different schools, like literally was on loads of different radio shows, went on podcasts, he was pushing that song like crazy, and I respect it. So anybody, because there's so many people that are saying oh he didn't deserve to win, and blah blah blah blah blah blah, my shell's always winning. Bro, he put in the work for this song.
SPEAKER_01:100%, 100%.
SPEAKER_06:Like he really did.
SPEAKER_01:That would change then, right? If he would say let the revelers decide.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, I think he may not have won it if the revellers were the ones to decide on the song. Because I feel like Voice, Voice would have got it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, I think so too. Yeah. The only practical thing that I would would add to that is because what we saw in the video was like it was uh, you know, whoever screamed the loudest won, basically. Yeah. Um this was an obvious in this group, it was an obvious winner, but I can also imagine there's groups where it is tight, and it's very difficult to then decide who wins. So if you really want to make it democratic, it needs to be in terms of a pre-vote, like join your band. Here's an exclusive login code to vote for your uh um um judging point song for whatever. But yeah, you know, you can you can redesign the contest all you like. The point is Marshall won. He put in the effort, the song is it's good. Um, second voice, third bungee, not a bad score for Soka in general.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, definitely, definitely. So I'm interested to know who's gonna win it next year.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:And if Marshall is true to his word and doesn't enter, I don't want to hear anybody complaining if they don't win next year. Like I don't want to hear it because Marshall's not in the competition, so it's anybody's game. I could enter road much. I'll just be like, my great granny's father's dog's cat's mother was Trinidadian, so I can enter the Trinidadian Road March and I could win.
SPEAKER_01:Straight. Yeah, I if you want to put a bet down, I'm gonna say that he's not gonna step down because I don't think that's the person he is. I think he'll be playing until he cannot play anymore, but uh yeah, let's see next year.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. I'm very interested to know.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, yep, me too. But at the same time, there's so many more carnivals ahead that I don't want to fast forward either.
SPEAKER_06:This is true, this is very true, and I'm going to two of them.
SPEAKER_01:Well, oh, here you go. Three of them. Rob it in, girl.
SPEAKER_06:Ba ba ba ba ba.
SPEAKER_01:Honestly, Jesus.
SPEAKER_06:But it wasn't just Trinidad Carnival that happened this month. There was also a Dominica carnival, so Mass Dominic, that I was, you know, lucky enough to attend two years ago. I cannot believe it's been two years already since I went to Dominica. It feels like just yesterday. I can't lie to you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, actually crazy.
SPEAKER_06:That was the trip that converted me to bouillon. Like, obviously, I like bouillon, but not to listen to it the whole night or whatever. But that trip there that changed my life. And now I'm bouillon babe. Yep, literally uh bouillon babe. So um, yeah, Dominica Carnival looked lit as well. I saw lots of footage, I saw um Black Roses footage, I saw footage from the Love SIWO gang. Literally, one of my boys was in Dominica. I was like, and he's we're in a group chat for St. Lucia Carnival, and he's in there, so he was sending videos from the different fets and from the road and showing his costume, and I was just like, I need to block this guy. I need to because I'm just here in the UK, it's rained every single day of 2026.
SPEAKER_01:I think Well, at least you know how I feel when you're going.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, but when I'm going, the weather's not that bad though. Think about it.
SPEAKER_01:No, that's true, that's true.
SPEAKER_06:You see what I'm saying? So it's you know, it is too bad, but you know, it's bad for you, I get it.
SPEAKER_01:But yeah, no, I I I hear what you're saying.
SPEAKER_06:At least you can sit in the sunshine, you know, sit in your back garden with a beer, a little cerveza, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Do a little little tear coming out of my eye.
SPEAKER_06:There we go, but your little sunbathe, put on your sunbave. I'm still getting a tan. So you can get a tan while you're crying and watching my videos of me having a time of my life.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, sounds like a plan to me. Yep. Trust me. Uh that's a deal.
SPEAKER_06:Definitely, but also it wasn't just Dominica Carnival.
SPEAKER_01:Correct.
SPEAKER_06:It was also Aruba and Kura Sao. I saw not a single bit of footage from any of those carnivals. Oh dad, so tell me about it.
SPEAKER_01:It it's it's obviously if if you know you know, right? It's uh it's a bit different than the main island carnival. So uh music is a bit different, the style is a bit different. So in Aruba, for example, that's that's what I know best. Uh half my household is Aruban. So their style is much more pretty, Moss. So the focus is much more on pretty than on Moss. So their their costumes are gorgeous, it is very nice, like full full bodysuit, like you know, everything. It's a team, so every every uh truck has a team, and and they are building, they're doing the most. They have like yeah, it's it's just beautiful. Um, and then they just chip down the street, and that's it. But there's no excessive drinking, there's no flat out whining, you know what I mean? Like it's it's it's it's uh I'm not gonna say bougie. Sounds yeah, I was gonna say bougie, but um it's it's it's classy. Let me put that way. It's classy.
SPEAKER_06:Okay, yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:I haven't decided if I ever want to join that, but uh, you know, yeah, there's there's obviously there's also some parts where it gets less bougie and more unclassy, but you you know what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_06:More dotty.
SPEAKER_01:More dotty indeed. But yeah, so it feels like most of the carnival's already behind us, even though it's just February. Yeah. But up next, we have Jamaica, 12th of April.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And St. Martin Carnival is also towards the end of April, I believe, beginning of May might be the days on the road.
SPEAKER_01:Was it 12th?
SPEAKER_06:Um yeah, St. Martin Carnival is is one that I do want to visit at some point, seeing as I did go to St. Martin for a day on my cruise. Um, it looks like it would be a vibe. It really does. So Jamaica Carnival, I'm not in a rush to go to, I'm not gonna lie to you.
SPEAKER_01:Um I will keep repeating my stance on it. I'm scared. April 30, by the way, for St. Martha.
SPEAKER_06:Say that again.
SPEAKER_01:April 30 for St. Martha.
SPEAKER_06:Okay, yeah, yeah. End of April. I did look at maybe trying to get there, but my bank balance is saying shit.
SPEAKER_01:Don't do it. Stop it. Don't do it.
SPEAKER_06:Literally, I've got St. Lucia, I've got Cropover, and I've got Miami. That's the real fair place.
SPEAKER_01:St.
SPEAKER_06:Lucia and Cropover, back to back. I mean, nah, my bank account. I don't know what I'm gonna do. RKO. At the moment, I'm just hoping and praying that you know I find the money.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, like yep. Well, there's other um routines, no, not routines, there's other ways you can go in, but uh, I wouldn't recommend them.
SPEAKER_06:Well, I mean, I've I've been looking at all the different street corners in London. I've been looking at them hard, I've been, you know, doing some four planning, yeah, yeah, all of that, you know, what times I'm gonna be there, you know, what price list is gonna be like by the time that you're there, and what services are gonna be offered, all of that. Yeah, all of that. I've already started planning it because yeah, I'm just I'm on a hope and a prayer right now, but that's that's how I'm going, but I'm gonna make it happen somehow, some way, it's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01:For sure. I uh I know the feeling, and I'm not even going to carnival, but yeah, man.
SPEAKER_06:And that brings us to the song of the month for this month. Now, the one that we've chosen this month has been discussed earlier. Okay, so it is one of our favorites. Now, obviously, the option is because we've only discussed three songs. So the if you've been listening, you've been paying attention, you'll know it's one of the three songs.
SPEAKER_01:It's also our favourite.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah. So I think I'm gonna cut the suspense because I'm talking too much right now and talking unnecessarily. And let's get into it. So the song of the month, this month, is I can't be here myself. Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding. I can't be here myself.
SPEAKER_01:Big chew.
SPEAKER_06:Actually, and I can actually relate to that song.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, 100%. Yup, and this is it, right? This is this was our favorite for Rogue Mars DJ. Year. Again, we're not salty that uh Marcel Montana won. It was deserved. Yeah. But uh he is uh you know the first now rice. Let me put it that way. So let's have a listen to uh voice with Kia Behave.
SPEAKER_06:Let's go.
SPEAKER_01:This is the song of the month of it.
SPEAKER_06:That was Can't Behave by Voice. I can't behave myself. I can't behave myself. Big tune.
SPEAKER_01:Big tune.
SPEAKER_06:Very big tune. Now we are almost at the end of the episode. However, I just have a couple of events that I need to discuss to plug. You know how I am. Plug plug plug plug plug before we end it here. The 28th of March, we are celebrating Super Nitro's birthday. Back it up. Meet the Bash versus Soka. So you're gonna get your fix of soca, you're gonna get your fix of dancehall, and there will be other genres in between played, but the predominance of it will be dancehall and soca. So people, if you are in London or you want to come to London, 28th of March is where it's happening. It's gonna be a movie. The event sells are every year. So get your tickets now while it's nice and early. The tickets are nice and cheap because the tickets are flying already. I'll tell you that, we've gone through maybe two different tiers already, which is telling you something.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, get those tickets, boys.
SPEAKER_06:Exactly. And girls.
SPEAKER_01:And girls, okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Sorry.
SPEAKER_06:Now the link to get your tickets. The link to get your ticket is www.bacitupuk.com. So that's bucket top, bucket stop, girl. Come over. Bucket stop, bucket top, yeah. Okay, sorry. So that is B-A-C-K-I-T-U-P-U-K dot com.backitupuk.com. Head there, grab your ticket, and it's gonna be a movie. I'm gonna be there, RKO's not gonna be there, but I'm gonna be there, and that's all that matters.
SPEAKER_01:I was gonna say you're you're you're counting for two.
SPEAKER_06:There we go, exactly. And no, I'm not pregnant before people start to get images in their heads.
SPEAKER_01:I didn't even consider that, but yeah, fair.
SPEAKER_06:Pause, fire!
SPEAKER_01:Good to mention indeed.
SPEAKER_06:There we go. But we have another event, okay. Another event, another one. DJ Khaled. All I do is win, win, win, win.
SPEAKER_01:Win, win, no matter what. Got money on my mind, I can ever get it that's not DJ Khaled, that's T-Pane.
SPEAKER_06:Sorry, that's overcrossed. No, but DJ Khaled is I swear he made the beat.
SPEAKER_01:He's everywhere. He's everywhere.
SPEAKER_06:I'm pretty sure it goes DJ Khaled. You're absolutely right.
SPEAKER_01:I'm just fucking.
SPEAKER_06:Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Because I started to doubt myself. Anyway, moving on, because why am I always digressing from what I need to talk about?
SPEAKER_01:Please, I'm waiting for the second event.
SPEAKER_06:Brawlin is back the 18th of April. It is going to be the one year anniversary already, my guy. Yes. One year anniversary. Tickets have gone on sale already. To grab yours, all you gotta do is head to www.trident at ldn.com. That's t-r-i-d-e-n-t.com. Grab your ticket. This one is gonna be a movie. The last ruling in November completely sold out. And it sold out a good few days before the event as well. I had so many people messaging me. Oh Seans, I need tickets. Bro, get your ticket from Early because when, not if, when this sells out, don't call my phone. Don't do it.
SPEAKER_01:Don't message my phone.
SPEAKER_06:Literally, literally, grab your ticket from Early. That's all I'm gonna say. Brawlin, we outside, the Easter jam, one year anniversary, DJ Shans!
SPEAKER_01:Yes, please.
SPEAKER_06:I don't know why I added the DJ Shards at the end. That was so unnecessary, but yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Why? It's cool. You're an international DJ, you have to let it be known.
SPEAKER_06:For goodness sake. Okay, we need to stop that. Yeah, guys, please get there. It's gonna be a movie. I can't wait.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. And with that, I think it's time to try to listen to our friend that is about to have a birthday.
SPEAKER_00:Super Nitro. Make sure you check out Silicon Chronicles, tag a friend, tell a friend, share the podcast, let people know that this exists because it's good for the culture, it's good for the vibe, it's good for the energy, it's educational, it's fun, it's funny, it's plantiful, and it's good for you to just know a little bit about the people that's making your music and the people that you're involved with listening to.
SPEAKER_01:And with that, it is time for us to say goodbye. We'll be back with you in March.
SPEAKER_06:That is it. So please, people, thank you so much for tuning in once again this month, and we will be back next month. Bye bye.
SPEAKER_01:Stay safe, bye bye. You've been listening to the Soka Chronicles Chronicles.
