For centuries, two forces have been locked in a constant struggle. Like good and evil, Yin and Yang, or sky and earth, except with a tighter focus on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, the question of whether it is better to mash up the place or to run the road has bitterly divided thinkers, musicians and dancers. Some have advocated the bacchanal need to mash, while others have argued for the importance of having a road on which to march.
This conflict has now been ended.
Philosopher king (and lifetime soca monarch) Machel Montano has seen a space for compromise where lesser musicians saw only conflict, and with his latest track “Minister Of Roads” (M.O.R for short), has united both camps in the joy of construction and the love of fete.
Backed up by a head-spinning, break-dancing, rear-shaking posse of dancers, Minister Montano quiets a group of protesters begging for more road with his mere appearance, calling in a crew of construction machines to solve the problem. Mashing up the place? Build a road! Want to march? Build a road! M.O.R. is the answer.
On a slightly, well, M.O.R. serious note, this is the best Montano video since “Pump Yu Flag,” continuing his run of winningly tongue-in-cheek carnival tracks. We can’t wait to hear it blasting through float speakers or dropped into mixtapes. Long live soca!
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