I Love Soca delivers non-stop fête energy

On Thursday night, just days before the upcoming road march celebrations, locals and foreigners alike made their way to the National Heroes Circle in Kingston and joined long lines with coolers in tow to embark on an electrifying journey with the highly anticipated event of the carnival season, I Love Soca.

Long after the midnight cooler cut-off time, patrons could still be seen entering the venue with their coolers, filling up what little space was left. Once the dust settled and crews were able to secure their place on the playfield, it was non-stop ‘feting’ as deejays kept the vibes flowing and the energy high, rolling out hit after hit from the exciting 2026 soca playlist.

With the road men introducing their women counterparts to rum and Coca-Cola, the mas was able to pick up the pieces, ‘tek charge’ and rock so with carnival friends, both familiar and unknown. As the night progressed, the air of anticipation increased as everyone looked forward to seeing the road march all-time record holder, Machel Montano.

The Soca King made a grand appearance at approximately three minutes to 1 a.m., and when the maestro entered with his 2026 winning entry Encore, the crowd erupted in a burst of excitement.

For that moment, Machel Montano was ‘respectfully ours’, as the crowd remained entranced by his melodies. Assisting with his stellar delivery were the amazingly talented Monk Dancers, who successfully supported his energy. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, the veteran Mr Fete singer introduced his soca kingdom to trending dancehall trap artiste Ayetian, who balanced the scale of diversity with a dynamic run-in.

Montana, who shouted out several local artistes, debuted his song, No Wayyy, on the Sleng Teng Riddim, which honours the iconic King Jammy. “ No Wayyy is celebrating 40 years of music. Big up the producer Seg Gwey for this tribute to King Jammy. And big up King Jammy for collaborating with us on this iconic rhythm,” he told The Gleaner.

This, he went on to state, was the direction he had hoped the industry would take. He expressed the need for soca and dancehall to become more united and more widely recognised than other global music movements, such as reggaeton.

“I want us to bring back some old legendary dancehall beats that’s similar to soca. Soca, calypso and dancehall are like family. And I enjoyed performing that song tonight for the first time and doing this on local soil,” he added.

This was a truly special moment for him to premiere the song in Jamaica, the very island he had played Mas in for the first time as a youngster.

Following his performance, the deejays went into cruise control, giving patrons a well-rounded Jamaican experience with a taste of all genres; from house music and reggaeton to hip hop, reggae and dancehall, before returning to the heart of the event, soca.

krysta.anderson@gleanerjm.com