Machel Montano has performed before massive crowds around the world, collected trophies and titles across four decades and carried soca onto some of music’s biggest stages. But walking through a Brooklyn exhibition last week filled with the physical evidence of that journey apparently managed to surprise even the Road March record holder.
“This is more than a reflection,” Montano said after Journey of a Soca King: The Exhibition opened at Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library. “This is even a lesson to me just to walk through this exhibit.”
“Sometimes these things can reflect all that you’ve done in life, but when I walked through [it], what struck me is not what I have done, but what can happen to you in life,” he explained. “I always had and still have great dreams, but when I walk through this place, I realise sometimes life can give you more than you can ever dream of.”
The exhibition opened to the public on August 22 following a special preview attended by Montano and his mother, Elizabeth “Lady” Montano; US Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke; other elected officials; media personality Angela Yee; members of the Caribbean community; media; family; friends; and Brooklyn Public Library executives.
For Montano, seeing more than 40 years of costumes, photographs, records, trophies and personal memorabilia professionally assembled in one space provided a rare opportunity to view his own career from the outside.
“I feel very privileged. It’s an honour. I just feel special being in Brooklyn,” he enthused. “I’m flooded with the memories of not just our childhood but my career. Coming here at such a young age and experiencing the culture of New York City, specifically in Brooklyn, among Caribbean people, is an amazing memory for me. But coming this time is really full circle.”
Much of what visitors are now able to see exists because Lady Montano meticulously preserved material from her son’s career.
“This is a dream of mine to preserve, distribute, and share knowledge,” she said during the preview, explaining that early in Machel’s career, she observed how major international entertainers preserved and shared their heritage and decided she would do the same.
The resulting archive now allows visitors to do more than look at trophies and costumes. Multimedia displays, photographs, music, memorabilia and digital elements help place the objects within the wider story of Montano, soca and Caribbean culture.
“Soca music has given me the platform,” Montano said. “It’s such joyful music. It’s about celebration. It’s about unity.”
That celebration continues at the Central Library through September 12, with additional programming being staged at Brooklyn Public Library branches across the borough.
Among the major remaining events is the September 3 outdoor presentation of Like Ah Boss: Journey of a Soca King, when Montano’s documentary will be projected onto the façade of Central Library, accompanied by Music on the Plaza.
This multimedia activation will place Montano’s story on the same Brooklyn landmark that became a canvas for another global music icon just three years ago.
In 2023, lyrics from Brooklyn-born hip-hop superstar Jay-Z’s catalogue were projected across the façade of Central Library as part of The Book of HOV, Brooklyn Public Library’s sprawling exhibition celebrating the rapper and entrepreneur’s life and career.
This time, the library’s exterior will help tell a Caribbean story, placing the journey of a Trinidad and Tobago-born soca artist quite literally on the walls of one of Brooklyn’s major cultural institutions.
For Montano, however, simply seeing his journey gathered and preserved has already provided its own reward.
“It’s a special moment to look back on your career and see it preserved in such a professional manner,” he said. “It kind of gives you a little feeling of satisfaction or accomplishment.”
