Machel Montano One More Road March Before Stepping Away

The King of Soca, Machel Montano, says one more Road March as he has his eyes fixed on history.

One more Road March title, (his 12^th) would break the late Lord Kitchener’s legendary record and, in his words, “make the shelf complete.”

But here’s the thing about the Soca King: once that shelf is full, he’s not sticking around to polish the trophies.

Speaking at Movie Towne, Port of Spain, Trinidad, after the private screening of his “Like Ah Boss” documentary, Montano revealed what comes next, if he achieves one more road march title and it has nothing to do with costumes, choruses, or Carnival Monday.

“Naked,” he said, when pressed by host Aaron Fingal about his next move.

“No more suits, no more made-up things. Just say what I have to say. I have nothing to prove anymore. I am good.”

At 51, Montano has done it all. Seen it all. Won it all. But that’s exactly the point.

“When you have seen it all, done it all, have it all, you look up and do what is needed,” he said. “It is needed for my children in this country to be higher educated.”

His words landed like a bass drop in a quiet room.

Is Machel Montano Retiring from Carnival?

The reigning Road March monarch made it clear: One more win to break the tie with the Grandmaster himself, and then he’s bowing out of the Carnival limelight. Not to retire. To rebuild.

“Oil and gas is not our richest resource. It’s the people. The talent.”

Montano, who earned his Master of Arts in Carnival Studies from UTT in October 2024 at age 49, had a direct message for government and corporate Trinidad: teach young people what he was only taught late in life.
He said the next generation is ready but they need more than stages. They need systems. They need education. They need somebody who’s been where they want to go to turn around and light the path.

“Carnival is a hustle,” Montano said.

He would know. He’s been in it since he was seven years old.

But the hustle, he insists, cannot be the endgame. It must be the entry point.

Still, there is unfinished business. Kitchener’s record—11 Road March wins—has stood for decades. Montano is tied with him now. One more victory, and the crown sits alone.

“I’m trying to win one more Road March to make the shelf complete,” he said. “And then I could get to it.”

Get to it means the real work. The long game. The kind of legacy that doesn’t get measured in trophies.

His ‘Like Ah Boss’ documentary opens in cinemas in Trinidad and Guyana on February 12th. It captures the journey, the sweat, the evolution. But if you listen closely, the documentary isn’t a victory lap.

It’s a passing of the baton.

Machel Montano has spent 44 years chasing the music. Now, he’s chasing something bigger: making sure the children coming behind him don’t have to chase so hard.

One more Road March win. Then naked. No suits. No pretense. Just a man, his country, and the generation he’s determined to build.