#lyrikal

Where do I begin? Maybe this should really be that time, I remind myself of the 1st time we saw a young Machel Montano capture the live & television audience in 1986, who witnessed greatness when he pumped, "Too Young to Soca"!

Fast fwd 👉🏾 to Sept. 5th, 2022 -- past countless of his hit records, several stages he performed all over the globe, dozens of Trinidad carnivals (including scores of carnivals outside of TnT), multiple wars between rival artists, awards upon awards, plenty woman in the mix, and even living outside of Trinidad, 'Double-M' had one of his recent dreams come true: sell-out the Brooklyn Barclays Center.

Check ✔️- mission accomplished! In fact, mission exceeded. Near the end of the show, a drenched Machel -- calm and emotionally humbled, spoke to the audience about his team making special arrangements to accommodate about 100 extra tickets. The Labor Day long weekend was so fitting, as NYC hosts one of the world's biggest carnivals outside of Trinidad & Tobago's, and Brazil's 'Rio', of course.

Machel made sure of it that, celebrating 40yrs of his music, included the next generation of soca artists and others featured throughout his concert. It was epic.

Such an onslaught: Bunji Garlin, Lyrikal, Fay-Ann Lyons, Voice, Kerwin Dubois, Skinny Fabulous, Nadia Batson, Angela Hunte, Patrice Roberts, to Wyclef Jean, Ding Dong, and tons more.

I know I'm leaving out tons, but I'm already exhausted rethinking the many different Caribbean flags waving from nosebleed seats, to the layers of folks determined to wine, grind & jump up from their positions on the floor area.

'MM40' was a fantastic way for the entire city of New York to celebrate the West Indian culture, with so much history especially in Brooklyn, 2yrs after a massive shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. WE really felt the spirit of Machel Montano, through his songs.