Sometimes, the universe aligns perfectly. Take the “Michael Jackson of the Caribbean,” Machel Montano, unveiling his new documentary the same week as the late, original Michael Jackson dominates the Billboard charts, for example.
On Friday (May 29), Like Ah Boss: Journey of a Soca King – Machel Montano officially debuts in the U.S. on all digital platforms. Co-directed by Sunseeker Media founder Bart Phillips and Montano’s manager, Che Khotari, the new documentary eschews the recent wave of 2016 nostalgia in favor of revisiting 2015: That year, Montano kept the camera rolling as he delivered a whopping 16 high-energy performance sets across seven days during Carnival season. That jaw-dropping run gave way to a Coachella mainstage appearance in 2016, collaborations with international music sensations like Ariana Grande (“All My Love”) and Ashanti (“The Road”), and a performance at Sadhguru’s India-set Maha Shivratri Festival in 2022.
Anchored by a Machel Monday performance in front of over 25,000 fans and primarily soundtracked by his 2015 smash “Like Ah Boss” — which has earned almost 20 million official on-demand U.S. streams to date, according to Luminate — Montano’s new documentary is undoubtedly triumphant. But it’s also strikingly honest.
