After a “Pardy” on the road last year, songwriter Andre Jeffers and producers XplicitMevon (Mevon Soodeen) and Kyle Phillips got their “Encore,” as they successfully defended their Road March title this year – and they are elated.
The song, performed by Machel Montano, was played 171 times on the road over Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Aaron “Voice” St Louis placed second with Cyah Behave (127) and Bunji Garlin was third with Still A Road Man (97).
Jeffers yesterday told Guardian Media he felt great but added that this win was “extra special” for different reasons. He previously won with Kes and Iwer George’s Stage Gone Bad (2020) and Montano’s Pardy (2025).
“One, Machel got his record-breaking win, and secondly, it was really inspiring to kind of see up close the level of perfection, hard work and dedication that he put into this year in particular. It was almost like he was an embodiment of the song. He took that on as his personal mantra,” Jefferts said.
Montano now holds the record for the most Road March wins – 12 – surpassing the Aldwyn “Lord Kitchener” Roberts.
Jeffers, ANSA McAL’s Chief Stra-
tegy Officer, said the songs he writes will always be a testament to the fact that soca music can have deep and meaningful lyrics.
“Soca music and award-winning soca music does not necessarily need to have the same storylines over and over, the same hand-in-the-air, rags, flags... As a creative, you can find your space in our culture without it sounding like 80 to 90 per cent of the other things.”
He said they took a risk to go “that lyrical” and “that philosophical,” but it has always been his style.
“I write songs that I want kids and grown-ups and older folks to sing word for word, and I write for the stage and try to incorporate that,” he said.
“That’s the challenge I give myself every year – not just to win a Road March, but to create the song of the masquerade with a bit of cleverness and depth.”
He also congratulated Voice on having a “really strong challenge,” calling him an “amazing songwriter and composer.”
“He shouldn’t be discouraged. I think he should be encouraged by how this year went.”
Soodeen said he felt relieved and emotional.
“It was a dog fight to the end,” he said with a laugh.
“We went straight down to the wire.”
He added, “I am definitely happy. It’s one thing to win the Road March but to win it back-to-back, very few people have ever done it. And it’s only fitting that the name of the song is Encore.”
Asked how it felt to see the amount of work Montano put into campaigning a song he produced, he said it has been amazing.
“To know that he prioritised this song above all his others, to naming his album Encore, the promo, the marketing – everything. It just gave me the confidence that he really believed in it and believed in us.”
He said Montano’s dedication and work ethic should be a lesson to the population.
As for Phillips, he said it is not only hard work that pays off, but smart work.
“I feel good ... and this is smart work paying off,” he said.
It is his fourth Road March title. He won with Montano’s Waiting On The Stage in 2016, as well as Stage Gone Bad (Kes and Iwer George) and Pardy.
He said while he knew it was a close race, “we held firm in the belief that we have it locked up.”
He described Montano’s work ethic as “insane” and believes no one has worked as hard as he did this season.
Laughing, he said, “Beyonce, Bruno Mars, none of them... He is the hardest worker I know in this life.”
Montano yesterday congratulated the men when the news broke, sending a WhatsApp message saying, “WE DID IT!!! Everyone did what was needed and it is done. CONGRATULATIONS and thank you.”
