When Soca Met Afrobeats: Machel Montano & Ice Prince at Sound Culture Fest NYC 2015
New York Carnival Weekend usually meant Soca, Dancehall, steelpan and Caribbean parties everywhere you turned. But on Saturday, September 5, 2015, Sound Culture Fest added something different to the mix: Soca and contemporary African music sharing the same stage at Irving Plaza in Manhattan.
The inaugural festival was created around the idea that African and Caribbean music were already crossing into each other’s parties, playlists and collaborations. Presented through W&R Projects with Live Nation and Big Moose Entertainment, Sound Culture Fest arrived during Labor Day Weekend with plans to bring those audiences together instead of treating them as completely separate scenes.
Julianspromos was inside Irving Plaza documenting the night, and the surviving highlights preserve performances from Machel Montano and Nigerian rapper Ice Prince. It was an especially interesting pairing in 2015: Machel was fresh from another dominant Trinidad Carnival season, while Ice Prince was part of the African music wave gaining greater visibility in New York and internationally.
Africa and the Caribbean Meet at Irving Plaza
The idea behind Sound Culture Fest felt simple once everyone was inside the building.
Soca crowds were already dancing to African records.
African parties were already pulling from Caribbean sounds.
Artists on both sides were collaborating.
Sound Culture simply put those connections on one stage.
The event grew out of the Sounds From Africa and Sounds From the Caribbean showcases at SXSW earlier in 2015. Those showcases ran side by side in Austin, with artists including Machel Montano, Mr. Vegas, Gyptian and Kabaka Pyramid representing the Caribbean while Ice Prince, D’banj, Wizkid, Davido, Sarkodie and others represented Africa.
A few months later, that same idea reached New York during one of the city’s biggest Caribbean weekends.
Machel Arrives in New York Like Ah Boss
Machel Montano entered Sound Culture Fest in the middle of one of the strongest years of his career.
His 2015 anthem “Like Ah Boss” had already carried him to victory in the International Power Soca Monarch competition and then to the Trinidad and Tobago Road March title.
It meant the Machel walking onto the Irving Plaza stage was not simply another artist booked for Carnival Weekend.
He was the reigning Soca Monarch and Road March champion.
“Like Ah Boss” had become one of the defining records of Trinidad Carnival 2015, alongside a season of releases that reinforced Machel’s position at the top of modern Soca.
And now he was performing that energy inside a Manhattan venue where Soca was deliberately being placed beside one of the fastest-growing contemporary African music movements.
That made Sound Culture a natural stage for him.
Ice Prince Brings Nigeria Into the Mix
On the African side of the surviving Julianspromos footage was Ice Prince.
The Nigerian rapper was already internationally established through records such as “Oleku,” while 2015 had given him another active year.
In January he released the six-track Trash Can EP, and during the spring he spent time in New York, including an appearance on The Breakfast Club at Power 105.1, where he discussed African rap and his career.
Only weeks before Sound Culture Fest, Ice Prince had also appeared on D’banj’s “Salute,” released in July as part of D’banj’s 2015 anniversary project.
His presence at Irving Plaza therefore fit perfectly with what Sound Culture was trying to create: African artists reaching audiences beyond traditional geographic or genre boundaries.
The Lineup Had an Interesting Twist
Sound Culture Fest had originally been advertised with Machel Montano and D’banj as its headliners.
Promotional material leading into September 5 consistently billed the pair, with British comedian and presenter Eddie Kadi as host. Additional announced performers included OgaSilachi, Sedale and Wildfire, with DJs including Young Chow, Tunez, El-G, The Busy Twist and Black Moses.
But the surviving Julianspromos video is titled:
“2015 Sound Culture Fest Highlights w. Machel Montano & Ice Prince 9/5/15.”
More importantly, post-event coverage of Machel’s career also identifies the Irving Plaza appearance as a performance with Ice Prince, confirming that Ice Prince was part of the actual September 5 event.
The exact circumstances behind that lineup change have not been recovered, so there is no reason to guess.
What Julianspromos preserved is what happened in the room: Machel Montano and Ice Prince performing at Sound Culture Fest.
A Different Kind of Carnival Weekend Show
That combination is what makes the footage enjoyable to revisit now.
This was not a straight Soca fete.
It was not an Afrobeats concert with one Caribbean guest.
Sound Culture was intentionally mixing audiences.
Someone who came primarily for Machel could leave having experienced an African artist they might not normally see during New York Carnival Weekend. The same worked in reverse for fans coming from New York’s growing African music community.
And Irving Plaza was right in the middle of Manhattan, away from the traditional Brooklyn Carnival venues.
Sound Culture was taking that Afro-Caribbean connection downtown.
Julianspromos Captures the Crossover
For Julianspromos, Sound Culture Fest also fit naturally into the platform’s expanding coverage by 2015.
The archive had already moved beyond strictly documenting New York Soca parties into Caribbean Carnivals, concerts, international events, artist interviews and other moments where Caribbean music was crossing into wider spaces.
Sound Culture offered another version of that story.
Here was Soca meeting Afrobeats in Manhattan, with Machel Montano representing Trinidad and Tobago and Ice Prince representing Nigeria during New York Carnival Weekend.
The surviving Julianspromos footage was shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett.
Looking Back
Today, hearing Soca and Afrobeats together barely feels unusual.
Artists collaborate across the Atlantic. DJs move between both sounds in the same set. Caribbean and African records regularly share party playlists.
In 2015, that crossover was still developing into the global movement audiences recognize today.
Sound Culture Fest leaned directly into it.
Machel Montano arrived at Irving Plaza as Trinidad and Tobago’s reigning Power Soca Monarch and Road March champion.
Ice Prince represented a Nigerian music scene pushing deeper into international markets.
And New York Carnival Weekend provided the meeting place.
The Julianspromos highlights preserve a night when Africa and the Caribbean were not competing for the stage.
They were sharing it.
