Mr Killa demolished the field at the Play Whe Soca Monarch finals on Fantastic Friday, March 1, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Grenadian Hollis ‘Mr Killa’ Mapp, with his ‘bad hit’ Run With It, had Neil ‘Iwer’ George running for cover after his Blessings fell short.
Despite Iwer blessing the crowd, anointing them with water, this just wasn’t enough to outdo the stellar performance from Mr Killa, after which the crowd, who had carried him on stage in a ship prop, kept chanting, “Mr Killa, Mr Killa“.
Iwer appeared to be the only real rival, and Mapp forged ahead to win the TT$1 million cash prize, at the same time making history as the first non-national to win the Power Soca Monarch. He’s just the second non-national to win any soca monarch competition; Barbadian Biggie Irie (Carlton Cordle), who was born in the UK, won the Groovy Soca Monarch title in 2007 with Nah Going Home.
A tearful Mapp said after the show, “I want to thank Grenada for growing me into the man that I am today; my mother, my friends, my family. All the Grenadian artistes that performed, we made history. I want to tell Trinidad and Tobago that I will represent soca all over the planet.”
Also on the winners podium was fellow Grenadian Hector ‘Mr Legz’ Thomas, who placed third with his Wining Challenge – he brought out on stage Denise ‘Saucy Wow’ Belfon, the wining queen of soca. For the first time there were six artistes from Grenada in the soca monarch finals, with the duo of Lil Natty and Thunda competing in the power soca category, as well as V’ghn and Mandella in the groovy competition.
Swappi (Marvin Davis) won the Groovy Soca Monarch title to keep the Trinidad and Tobago flag flying with his infectious Party Start, and took home TT$500,000 for his effort. Teddyson John, who sang Vent, placed second and V’ghn placed third singing a blistering Trouble In The Morning.
The last time there was a two-in-one competition was in 2015, when Machel Montano won the power category, and Olantunji Yearwood earned the groovy title. The split into two categories occurred in 2005 with the introduction of the groovy segment, and then the competition returned to the original combined format with Aaron ‘Voice’ St Louis dominating, winning in 2016, 2017 and 2018 before bowing out of competition this year.
POWER MONARCH RESULTS
- Mr Killa – Run With It
- Iwer – Blessings
- Mr Legz – Wining Challenge
GROOVY MONARCH RESULTS
- Swappi – Party Start
- Teddyson John – Vent
- V’ghn – Trouble In The Morning
