King of Soca, the book by Elizabeth “Lady” Montano has taken two top prizes at the Caribbean Advertising Awards.
The book, designed by Praktis Design Limited, won the top prize for Best of Print and Overall Best in Show. The book also won the Gold ADDY for Book Design and Silver for Publication Cover Design.
This was Praktis’ first time entering the ADDY Awards.Judges cited the entry for exceptional art direction and design decisions with stunning graphics from cover to cover.
“The design is disruptive, unsafe and unexpected. It was storytelling that just screamed beautiful,” the judges said. The Praktis design team comprised Blayne Clark, Creative Direction; Marlon Darbeau, Creative Direction; Melanie Archer, Design Management; and Patrick Rasoanaivo, Graphic Design.
The experienced team — lead by partners Marlon Darbeau and Blayne Clark, have also won three silver medals for campaign, website, and cover design. This award-winning work was also completed for Prudecon, a Trinbagonian engineering firm and Inspiration Labs, owned by noted Executive Coach Scott Hilton-Clarke. Praktis competed with more than 552 entries from 6 Caribbean nations.
Elizabeth Montano, mother of Machel Montano and author of King of Soca, said Praktis was selected to design the book as a result of the work they did in designing the packaging of the Montanos chocolate. “I’m very thrilled and extremely excited about the prestigious win. Praktis did the design of our chocolate package in 2018. I was very impressed so when I decided to write the book, I was convinced that they would do the design. Machel and I decided what we wanted to go with and I gave them the images from our archives and Praktis created the magic,” she said
“They were chosen because they were young, fresh and extremely creative. They didn’t disappoint. Praktis is very impressive. I spotted the talent the first time I saw their work. It’s amazing. To win the Best Show is huge. Thank you Praktis for bringing it home. Thank you to my team also. The work was worth it,” she added.
Praktis was also very honoured to work with Lady and her team.
“Lady is a very discerning client, who expects the highest quality in all things, and we love that. She and her team’s high expectations, allow us to push both our own and their limits, which is why we continue to produce great work together. The MCCL brand, MM60 packaging and now the King of Soca book have all been challenging but very enjoyable projects that resulted in strong design,” they said.
King of Soca is a 308-page book chronicling Machel’s 40-year career.
It is replete with images capturing people, moments and events, as well as anecdotes of experiences and opportunities ranging from exhilarating to harrowing. It presents expected and unexpected voices of contributors to Machel’s career, and purveyors of the wider music and entertainment industry. It does all this while giving us some access to his inner world.
The Caribbean ADDY competition, the first leg in a three-tier awards process, was described as one of the largest competitions in the US and Caribbean.
Winners from AAF-Caribbean will compete with winners from Florida at the District Competition with winners being announced mid-May.
The third and final tier of the competition includes winners from all 15-multi-state districts to compete as finalists in the American Advertising Awards competition.
The time has come for good vibes to counteract all negative energy and together with his manager/producer, US based, Trinidadian artiste, Mr. Lee it doing what he feels he can, to inject that positivity.“I know the streets. I can tell you about the streets. Badness and the roughness is what they know. If they got the chance to get to know something else, they would do something else,” said the entertainer.
His music is refreshing. Afrobeats, coupled with Soul and RnB bring to life, a song on The Only 1 Riddim, that he calls, “Take Care.” For Mr. Lee, an artiste with many years of experience on the entertainment circuit overseas, and in the Caribbean, he is mindful of what he sings. “This type of music is necessary at all times to spread love and joy. I wish there could have been more beautiful messages all the time because it’s really important to spread love,” he said with hope.
Joining artistes like Preedy and Christo on the riddim, Mr. Lee is proud of the project. “This project means a whole lot to me. I have two girls and my wife and I have to express my love to them every single day of my life. I have my mom, my sisters, and I have to show them all the love I have within me. All the artistes on this riddim have done the same – we all expressed what we want to express to our loved ones. Most are real stories that can be relatable to others in society,” he explained.
On the topic of love and the importance of understanding what love is, Mr. Lee said for human beings to share love, they must first feel love. “If your father is not showing you love, how will you know love. Most of our youths have no parents around them. They are being influenced by a harsh representation of love, which really, is not love.” At the same time, he called on the elders within societies around the world, to try to strike a balance with the youth, especially in present time. “When I was growing up, the older heads never wanted to release a lot to the youths; they never wanted to give the youths a chance. People in positions of power must give the youths a chance to prove themselves. They have great ideas, but they need mentorship and guidance,” he said.
“Take Care,” written by Joseph ‘Pronto’ Figueroa, is a quality single with a passionate plea for more honest, kind, loving relational experiences. Unlike much of today’s lyrics, Mr. Lee keeps it classy, maintaining a thoughtful approach to music, with lyrics that penetrate. “The raw thoughts – we never heard that as youths. Some things should be kept personal,” he opined. An advocate for goodness, Mr. Lee is calling on men around the world to show their companions more love, in the right way. “Everybody wants to fight and kill. They don’t want to talk about things properly. We need to talk to our spouses more. We need to learn how to communicate better and spend more time with our loved ones.”
Happy to have enjoyed a successful run in Carnival 2026, in Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Lee is working on new music even as he promotes this brand-new track. “I’m working on new Soca to release for the Summer. I’m working, and I’m happy with the progress I’ve been able to make so far. It’s a process,” he said of being in the music business.
The state-to-state carnival wave set to begin in the US soon, Mr. Lee says this year he is looking forward to heading to Miami for Carnival there and will be back home in T&T, come Carnival 2027. In the meantime, the T&T native and dedicated family man is spreading love through good music that he knows is absolutely necessary at this time.
Caribbean entertainment doesn’t sleep. Proof of that comes in the release of brand new music, this time courtesy the superstar duo of Full Blown – brothers, Kevon and Kory Hart. Their new track, “No Stress” has been released complete with a new music video and it’s a big look for the duo.
No Stress is a vibrant, feel-good anthem that continues the duo’s evolution from soca favourites into one of the Caribbean’s most versatile and globally resonant musical acts.
Known for their strong songwriting skills, undeniable chemistry and sonic fearlessness, brothers Kevon and Kory have steadily built a reputation for creating music that transcends borders, generations and genres. Over the years, Full Blown has become synonymous with high-energy Caribbean songwriting, penning and producing hits that have dominated Carnival seasons, regional charts and party playlists across the diaspora.
Now, with No Stress, the duo taps into dancehall nostalgia while pushing Caribbean fusion music into fresh territory. The track reimagines the iconic Shabba Ranks classic Ting A Ling, blending vintage dancehall energy with Full Blown’s contemporary Caribbean flavour.
The release follows the brothers’ success with the track, The Greatest Bend Over (Take It Easy) alongside Yung Bredda, a crossover hit that amassed more than 40 million streams worldwide and was described by Billboard Magazine as “culture-quaking.”
“People know us for soca hits and high-energy music, but this record really reflects who we are creatively,” said Kevon. “We grew up influenced by so many sounds across the Caribbean. We are a happy, joyful, fun-loving people. We just want good vibes. No stress.”
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