Ashanti has joined forces with Soca boss Machel Montano for a video of their new song—and it’s a colorful carnival extravaganza.
According to Billboard, the duo first connected after Ashanti performed in Montano’s native Trinidad and Tobago at the 2015 Wet Fete Weekend; they performed a cover of Montano’s hit “Like Ah Boss.”
From there, they knew they had to work together on something more permanent.
The result is the EDM and Soca-mixed song “The Road,” referencing the parade that runs through the streets Trinidad’s capital Port of Spain on the Tuesday finale of Carnival. Although for the song he originally had Rihanna in mind, Montano said he knew Ashanti was the right person. The “Foolish” singer agreed.
“Machel and I had really good energy. It was my first soca record and I wanted to make sure I was pronouncing everything correctly, not like I am trying too hard or like a Yankee,” Ashanti told Billboard. “My space in music where I live is mid-tempo, songs that tell stories and soca is sped up 10 times compared to my records, so this was trying something out of the box and it was a really cool feeling.”
In the video directed by Director X, Ashanti shows off her body in a gorgeous Carnival costume complete with a headdress. It showcases several scenes from Ash Wednesday and Carnival culture.
Take a lap pon de road by checking out the video below.
Article continues after video.
