Xtatik is a locally and well-known

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

Soca band led by

Machel Montano Machel Jesus Montano (born 24 November 1974)Thompson, Dave (2002), ''Reggae & Soca Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 300–301. is a Trinidadian soca singer, actor, record producer and songwriter. Known for his high energy, fast-paced, and often u ...

History

The band evolved from Pranasonic Express, which was formed in 1984 in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a munic ...

.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 300-301 The original line-up was (then 9-year-old) Machel Montano (vocals), Joseph Rivers (guitar), Vincent Rivers (bass guitar), Derwin Vallie (keyboards), Sterling Paul (trombone), Oral Rodriguez (saxophone), Marlon Roach (trumpet), Rodney Daniel (trumpet), Gregory Pegus (drums), and Darryl Henry (percussion). The group became Xtatik in 1989. Their early albums ''Breaking Out'' (1990) and ''One Step Ahead'' (1991) were both locally successful, and the band had several hit singles in Trinidad & Tobago. In 1991 they recruited guitarist Roger George and moved to a sound that fused Soca and

Dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Ro ...

. Several albums followed in this vein and the band won road march titles at carnivals in

Caribana The Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly known as Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a pan-Caribbean Carnival event and has been billed as North America' ...

and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

in 1994. In 1995 they successfully blended soca and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...

on "Come Dig It", giving them exposure in the United States. They won the Trinidad Road March title in 1997 with "Big Truck", and again in 1998 with "Footsteps". In 1998, Peter C. Lewis joined as co-lead vocalist. In the late 1990s, Xtatik album releases were attributed to Machel & Xtatik for ''Charge'' (1998) and Machel Montano & Xtatik for ''Any Minute Now'' (1999)''.'' More albums followed in the 2000s. Xtatik, won the Party Band Competition in 1996. According to -Metro Connections, Montano "successfully crosses boundaries between young and old, between Jamaica and Trinidad and between soca and dancehall."

Past members

Samuel Jack (1990-1996) Dean Williams (2000-2006)

Discography

*''X Amount Ah Sweetness'' (1992) *''Soca Style Hot'' (1993) *''By All Means (EP)'' (1994) *''Loose Yuh Waist'' (1995) *''Men at Work'' (1996) *'' Heavy Duty'' (1997) *''Xtatik Live'' (1997) *'' Charge'' (1998) *''

Any Minute Now ''Any Minute Now'' is the third studio album by Belgian electronic music duo Soulwax. It was released on August 23, 2004 through the PIAS record label. It peaked at number 53 on the UK Albums Chart. All three singles from the album, "Any Minut ...

'' (1999) *'' Here Comes the Band'' (2000) *''Same High'' (2001) *''On the Cusp'' (2002) *''The Xtatik Circus'' (2003 – as "Xtatik Band 5.0")

References

Soca musical groups Trinidad and Tobago musical groups Musical groups established in 1989 1989 establishments in Trinidad and Tobago {{Caribbean-band-stub