Machel Montano has defended Government's sponsorship of his Going for Gold album. In response to critics who questioned why he was chosen over other artistes, Montano said the album was his project and he was probably the only one who went to the Government with something to support.
"It wasn't about the Government choosing Machel, it was about me taking the initiative and going to them and they saying okay, we will help you guys to make this a reality," he said. Speaking to the media after the launch of the album's first single, Going for Gold, on Monday evening, Montano said the idea for the album was conceived after a conversation last Ash Wednesday with Jamaican dancehall star, Beenie Man.
Montano said: "He said Mr Fete is a great melody to have as an Olympic anthem and at the same time I was meeting with Minister (Bhoe) Tewarie on discussions about the development of the music industry, and he said: 'How can we collaborate?' I said you could collaborate by supporting what we do, taking soca music to the globe and I said we have this Olympic idea, would you partner with us to get some major players involved?"
Those major players include Pitbull, with whom Montano did a song, called Lighting the Way; Beenie Man, who did a remake of Mr Fete with Montano, called Champions, and Chaka Khan. Montano said producers from the Black Eyed Peas and Pitbull camps and producer Afro Jack, all worked on the album. He said local artistes also would be included on it.
Digicel Rising Star, Neval Chaitlal, is working on a song and Keron "Sheriff" Thompson has written one, called Army, which Montano said was designed for T&T's singers to be involved. "It's hard for all the schedules to come together but we want to make it like a 'We Are The World' song," Montano said. He said the project was a template for the Government to work with other artistes.
In his brief address, Minister of Planning and Development, Dr Bhoe Tewarie, said a fund would be created out of the Going for Gold project to assist with music development.