Former International

Soca Monarch King, Dr. Machel Montano, brought the royal sounds of Soca to the

East Coast, as he attended the highly-anticipated Diamond Ball on Thursday

evening.

The legendary Soca singer,

who received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Trinidad and

Tobago late last year for his various contributions to the musical landscape

for close to 4 decades, joined some of the best in the global music and

entertainment industries for the lavish affair in the heart of New York City.

Diamond Ball is an

annually-held philanthropic event, hosted by Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty and her

Clara Lionel Foundation and has quickly become one of the must-attend soirées

on the US celebrity social calendar. Rihanna established the Clara Lionel

Foundation, named in memory of Rihanna’s maternal grandparents, Clara “Dolly”

and Lionel Braithwaite, to support and fund groundbreaking and effective

education, emergency response programs around the world, while also aiming to

improve the quality of life for young people everywhere.

Montano paid tribute to

his “Bajan sister” in a touching post to his Instagram, which included a beaming

photo of him with the award-winning singer and CEO of Fenty Beauty, Savage

Fenty, and Fenty Paris. “Thank you @badgalriri for throwing an incredible event

last night with such positive initiatives, including emergency relief for The

Bahamas,” he captioned.

View this post on Instagram Thank you to my Bajan ?? sister @badgalriri for throwing an incredible event last night with such positive initiatives, including emergency relief for the Bahamas ??!!! Big up to you and the whole @rocnation famalay for having me and bringing the island ? vibes to the #Diamondball?!!! @ClaraLionelFdn #rihanna #monk #rocnation ? @chekothariA post shared by machelmontano (@machelmontano) on Sep 13, 2019 at 12:09pm PDT

He also commended the Roc Nation group for the opportunity to bring “the island vibes to the #DiamondBall.” Some notable Caribbean personalities in attendance included Jamaica’s legendary dancehall singer, Supercat, Martinican-born Chief Content and Creative Officer of Essence Magazine and Essence Fest, Moana Luu, and Honourable Mia Mottley Q.C, LL.B., the Prime Minister of Barbados. Several members of the Hip Hop community were also spotted on the red carpet, including Grammy-award winning rapper Cardi B and her husband Offset of Migos fame, Kehlani, ASAP Rocky, Normani, and 2 Chainz, among other superstar invitees.

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Much to the delight of specially-invited guests and scores of fans, Montano, also known by his latest sobriquet “Monk Montè”, also took to the Diamond Ball stage during the performance set of chart-topping entertainer, DJ Khaled. Dressed in a white and black polka dot matching set with pristine white sneakers, Montano quickly energized the crowd in true kingly fashion, as he was seen in now-viral video clips circulating online performing “Famalay”, which is his tune with Skinny Fabulous and Bunji Garlin that earned the trio the Trinidad Carnival 2019 Road March title.

Megan Thee Stallion – who recently signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation management team – and singer, songwriter and super-producer Pharrell Williams were some of the other megastars that rounded off the night’s scintillating performances at the event, which went well into the wee hours of the morning.

Machel hinted via his social media that new music is in the works, as he was sighted in studio with Senegalese-American singer, songwriter, and record producer Akon.

— Written by Tenille Clarke (@tenilleclarke1 on Instagram/Twitter)

Tenille Clarke is an avid wanderlust,Carnivalist and cultural enthusiast who pens about her ongoing love affair withtravel, culture and entertainment through a Caribbean lens. She is thePrincipal Publicist of Chambers Media Solutions and Managing Director ofIndustry 360.