Trinidad and Tobago and its neighbors mix music genres in a fast-growing transatlantic artistic exchange

It was the wee hours of carnival on Saturday when the soca legend Machel Montano and Nigerian American Afrobeats superstar Davido took to the stage in Port of Spain. By then, the audience of thousands had already been partying for hours, but when the two launched into their hit song Fling It Up , the crowd erupted.

This year’s Trinidad and Tobago carnival – which included the finals of the country’s steelpan competition and two days of hardcore reveling – highlighted a growing trend of collaboration between artists from Africa and the Caribbean, with musicians exploring the common threads of their cultural heritage at a time when the campaign for reparations has brought about a closer look at historical ties.