Ri­val­do Lon­don has been crowned the 2026 Young Kings Ca­lyp­so Monarch. On Tues­day, 16 fi­nal­ists com­pet­ed in the event, host­ed by the Na­tion­al Ac­tion Cul­tur­al Com­mit­tee at the Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah.

The 23-year-old is no stranger to the ca­lyp­so are­na, hav­ing al­ready se­cured the 2019 Ju­nior Ca­lyp­so Monarch ti­tle. His vic­to­ry this year was sealed by a per­for­mance of his song Wa­ter Thick­er. Com­posed by Lon­don along­side Ken­ny Phillips, the song draws on the Bib­li­cal sto­ry of Cain and Abel and chal­lenges the adage that “blood is thick­er than wa­ter,” sug­gest­ing that fam­i­ly is not al­ways safe or lov­ing.

In­stead, Lon­don de­liv­ers the mes­sage that strangers and those out­side one’s blood­line can some­times of­fer deep­er care, re­veal­ing who tru­ly shows up, and that in some cas­es, “wa­ter thick­er.”