Vybz Kartel with Sons Likkle Addi and Likkle Vybz
Tizzy Tokyo
From music to film, 2024 was a banner year for Caribbean artists. Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Bob Marley: One Love biopic opened the year with two weeks atop the domestic box office, while its accompanying soundtrack earned a Grammy nomination for best reggae album.
Bob Marley: One Love previewed a busy year in Caribbean music that included Dash’s Road March victory at Grenada’s Spicemas, a new Spice album celebrating her 25-year career and the announcement of a new podcast chronicling the life and career of Vybz Kartel. At the Caribbean Music Awards, Shenseea (dancehall), Lila Iké (reggae) and Patrice Roberts (soca) were named the female artists of the year, while Valiant (dancehall), Romain Virgo (reggae) and Skinny Fabulous (soca) reigned as the male artists of the year. Masicka‘s Generation of Kings took home dancehall album of the year, and Buju Banton‘s Born for Greatness was crowned reggae album of the year.
2024 was a particularly poignant year for Banton, the voice behind reggae classics like “Murderer” and “Champion.” Last July, Buju sold out New York’s UBS Arena two times over with his first Stateside shows since spending eight years in federal prison on convictions of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense and using communication wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offense. The Grammy winner turned his Long Walk to Freedom shows into a 14-date U.S. arena trek that found him visiting major cities like Houston, Chicago and Atlanta.
Banton wasn’t the only West Indian icon to make a long-awaited return to the stage in 2014. Months after walking out of prison a free man after serving 13 years of a now-overturned life sentence for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams, Vybz Kartel mounted Freedom Street — the biggest concert Jamaica has seen in almost half a century. Di Worl’ Boss sat down with Billboard for our first cover story of the year and explained how the whole thing came together, but the real kicker was when he revealed an upcoming collaboration with Cardi B.
Next month, Kartel (Party With Me) will face off against Shenseea (Never Gets Late Here), Collie Budz (Take It Easy), The Wailers (Evolution), and the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack for the best reggae album Grammy. Afterward, 2025 is wide open with ample opportunity for crossover hits and breakthrough artists to make waves across the globe.
Here are 10 Caribbean artists to watch out for in 2025.
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Joé Dwèt Filé
Listen to: “4 Kampé”
Country: Haiti
Haitian zouk-konpa singer Joé Dwèt Filé has put out at least one new album (or a deluxe version) every year since 2018, so there’s no reason to expect he won’t keep up that pace in 2025. And he has all the reason to.
After scoring a viral moment on TikTok last year, “4 Kampé” has quickly grown into one of Filé’s biggest hits yet, reaching No. 8 on Billboard’s France Songs ranking at the top of the new year (chart dated Jan. 11). Filé hasn’t put out any new music since “4 Kampé” last October, but since that song isn’t yet attached to a larger record, fans are expecting a new project from the global star.
This summer (Jul. 18-20), he’ll perform a prime slot at Lollapalooza Paris, and the “4 Kampé” clip has already become his second most-viewed music video ever on YouTube, surpassing 31 million views in just two months. The world will be JDF’s oyster in 2025.
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Likkle Addi
Listen to: “Weh Di Pawty”
Country: Jamaica
Likkle Addi may have started putting out music with his brother Likkle Vybz over a decade ago, but not every artist is an overnight sensation.
Between a 2022 joint album with his brother and 2023’s Thugz R Us EP, Likkle Addi has been diligently building up his catalog — and his new collaboration with his father looks to be the hit that will bring him to the next level. Likkle Addi’s father is, of course, Vybz Kartel — who brought both him and Likkle Vybz onstage to perform at his blockbuster Freedom Street homecoming concert on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31, 2024).
Kartel and Addi teamed up for “M.O.T.M. — Man of the Match” in September 2024, and in just three months, the song has become Addi’s second to cross one million streams on Spotify following 2021’s aptly titled “Popular,” also featuring Kartel. On YouTube, the song’s official music video has already surpassed seven million views. But Addi has also had some Kartel-less songs gain traction; last year, “Weh Di Pawty” quickly convinced fans that he was earnestly following in his father’s footsteps, while “Up A Notch” became his most-viewed solo music video on YouTube in less than a year
With more music on the way and a major visibility boost from Freedom Street, expect Likkle Addi to continue stepping into his stardom in 2025.
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AnnaleaX
Listen to: “Bumpa”
Country: Jamaica
After signing to Miami-based record label SoBe Entertainment in 2021 and breaking out with that year’s “Wavy (Y U Playin’ Me?),” rising Jamaican reggae singer AnnaleaX steadily dropped a collection of singles that eventually became Alter Ego, Vol. 1, her 2024 debut studio album.
Billboard Hot 100-topping producer Scott Storch worked on three of the album’s songs, all promising entry points to her still-brewing amalgamation of AnnaleaX’s powerful voice and Storch’s pop&B sensibilities. Grammy-nominated producers Vinny Veditto and Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd also contributed to the project, underscoring AnnaleaX’s vision for cross-genre global stardom.
With more live shows on the way and her first Spotify million-streamer under her belt (2024’s “Don’t Worry,” a cover of Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”), AnnaleaX is set to significantly level up in 2025.
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Bamby
Listen to: “Guyane”
Country: French Guiana
Already an award-winning powerhouse in Guyana and across the French Caribbean, expect more major moves from Bamby in 2025.
A singer who traverses across dancehall and shatta, Bamby burst out into the scene in 2016 with hits like “Run Di Place,” and by 2018, her debut studio album Bambyland took the French Caribbean by storm. That album has not yet seen a release in the U.S. though; a wide release of Bambyland or a new project on the heels of her “Guyane” momentum could facilitate a real global crossover moment for Banby in 2025.
With a new Maureen duet to coincide with the new year and possible nominations at the 2025 Caribbean Music Awards, everything is falling into place for Bamby’s impending domination.
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Umpa
Listen to: “Let Coco”
Country: St. Lucia
As St. Lucia’s dennery segment — a genre characterized by its fusion of soca, zouk, kuduro and Kwéyòl-sung lyrics — continues to grow in popularity, expect Umpa, one of its reigning kings, to remain at the forefront.
Last year, Umpa collected over 2.63 million global streams on Spotify, an impressive number for a rising artist from a niche genre without a proper studio album. 2019’s “One Drop” and 2021’s “Plat” continue to be some of his most recognizable hits, and both were winners when he performed them during his set at Miami Carnival’s “No Borders” event in October 2024. A new calendar year means a new carnival season, and it’s practically a given that Umpa will soon deliver some new road anthems for 2025.
Already a staple in soca circles across the West Indies, expect Umpa to keep making waves on global stages throughout the year.
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1SkiMask
Listen to: “Anyweh”
Country: Jamaica
Last year, 1SkiMask signed a deal with Epic Records — in partnership with Against Da Grain Entertainment — just over a year after he rebranded from social media comedian and actor Valdomore. Signed to Against Da Grain Entertainment.
2023 breakout hit “Dawkniss” caught the ears of Epic vice president of A&R Tyshawn “Fly Ty” Johnson, and by October 2024, 1SkiMask had himself a deal. With a sound expressly concerned with shaping dancehall’s trap-infused future, 1SkiMask has already amassed over 50,000 Spotify monthly listeners since he released his debut single in 2023.
“’Dawkniss’ is the 2023 version of artistes,” 1Skimask (born Rivaldo Lyle) told Jamaica Observer. “A jus di new era of dancehall. Mi jus study the game and see wah gwaan. As a entertainer and creative yuh have to know wah gwaan, and weh di people dem waa si. Haffi try new tings. Is a risk mi tek.”
Between his distinctly modern approach to Internet-based self-promotion and his fast-growing catalog, 1SkiMask is definitely one to keep an eye on in 2025.
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Shemmy J
Listen to: “Ms Grippy”
Country: St. Lucia
Last year, Shemmy J earned a best new soca artist nod at the 2024 Caribbean Music Awards, and he’ll likely spend this year proving why he was just as deserving of the win as Yung Bredda.
Beloved for his amalgamation of soca, Afrobeats, bouyon and other traditional Caribbean music styles, Shemmy J has been cranking out hits since 2018. 2023’s “Ms Grippy” is probably the biggest hit of his career so far, and his 2024 debut album, Dutty Papi, flaunted his well-manicured musical persona: a slick, globe-trotting Lothario who isn’t above life’s more vulnerable moments. That album also featured a collaboration with Umpa (“Top”), cementing the pair as two of St. Lucia’s defining voices.
Like Umpa, Shemmy J owes the world a few road anthems in the coming weeks. If “Liar,” his energetic, first post-Dutty Papi single, is anything to go by, that will be very easy for him to do.
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Akeen Fennell
Listen to: “Fighta”
Country: Jamaica
Akeen Fenell ended 2024 as the 20th victor of Jamaica’s Digicel Rising Stars competition — a platform that has spawned award-winning reggae superstars such as Romain Virgo and Christopher Martin. He quickly followed up that victory with a pair of singles that previewed the different places his new recording career could take him in 2025.
“Fighta,” an uplifting, emotional tune inspired by his journey through the Rising Stars competition, arrived at DSPs on Dec. 6, 2024. The following week, he dropped “Every Christmas,” a cover of Luther Vandross’ holiday classic cast in an unmistakably reggae-centric light.
Whether he’s going for straightforward anthems of encouragement or mature fusions of R&B reggae, Fennell now has all the right tools to spend the next year cementing himself as one of the foremost voices in adult reggae music.
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Leighanna
Listen to: “Flowers”
Country: Trinidad & Tobago
Back with a new team and a clear vision after some post-pandemic career reassessment, rising Trinidadian soca star Leighanna is kicking off 2025 with a new single titled “Flowers.”
Sung over Bodyroc and Shot Master J’s “Eyeland” riddim, “Flowers” is Leighanna’s dedication to the beautiful diversity and resilience of women — and a reminder to men to cherish and respect them. Partially inspired by her soca foremothers like Patrice Roberts and Fay-Ann Lyons, “Flowers” — and the other new music she has on the way ahead of the 2025 Carnival season — is the culmination of Leighanne’s years-long journey to stability in the recording industry.
Now that things are equally in place on the music and business sides of things, Leighanna is poised to conquer 2025 one soca scorcher at a time.
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Renecia Bernard
Listen to: Select performances from the final round of Digicel Rising Stars (Season 20)
Country: Jamaica
After getting voted off the show and coming back as a wild card contestant, 17-year-old crooner Renecia Bernard’s talents took her all the way to second place on season 20 of Digicel Rising Stars.
Though she did not win and plans to continue her other non-musical endeavors and studies, award-winning reggae legend Marcia Griffiths has other plans for the burgeoning star.
“I really love her and her talent. She is young and green and has a future ahead of her, but I want to be a good advisor for her,” Griffiths told The Gleaner. “I personally want to take her to a good producer who will help really take her to the next level. She has great potential – she has the natural talent, but, with a little grooming, she could be great.”
Griffiths, the voice behind such classics as “Stepping Out of Babylon” and “Electric Boogie,” is certainly an ideal name to have in your corner. With Griffith’s mentorship, Renecia could begin an unforgettable career in 2025. She currently has no music of her own available to stream, so it would be quite a shock if the calendar year passes and Bernard doesn’t make her official debut after some additional months in development.