soca
Two months removed from his Billboard cover story, Vybz Kartel is effortlessly maintaining his comeback momentum.
After attending last month’s Grammys (Feb. 2) on the heels of his very first nomination (best reggae album for Party With Me), Worl’ Boss received the Impact Award at the MOBO Awards, where he performed a medley of “Fever” and “Clarks.” This summer (July 13), he’ll join three-day headliner Drake as a special guest alongside PARTYNEXTDOOR, Summer Walker and Burna Boy.
Of course, the Caribbean music scene has been buzzing outside of Karrtel and dancehall. Earlier this week (March 3-4), Trinidad celebrated its Carnival with a explosive collection of new soca anthems. Machel Montano’s “Pardy” was crowned the Road March winner, racking up 267 plays. Bunji Garlin’s “Carry It” — a heavy favorite for the title — landed in a close second with 253 plays. The Arima-born artist also placed in third with “Thousand.” Montano’s victory marked his 11th Road March title, tying him with the late Aldwyn “Lord Kitchener” Roberts for the most of all time. The King of Soca also claimed first-ever Chutney Soca Monarch title with “Pepper Vince,” but he came in fifth place at Calypso Monarch behing Yung Bredda’s third place-finishing “We Rise.”
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Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado:
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Valiant, “Whole Lotta”
One of dancehall’s brightest stars, Valiant continues his streak of solid rap performances and trap dancehall offerings with “Whole Lotta.” Fingerpicked guitar introduce the track, eventually slinking into the background and serving as warm complement to the dark underbelly of the song’s dancehall soundscape. “Rick Owens beats currency/ Gyal, come with me cah yuh man n’ave no sense/ Travel ’round the world, we nuh travel inna comments/ Compare me and me take that as a offense,” he raps in the first, immediately establishing an arresting cadence that nods to the agression of classic gun chunes without visiting that space lyrically.
Kraff Gad, “Chant”
Leaning even more into trap than dancehall, Kraff Gad’s latest track is one that you can’t help but “Chant” along too. Kraff probably has the most interesting flow of his class; it shapeshifts effortlessly, going from rapid fire delivery one second to a more laid-back cadence that plays on the kick drum instead of the skittering hi-hats another. Less of a club track and more of a vibe, “Chant” offers an interesting look at what happens when you slow down the tempo and temper your trap with Jamaican patois.
Lila Iké, “Too Late to Lie”
One of the leading female voices in contemporary reggae, Lila Iké has been on a roll with her recent releases, including collaborations with Joey Bada$$ (“Fry Plantain”) and H.E.R. (“He Loves Us Both”). On this tender roots reggae ballad, Lila croons of the specific pain sourced from betryal and shattered trust. “I know my life will never be the same/ You made your choice and I will not complain/ Don’t raise your voice/ Please don’t speak my name,” she sings in the chorus. “Just say goodbye/ It’s too late to lie.”
Likkle Vybz, “Miss Independent”
Last month, we named Likkle Addi one of 10 Caribbean Artists to Watch in 2025. With the release of his Valentine’s Day-themed Love Lane EP, Likkle Vybz — Addi’s brother and fellow offspring of Vybz Kartel — lets it be known that he’s also one to keep an eye on. “Miss Independent,” a smooth, guitar-inflected dancehall midtempo dedicated to the baddest lady in the room, is a surprisingly solid showcase of Likkle Vybz’s vocal abilities. He tenderly sings the hook, bleeding into verses that echo his father’s cadence while opting for a notably lighter, flirtier tone.
Voice & Bunji Garlin, “Flatten”
Though he came up short for the Road March title at Trinidad’s Carnvial, Bunji Garlin was once again an inescapable voice and presence this season. Outside of “Carry It” and “Thousand,” “Flatten” stands as a winning tribute to the fetes of soca’s golden era. Anchored by relentless “Hand up, hand up, hand up” chants, vigorous drums and jaunty background brass, “Flatten” isn’t just a reflection of the road; it’s a reflection of the road before the commercialization of Carnival started significantly altering its vibe.
Lutan Fyah, “Pieces of Broken Soul”
“Abundance of weed, crack pipe and liquor so cheap, there’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed/ There’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed!” Lutan Fyah cries out in “Pieces of Broken Soul,” a heartwrenching reggae ballad that yearns for humanity to achieve some semblance of wholeness. Fyah’s voice is at once forlorn and cautiously hopeful, just like the horns that wail in the background across Zion I King’s lush roots reggae production.
Patrice Roberts, “The Great Escape”
“I’ll take you to a place not too far away/ Where all of your dreams come rushing in like a tidal wave/ You could be my Carnivl dahlin’/ And we gon’ fete till we fall in love,” sings soca queen Patrice Roberts. Written and produced by Tano alongside Kitwana Israel, Mical Teja Williams and Jovan James, “The Great Escape” is a classic, no-frills Carivnal jam. With her lyrics painting a gorgeous portrait of the road and Kyle Peters’ guitars adding a melodic touch to those pounding drums, “The Great Escape” is a welcome taste of musical escapism.
Yung Bredda, “We Rise”
This song helped Yung Bredda place third in his first-ever Calypso Monarch appeance — and it’s clear to see why. The Ato Williams-helemed track shifts Bredda away from soca and zess and toward classic calypso. His charismatic, animated vocal performance appropriately honors the message of the song: that Trinidad and her people will rise again despite the ever-changing forces of oppression that seek to keep them down. Written by Leeanna Williams, Kester Stoute and Ato, “We Rise” is calypso that you must listen and dance to — another stellar offering from Trinidad’s hottest new star.
Kes & Tano, “Last Drum”
Kes has been dominating the season with both the Full Blown-assisted “No Sweetness” and their own “Cocoa Tea,” and they’ve once again teamed up with longtime collaborator Tano for another anthem for the aunties. With his pleas for his lady to “show me your wild side,” Kes continues his streak of clean, digestible soca tunes that are perfect for all ages and audiences, while still maitaining the unbridled energy at the center of the genre.
Aidonia, “Waste Har Time”
Though Aidonia preceded the trap dancehall wave, he’s routinely proven that he can hang with the best of them in that space. As X-rated as the come, “Waste Har Time” is Aidonia’s personal lesson in seduction. “You don’t know what fi do with it/ She wine pon di cocky right to the tip,” he rhymes before slightly dipping in his falsetto for a hook that would make any avid reader of “spicy books” blush. “I get you wet, I make you cum/ She like when sex is fun/ We haffi go one more time when we done,” he proclaims.
If there’s a current “big three” when it comes to different styles of Caribbean music, it’s probably reggae, dancehall and soca. Between Buju Banton’s Stateside return and Vybz Kartel’s release from prison and subsequent Freedom Street bonanza, reggae and dancehall, respectively, earned much-needed boosts to their global profiles thanks to the massive legacy of those Jamaican giants. Now, it’s soca’s turn – and Trinidad is leading the charge.
Led by a slew of joyous, anthemic hits – including leading road march contenders from Bunji Garlin (“Carry It”) and Machel Montano’s (“Pardy”) – this season’s soca anthems are connecting with audiences in a very special way. After soca band Kes played a sold-out concert at New York’s Brooklyn Paramount last year (Dec. 14), the crowd spilled out into the streets, belting out Destra and Montano’s classic “It’s Carnival,” despite the sub-20-degree weather. Last month, Montano timed the release of “Pardy” for the same week he made history with the first-ever soca set for NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series.
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Meanwhile, Trinidadian-born rap megastar Nicki Minaj joined forces with Trinidad Killa for a soca-flavored track called “Eskimo,” and she recently teased a remix of Garlin’s infectious “Carry It.” And, of course, there’s no legitimate discussion of 2025 soca that doesn’t include Yung Bredda’s “The Greatest Bend Over” and Full Blown’s culture-quaking “Big Links” riddim.
On March 3 and 4, tens of thousands of revelers will parade in the streets across Trinidad, honoring the centuries-old Afrocentric celebrations that evolved into today’s Carnival festivities. In addition to the liberating mayhem of J’ouvert morning’s Stink & Dutty Mas and the extravagant costumes of Pretty Mas, Trinidad Carnival also incorporates traditional elements steeped in the island’s rich and sacred history. The national stickfighting competition honors Kalinda martial art and the annual reenactment of the Kambulé riots – a series of 1880s protests against colonial police’s efforts to restrict certain freedoms and aspects of culture – keep history at the center of the celebration.
Of course, music is also an integral part of Trinidad Carnival, with a slew of competitions providing unforgettable entertainment, including Calypso Monarch, Soca Monarch, the King and Queen of the Bands, Panorama, the Carnival Road March. Before the winners of those competitions are decided – particularly Soca Monarch and the Carnival Road March – producers and artists spent the months leading up to Carnival dropping their best swings at the season’s defining soca anthems.
On Sunday (March 2), Montano, who already boasts six International Soca Monarch wins and 10 Road March victories, won his first-ever Chutney Soca Monarch title with “Pepper Vine.” Montano came up short at Calypso Monarch, landing in fifth place with “Bet Meh” behind Helon Francis’ “To Whom It May Be” — as did Yung Bredda, who placed third with “We Rise,” his first-ever showing at a Calypso Monarch final.
Bredda has quickly emerged as one of the defining voices of soca this year with “The Greatest Bend Over,” his take on Full Blown’s “Big Links” riddim, which dropped late last year (Dec. 2, 2024). A Trini star who plays both soca and calypso music, Beedd recently appeared in Billboard’s weekly “Trending Up” column thanks to the steadily rising Stateside streaming totals for “Bend Over.” His sweet, perfect-for-all-ages track is joined by contributions from Montana (“The Truth”) and Kes (“No Sweetness”), as well as “Good Spirits,” the first song penned to the riddim and a notable step into the spotlight for Full Blown as recording artists.
“One day we were messing with some different melodies and exchanging ideas; I would do the music and Kevon would do the writing,” recalls Kory Hart, one-half of Full Blown, from the very studio in which the sibling duo crafted the “Big Links” riddim. “The public sees the highs more than anything else, but we’ve been through a lot of difficult periods. That’s where ‘Good Spirits’ really came from.”
After cutting “Good Spirits,” the brothers decided to make it a riddim because “it helps when people see a big name like Machel Montano as the lead artist.” Full Blown — the Trini sibling production duo of Kory and Kevon Hart — has been working with Montano for over 15 years now, so their collaboration was as natural as it was inevitably great. A later session with Kes at producer Tano’s studio led to “No Sweetness,” which would have been the final song on the riddim if not for the duo’s nagging feeling that they needed Yung Bredda on it as well. Full Blown initially brought the 24-year-old entertainer to the studio “because [they] wanted somebody who would write their own song, so that [they] wouldn’t have to do so.”
Once he heard the riddim, Bredda wanted the duo to write the song, so the collaboration was “put on the shelf for a second.” After sitting with the riddim for a few more weeks, Kevon started sketching out an idea for “The Greatest Bend Over” while his brother was out, and Kory helped structure the song when he returned. Accented by its notable incorporation of zess, a Trinidadian dancehall subgenre, the composition and resounding success of the “Big Links” riddim epitomize Full Blown’s commitment to crafting soca that’s steeped in tradition and unafraid to push forward into new sonic territories.
“The introduction is dominated by the tabla, a percussion instrument that’s the identifying mark of zess,” explains Hart. “It would be a typical groovy soca beat without it. Zess has a very large following among the youth in Trinidad, but [those artists] have been struggling to be accepted by mainstream Trini music – which is soca. For us, this was a very clever way of combining the two and showing the Zess artists that they do what we do, just in a different way.”
In addition to the “Big Links” riddim, Lady Lava’s “Ring Finger” is also making waves across the Caribbean diaspora. A Trini recording artist and poet, Lady Lava has been making music since 2008, cultivating a unique lane characterized by lyrics of female empowerment. With her career back on the upswing after a down period marked by the quick succession of her first pregnancy and the COVID-19 pandemic, Lady Lava is seizing her moment – and courting new fans like Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B.
“You don’t have a ring, then you don’t have a mister,” she proclaims over Aaron Duncan’s thumping “Summer Steam” riddim. A musical reminder to never let a no-good man pull the wool over your eyes, “Ring Finger” is a soca anthem for women by a woman – one that stands out from the scores of odes to wining women sung by male soca artists.
It’s that feminist bent that’s allowed “Ring Finger” to enjoy such marked longevity: The song was a local hit when it first dropped in summer 2024, but TikTok virality over the fall and the winter kept wind in its sails. The official “Ring Finger” TikTok sound plays in over 22,000 posts, and the audio from a live performance soundtracks a further 13,000 posts. Last month (Feb. 19), Lava graced On the Radar with “Ring Finger,” marking a rare soca number on the buzzy live performance platform. By infusing contemporary soca instrumentation with brash lyricism sourced from her poetry background and the femme-forward approach of female dancehall giants like ’90s and ‘00s hitmaker Lady Saw, Lady Lava is ushering in a new era of soca for a younger audience.
“I still write a poem about everything,” she says. “If I wanted to tell somebody something, I would write it in a poem. Music is me putting poem to riddims, that’s how my style of writing does be like that. I like to rhyme and use metaphors and compare things that totally don’t have anything to do with each other just to get people thinking.”
Getting people to think beyond grooving to the music is also the primary goal for Tendaji, a Trinidadian singer, songwriter, and music who bridges traditional calypso and modern soca. With a musical profile anchored by the drums and lavways (call-and-response chants) that soundtracked stickfighting competition, Tendanji is perhaps one of the most fearless Trinidad recording artists when it comes to centering history in the music.
His most recent release, “Doh Cry,” features a music video that showcases the stickfighting tradition in a cinematic, black-and-white aesthetic. At the end of the song, Tendaji calls out the names of stickfighting warriors of eras past, including King Kali, King Bara, King David and King Stokely, honoring their influence and highlighting how stickfighting connects the Trinidad of today to its Afro-Indigenous roots. He built the song with Rishi Mahato of Maha Productions, a prominent chutney music producer who brought some of those elements to the “strongly African, strongly Jouvay energy” of “Doh Kry,” a reminder that “Trinidad is not just one sound,” as Tendaji stresses.
“There’s a lot of music out there for Pretty Feathers Mass. There’s a lot of music out there to wine and jam on Carnival Tuesday, but there ain’t nothing for the jab jab, the blue devils, the stick fighters, etc.” he says. “When Carnival Monday comes, we ain’t looking for flowers music. We want to get into character. We want to go down inside weself. Carnival has a ritualistic element, and because of my history and involvement in the character mas so much, I try to make music that reps them as well.”
Whether through composition, lyrics or presentation, Full Blown, Lady Lava and Tendaji are all making incredible strides in defining the future of soca – especially as the genre eyes a potential global crossover moment off the back of this season’s biggest hits. Notting Hill Carnival is still several months away, for example, but “The Greatest Bend Over” has already gotten so much traction in the U.K. that it would have entered the country’s Afrobeats charts, had it fit the appropriate sonic profile, according to a phone conversation Full Blown had with BBC Radio 1Xtra personnel two weeks ago. All three acts agree that the “crossover” will happen with foreign listeners meeting Trini soca artists on their turf. The era of concessions is over.
“I think we’re getting braver in terms of saying things the way we say it. I don’t know if Afrobeats’ [success] helped with that, but we sing it all the time down here and don’t even know what they’re saying all the time. But it sounds good,” says Hart. “I think the same thing will happen with us and our Trini dialect. Our ‘crossover hits’ have been very few and far between. We’re starting to see that soca has more appeal.”
As the music industry marches further into this era of increased globalization, different styles and genres that may have taken a backseat in past eras now have an opportunity to lead the charge. Trinidad is churning out soca hits that will hopefully lay the foundation for future bouyon crossover hits from St. Lucia and Dominica.
“Even the Jamaicans — who, oftentimes, we wish we were in their shoes so we could have our genres recognized — are looking to soca now because they believe that soca is the next thing,” Hart proclaims. “Our confidence is building; we’re finding our voice and our space and realizing that if we keep it up consistently, the world will catch up to us eventually.”
With Trinidad and Tobago’s 2025 Carnival set to kick off this weekend (March 1), Machel Montano has gifted his island — and the whole world — a new album full of soca bangers and international collaborations.
On Tuesday (Feb. 25), the King of Soca dropped One Degree Hotter, his first full-length offering since 2021’s Wedding Album. Titled in reference to both his sizzling soca catalog and newly earned Master’s degree in Carnival Studies from the University of Trinidad & Tobago, One Degree Hotter boasts an impressive roster of collaborators, including Grammy-winning R&B star Ne-Yo (“Truth & Balance”), Nigerian Afrobeats megastar Davido (“Fling It Up”), Trinidadian vocalists Drupatee & Lady Lava (“Pepper Vine”), Vincentian soca superstar Skinny Fabulous (“Fallen Fetters”) and fellow Trini soca giant Bunji Garlin (“Home Is Where the Heart Is”).
One Degree Hotter also includes a special “road mix” of “Pardy,” Montano’s latest smash, and a top contender for the highly coveted Road March title at Carnival this year. Should he pull off another victory, Montano will tie the legendary Lord Kitchener for the most Road March wins of all time (11).
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Montano’s new project arrives just two months into what’s already been a banner year for the soca icon. Last month (Jan. 13), he brought played the very first soca set in NPR Tiny Desk history, delivering spirited renditions of classics like “Famalay,” “One More Time,” “Fast Wine” and “Like Ah Boss.”
Over the weekend (Feb. 22), Montano found himself in a bit of hot water with Nicki Minaj and her Barbz. During a performance of “Good Spirit,” Montano exclaimed, “Nicki Minaj, stop fighting meh down,” which some took as an accusation that the Trinidadian-American rapper was working against Montano by linking up with Trinidad Killa for their new “Eskimo” collaboration. Minaj promptly responded via her Instagram page, threatening to “cuss [Montano] very stink.” Montano then shared a formal apology via social media, saying, “It was a misunderstanding – a mistake on my part – and I’m a big man and I will say that. Nicki, you know I respect you and you know I love you and I did not try to jump out there and attack you and I didn’t want any of your fans or you to feel that you have ever done anything to fight me down. You did the opposite. You always lift me up.”
All is well between the two artists now, with Montano even proposing a collaboration between himself, Minaj and Trinidad Killa. In 2023, Montano and Minaj joined forces for “Shake the Place”; last year, Minaj brought him out as a special guest at one of the New York shows of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour.
Machel Montano has earned three top 10 Reggae Albums: 2015’s Monk Monte (No. 2), 2016’s Monk Evolution (No. 5) and 2019’s G.O.A.T. (No. 1).
Stream One Degree Hotter below.
Between Vybz Kartel‘s blockbuster Freedom Street homecoming concert, Machel Montano‘s historic NPR Tiny Desk set and the slow-burning crossover of new soca anthems like Kes‘ “Cocoa Tea” and Yung Bredda’s “The Greatest Bend Over,” Caribbean music has gotten off to an excellent start in 2025.
On Sunday (Feb. 2), music’s biggest stars will convene in Los Angeles for the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be turned into a fundraiser for relief efforts in the wake of several devastating fires in the greater Los Angeles area. At this year’s ceremony, Kartel (Party With Me), Shenseea (Never Gets Late Here), The Wailers (Evolution), the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack, and Collie Buddz (Take It Easy) are the nominees for best reggae album. Kehlani‘s “After Hours,” which samples Codell “Skatta” Burrell’s Coolie Dance riddim, is nominated for best R&B song. Just three weeks later, Popcaan, Shenseea, Skillibeng, Spice, Valiant and YG Marley will duke it out for best Caribbean music act at the MOBO Awards (Feb. 18), while the Bob Marley: One Love film will compete in six categories at the NAACP Image Awards (Feb. 22).
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As these ceremonies celebrate the best of 2024, the new year is already heating up with new earworms to soundtrack the forthcoming Carnival season. Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado:
Freshest Find: Kranium & Masicka, “Cut the Link”
“You give dem everything dem ask for/ And dem end up turn dem back yeah/ Now I know/ Mankind, you can’t tame them/ Dem wah you die, mi realize/ Dem wah fi own di place where you reside/ Mi cut the link, I know the deal,” Kranium croons in the opening verse of “Cut the Link,” a somber rumination on overcoming leeches and detractors. Produced by TJ Records and featuring an assist from Masicka, “Cut the Link” delivers a dancehall track that deals with raw emotion and real-life struggles, topics that are always welcome and cherished in a sea of gun and gyal chunes. “Cut The Link” marks the third collaboration between Kranium and Masicka, following 2016’s “Beach House” and 2017’s “Fire in the Rain.”
Shenseea, “Puni Police”
In a few days, Shenseea could become a first-time Grammy winner, but her current focus is lambasting the “Puni Police.” “Hot gyal a nuh fi everybody, my yute/ Comment pon mi picture dem, a that a mad you/ You too insecure, so you lose/ That’s why I’mma need you to/ Gimme some room to breathe,” she spits over Di Genius’ siren-evoking riddim. Her self-assured lyrics of self-respect in the face of an overly possessive partner add beautiful color to the ever-evolving portrait of woman-helmed dancehall songwriting. Shenyeng and Di Genius last linked up for two Never Gets Late Here tracks: “Neva Neva” and the Masicka-assisted global hit “Hit & Run.” Clearly, the two artists have A1 chemistry.
Lu City & Didi B, “Petit Bonon”
St. Lucia’s Lu City and the Dominican Republic’s Didi B are a match made in heaven on their sultry “Petit Bonbon” single. A slinky mélange of Afrobeats-inflected dancehall and slight notes of soca drums, “Petit Bonbon” finds the cross-Caribbean collaborators joining forces to tribute an eye-catching young lady who’s reigning over the club on a given night. With a greater emphasis on melody and feeling over rapid-fire wordplay, “Petit Bonbon” is a nice conduit to bring the evening into a slower, more seductive place.
Hector Roots Lewis featuring Johnny Cosmic, “Celebration”
After spending last year basking in the success of the box office-topping Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack, Hector Roots Lewis is back with a brand new single. A modern roots reggae tune produced by Johnny Classic, “Celebration” serves as the fifth single from Lewis’ forth-coming project. “To my brothers in the streets/ To my sisters in the streets/ Leave the guns and leave the knives/ We don’t want no fuss or fight,” he implores over the easy-rocking reggae guitars and breezy percussion, maintaining the peaceful proclamations that decorated Marley’s catalog. Lewis’ voice is incredibly charismatic on “Celebration,” seamlessly switching from warm sustained notes in the verses to more staccato delivery in the outro.
Machel Montano, “Pardy”
After making history by bringing soca music to NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series for the first time ever, Machel Montano hopped on a few more riddims in anticipation of Carnival season. Among his new drops is “Pardy,” a reminder that we all work hard, so we all deserve to party. “All work and no play/ Mi seh, ‘No way’/ We don’t want no part of that/ I need a stress reliever, two drinks in mi hand a gyal in the middle,” he sings in the opening verse, expertly setting the scene for an explosive release in the chorus soundtracked by Badjohn Republic and XplicitMevon’s high-octane drums. Packaged with a music video suitable for all ages and generations, “Pardy” is primed to take over the season in due time.
Lyrikal, “Road Anthem”
At this point, is it really a surprise when Lyrikal drops off another road march anthem? With some help from KesKeyz, the Trinidadian artist debuted “Road Anthem,” a song that accomplishes exactly what its title suggests. “Like the government, we go on di road/ Dem go talk about we for centuries/ There’s no other place that is on this Earth/ There’s no other place, there’s no other place/ I never want to miss this feeling again!” he sings, effortlessly invoking the inimitable energy and rejoiceful spirit of the road during Carnival. Like any great soca artist, Lyrikal is a master at pacing, always allowing the verses enough breathing room to stretch out the song’s ascent into a bombastic chorus.
Foreign Dan, Yung Bredda & Venumm, “Cocoa She Want”
After topping Trinidad & Tobaga’s Apple Music chart with his runaway hit “The Greatest Bend Over” late last year (Dec. 30, 2024), Yung Bredda found some time to link with Foreign Dan and Venumm for “Cocoa She Want.” “She don’t want no Lipton, she don’t want no Milo/ All she askin for is the pure cocoa,” Venumm croons over Foreign Dan’s jaunty production. When the soundscape opts for a sparser percussion line halfway, Yung Bredda flaunts his versatility, weaving in and out of harmony with Venumm as he delivers his own promises to share his “cocoa.”
Jahshii & Pop Style, “E.G.Y.G. (Every Ghetto Yout Great)”
With his new Pop Style-helmed single, Jahshii uses the gritty template of trap dancehall to craft an uplifting anthem for Jamaica’s ghetto yutes. When his impassioned, Auto-Tuned voice creeps into its upper register to proclaim that “every ghetto yout great,” Jahshii reaches an emotional apex rarely visited by his trap dancehall contemporaries. On this track, perhaps more than any of his previous efforts, Jahshii intricately understands how to find the emotion and humanity in an expressly digitized landscape, and he fills those pockets with the kind of gut-wrenching wails that demand not just attention, but close listening too.
Adam O & ARK Productions, “Ms. Masquerader”
With “Ms. Masquerader,” a tribute to the countless beauties on the road, Adam O makes himself at home in the role of ultimate ladies’ man. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines-born artist incorporates more Haitian and Dominican musical influences than your typical soca anthem, but between his raspy vocal performance and live instrumentation by Chryston Floyd (guitar), Konata (percussion) and Geremi Webb (bass), “Ms. Masquerader” stands as a smashing success. It’s a Carnival jam to keep your waistline moving and facilitate a steamy dance or two on the road.
Nailah Blackman & Skinny Fabulous, “Forever”
Both Nailah Blackman and Skinny Fabulous are likely to have yet another dominant year in 2025, and their new “Forever” collaboration is a reminder of why that’s the case. “Carnival, it is my time/ I wanna catch the spirit, it is high time/ Twice is not enough, I need it five times/ For a lifetime,” they plead in unison on the pre-chorus, personifying Carnival as a being that holds the key to a very special kind of unfettered joy and celebration. With CMungal Music, Keiron “Ogoshhoyte” Hoyte, Anson Pro, David “Millbeatz” Millien, Evolution the Band and Johnny Q all contributing to production, “Forever” has notes of all the different traditional and innovative elements that made 2016 such a beloved soca year.
2025 has been around for less than two weeks, and Machel Montano is already making history.
On Monday (Jan. 13), the Trinidadian music icon treated NPR’s Tiny Desk series to its very first soca set. Born out of ’70s calypso in Trinidad and Tobago, soca music is characterized by its fast-paced, high-energy rhythms sourced from the traditional Indian percussion and rhythms that recording artist Lord Shorty (later Ras Shorty I) added to calypso.
Montano — who boasts a staggering four-decade career that included a 1986 appearance on Star Search and a hit single from his primary school days — delivered a warm, lively set that included hits across groovy and power soca such as “One More Time,” “Dance With You,” “Fast Wine,” “Like Ah Boss,” “Famalay” and “Soca Kingdom.” Every member of his backing band wore Monk Music T-shirts, a nod to Montano’s self-founded record label, artist services and music distribution company.
“Today we made history. For the first time ever, soca music has graced the iconic NPR Tiny Desk stage, and I am filled with gratitude, and an overwhelming sense of pride, to represent our culture on this global platform,” Montano wrote on his official Instagram page. “This isn’t just my moment, it’s OUR moment. A moment for every Soca lover, every Caribbean soul, and every person who carries the rhythm of the islands in their heart.”
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At the age of 9, Montano performed at The Theater in New York City’s Madison Square as a support act for Mighty Sparrow and other major calypso acts. Years of local success, hit singles and carnival road anthems followed, and by 2010, Pitbull tapped him to serve as special guest art for the U.S. leg of his Mr. Worldwide Canival Tour. Two years later, Montano became a Triple Crown Winner, with “Mr. Fete” earning the Groovy Soca Monarch title, while “Pump Your Flag” snagged Power Soca Monarch and Road March victories. In 2014, he won the Soul Train Music Award for best international performance with “Ministry of Road (M.O.R.),” beating out stiff competition such as Sam Smith‘s “Stay With Me.” By 2016, Montano brought soca all the way to the Coachella Valley, coming out as a special guest for Major Lazer‘s topline set; he remixed the EDM trio’s Ariana Grande-assisted “All My Love” in 2015.
Machel Montano has earned three top 10 Reggae Albums: 2015’s Monk Monte (No. 2), 2016’s Monk Evolution (No. 5) and 2019’s G.O.A.T. (No. 1).
Watch Machel Montano make soca music history at Tiny Desk below.
From dancehall to soca, here are a few rising stars of the West Indies to keep an eye on in the new year.
Decemeber has arrived, and that means we’ll be getting more than a few tastes of the soca anthems seeking to dominate Carnival season next year. But December also means the return of Sting — a notoriously length reggae and dancehall showcase that has been held annually in Jamaica on Dec. 26 since 198. Home to countless iconic moments in the worlds of reggae and dancehall, Sting will return this month with a genreation-bridging lineup, including Tommy Lee Sparta, Turbulence, Teflon, Gyptian, Jamal, Quada, Jahmiel, Bushman, Dwayne Stephenson, Shane O, Macka Diamond, Laden, Skippa, Kant10t, Ace Gawd and more.
“We’re trying to slide away from all the things that may hamper us in the future,” said CEO of Supreme Promotions Tahheer Lain said at the press launch. “So, I’m trying to give the show a softer feel. As much as it’s a rough cut show, I’m trying to soften it because we realise that a lot of our younger artists they may not have the capability, or pattern of thinking as the older artists… one time it was just Sting, now it’s Sting Live.”
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There’s one other major performance set to take Jamaica by storm this month, and that’s Vybz Kartel‘s Freedom Street New Year’s Eve homecoming concert — his first live show since being released from prison after serving a 13-year sentence.
Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado:
Freshest Find: Bunji Garlin, “Carry It”
Bunji Garlin is one of the most dependable soca artists that we have, and he already has is eyes set on the 2025 road soundtrack. Self-written and produced by Stemz Productions alongside some live guitar from Kyle Peters, “Carry It” finds Bunji uses the frenetic energy of power soca drums to sing a triumphant story in remembrance of his roots and the unique dynamism that comes the resilience of soca music. “Where can I find that energy, the raw raw magic that comes down from the grass-roots/ Yes ah from a place where soca the resounding power/ Yuh could feel anytime any hour, sunshine or shower,” he proclaims in the opening verse.
Hey Choppi, “Titanic”
With production from Spine and Sucre and writing credits from soca legend Machel Montana, “Titanic” was always destined to be a homerun. Nonetheless, it takes a remarkably committed vocal performance — like that of Hey Choppi — to make sure every last piece falls into place. For his take on the “Kompa Fever” riddim, Choppi builds on Rose and Jack’s iconic Titanic love story with a tender, melodic vocal that plays well against the kompa guitars weaved throughout the soundscape.
Nessa Preppy, “Go Bestie”
To close out November, Badjohn Republic and NMG Music teamed up for the “Yes Please” riddim, which Trinidadian soca star Nessa Preppy absolutely slid across. “Go bestie, go twin/ Go bestie, go twin/ Yuh badder den alla dem/ Yuh hotter den alla dem,” she decalres at the song’s outset, seamlessly switching from a flirty flasetto to a comparatively more commanding chest voice as she sings her support for her bestie as they both enjoy themselves at a given function. “Yes Please” also appears on Nessa’s new Little Miss Arima album, which arrived on Nov. 11 featuring collaborations with Yung Bredda, Lady Lava, Freetown Collective and V’ghn.
Konshens, Silent Addy & 1Mind, “Slow Motion”
For the past decade, Konshens has been a formidable force across dancehall music and this new collaboration with Silent Addy and 1Mind’s Mac Sutphin only reiterates that fact. “Slow Motion” finds the Kingston MC relishing his time spent caught up in the hypnosis of the night’s reigning bad gyal. “How yuh full a style suh? How yuh full a vibes suh?/ What is it about you? How mi jus’ a smile suh?/ Tek di money, tek di money, baby hold a coil nuh/ Cool and deadly, dah love yah nuffi wild up,” he sing-raps over the slow-burninng, synth-laden production. A master when it comes to gyal tunes, Konshens adds another banger to his arsenal with “Slow Motion.”
Malie Donn & Byron Messia, “Alive”
This summer, Malie Donn quickly followed-up last year’s “V6” breakthrough with “Whats Popping,” and now he’s finally unleashed his debut studio album. One of the standout tracks on the album is “Alive,” a collaboration with Byron Messia that trades in a particularly grim brand of gratitiude. The two dancehall stars are, of course, happy with their success and riches, but even the twinkling piano can’t conjure up the warmth that’s noticeably missing from the simmering track.
Shuga, “Love Doctor”
Lovesickness is an emotion that thousands of songs across genres have explored — and Shuga has dropped off one of her own. Set as the lead single from her forthcoming Girl from Montego Bay album, the Donovan Germain-produced “Love Doctor” is inspired by Shuga’s then-boyfriend (now husband). “I’m calling for the love doctor/ ‘Cause tonight, I need some healing/ I’ve got to see the love doctor/ ‘Cause right now I’m in my feelings,” she earnestly sings over gentle reggae guitars in the hook. Grown and tasteful, “Love Doctor” is the kind of intergenerational banger that makes reggae so special.
Jaz Elise, “Unforgettable”
From an opening that recalls the synthesized harp of “The Boy Is Mine” to that whimisical swell of the final chorus, “Unforgettable” is yet another gorgeous release from Jaz Elise. “I won’t take this thing we have for granted/ Feels so good, so natural/ Nuh odda one compare to you, you have it/ A kiss from you, so magical,” she proclaims over a J.L.L. and IzyBeats-helmed soundscape that uses an ebullient horn section to contour its traditional reggae production. Following “Gunman” earlier this year, Jaz Elise is two for two when it comes to 2024 solo releases.
A-Suh Boss, “Chappa Cry”
Beyoncé gifted us her Renaissance album in 2022, and now it’s A-Suh Boss’ turn. For “Chappa Cry,” the opening track of his debut album — also titled Renaissance, to be clear — A-Suh Boss provides a gritty, reflective soundtrack for all the ghetto youths who dream far bigger than their present circumstances. “The house used to leak when rain fall/ Used to dress, guh school inna same shorts/ Life never sweet, dem days hard/ Life change from mi mek di sweepstakes call,” he sing-raps over the Monk Music-helmed production.
Kes, “Cocoa Tea”
Few can hold a candle to Kes when it comes to groovy soca, and “Cocoa Tea” is just further proof why. After dropping off Man With No Door earlier this year — the award-winning soca band’s first studio LP in a decade — Kes has returned with “Cocoa Tea,” an endlessly sweet ode to a love that warms you up like a mug of the chocolate-y beverage. “Darling, heat me up/ Only you alone could put fire back in me soul/ Heat me up/ And they telling me ah should leave that fire alone/ Well, the more they tell me is the more I holding you close,” lead singer Kees Dieffenthaller croons in the pre-chorus before the song explodes into a groovy soca fantasia in the chorus.
Lady Lava & Jordan English, “Baddd B”
For his “Bad B” remix, Jordan English staged a collaboration between Barbados and Trinidad, tapping Lady Lava, who recently received her flowers from Cardi B, for a sizzling guest verse. “Bad B” is English’s take on DJ Vibes, Hit It Records and Supa Nytro’s “Pressure” riddim — a sparse, percusssive number with ample room for MCs to flow over. An easy-rocking, tongue-in-cheek tune sure to set the dance floors ablaze as we enter the new year, look for “Bad B” to have some legs going into the spring.
With just days to go before the reveal of the 2025 Grammy nominations, a few of the hottest stars from across Caribbean music could earn their first nomination for best reggae album.
This year, Teejay (I Am Chippy), Masicka (Generation of Kings), Jah Lil (Can A Man Cry), Govana (Legacy), Shenseea (Never Gets Late Here), Gyptian (Guarded), Stalk Ashley (Stalky the Brat), Romain Virgo (The Gentle Man) and Vybz Kartel (Party With Me) are among the artists who have submitted their eligible albums from consideration. Previous nominees such as Spice (Mirror 25), The Wailers (Evolution) and Protoje (In Search of Zion) are also in contention.
If the final slate of nominees once again includes American reggae band SOJA — who’s contending this year with Beauty In the Acoustic — stay tuned for a repeat of the controversy that their 2022 triumph (for Beauty in the Silence) sparked.
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Outside of Grammy news, all eyes are on the United States presidential election (Nov. 5), where Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, could become the first Asian-American and first woman president.
Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado:
Freshest Find: Protoje, “Barrel Bun”
On Oct. 18, two-time Grammy nominee Protoje released a collection of tracks previewing the full soundtrack to a forthcoming short film. Stacked with songs specifically written to accentuate the film’s storyline, The Jamaican Situation: Side A houses several knockout tracks — including the fiery “Barrel Bun.” A straightforward, brass-accented reggae jam, “Barrel Bun” finds Protoje calling for radical systemic change in a country marred by government corruption and violence, with Ziah.Push’sstine production beautifully complementing Protoje’s narrator-esque delivery. “It depends pon what you choose/ Fi make it out or make it pon the news/ The system ya rough/ Everybody wicked and tough,” he croons in the chorus, between verses that follow different characters as they fight to survive and live with themselves under varying systems of oppression.
Skip Marley, “Close”
Maxi Priest’s “Close to You” — which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990 — already put the “pop” in reggae-pop, and Skip Marley’s reimagining of the track doubles down on its dancefloor bonafide. Produced by Rykeyz, Marley ups the reggae feel of Priest’s original chorus, his raspy upper register playing well against the groovy percussion that grounds the smoldering verses between each party-ready hook. Marley has already visited the top 10 of the Hot 100 (alongside Katy Perry with 2017’s No. 4-peaking “Chained to the Rhythm”), and “Close to You” has the potential to bring him back there.
Teejay feat. Masicka, “Never Complain”
You know it’s serious business when two of dancehall’s hottest stars join forces. With “Never Complain,” Jamaican powerhouses Teejay and Masicka a menacing dancehall track that finds the former delivering a smooth, coolly confident hook, while the latter spits rugged, rapid-fire verses that offer a peek into how fame and success have altered the outlook of both stars. With slinky guitar riffs providing a lighter complement to the brooding lyricism and overall production, “Never Complain” is a surprisingly texturally rich offering that previews just how incredible a joint project between Teejay and Masicka could sound.
Beach Boii & Simon Said, “Bad Gyal”
Who has the time to be worried about colder weather when Beach Boii and Simon Said are dropping sizzling joints like this one? “Bad Gyal,” a sultry trap-infused dancehall slow-burner, continues the genre’s long-standing tradition of tributing beautiful women, but Simon Said’s relaxed delivery and his and Beach Boii’s lyrics prioritize praising women’s independence as much as they express their desires to be with her. “Anything yuh want, baby girl that’s it/ Gucci from Milan, Louis Vuitton, Français/ Put it pon di Gram, make these hoes upset/ Real bad gyal, so mi know yuh don’t play,” Simon croons over Beach Boii’s string-inflected beat.
Major Lazer & Vybz Kartel, “Nobody Move”
Originally teased back in 2017 — with an additional Lorde feature, no less! — “Nobody Move” is finally here. Released as a part of the 15-year anniversary reissue of Major Lazer’s 2009 debut album Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do, “Nobody Move” finds Kartel interpolating bits of Yellowman’s 1984 dancehall classic “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt.” A far more traditional reggae joint than 2009’s “Pon De Floor” — the last time the two acts linked up for a collaboration with no other guests. It’s a brief track with just one full verse, but it’s prime for easy listening. “Nobody move, nobody get hurt/ Mi feel di vibes, put in di best work/ Jamaica land we love/ I love fi see di gyal dem inna short mini skirt,” Vybz proclaims in a curiously wistful cadence.
Juls, Black Sherif & Projexx, “Timing”
Released as a single from Juls’ Peace & Love album, “Timing” is a world-bridging collaboration between the British-Ghanaian producer, Ghanaian singer Black Sherif and Jamaican artist Projexx. Juls’ ethereal soundscape pulls from Afrobeats as much as it pays tribute to dancehall rhythms and grooves, with Black Sherif’s buoyant energy playing well against the laid-back, reserved approach Projexx takes, each style accenting different pockets of the airy beat.
Jada Kingdom, “Somebody Else”
Jada Kingdom kicked off the year with one of dancehall’s fiercest clashes, and now she’s back with “Somebody Else,” her first release under her new independent entity Kingdom Mab. A characteristically seductive kiss-off, “Somebody Else” finds Twinkle purring her way through an R&B-infused track that balances vulnerability with strength sourced from introspection. “Cause after all the heartbreak, I still gained nothing/ Best of luck, I’m sorry/ It’s too late to want me/ I got my eye on somebody else,” she declares.
Nailah Blackman, “Banana”
Nailah Blackman literally has soca history cousing through her veins — and she does her lineage proud with each successive release. “Banana,” Nailah’s take on the “Double Dip” riddim, brings her over to the power soca as she sings, “A girl no want no soft man/ Gimme a roughneck/ A man to slap it up and/ Gimme some roughness/ Want a man with strong back.” Tailor made for the road, “Banana” is sure to soundtrack some of the wickedest wines in the West Indies and beyond come next Carnival season.
Kenroy Mullings, “Brighter Days”
Analog instrumentation will never go out of style — and Kenroy Mullings is here to remind us of that. A renowned guitarist who works frequently with Buju Banton released his highly anticipated instrumental album, Brighter Days, on Oct. 23, and the title track is one of the strongest offerings. Centered on a sunny guitar melody and accented with ebullient horns and steady, earthy percussion, “Brighter Days” positions itself as the musical equivalent of the first few sun rays breaking through the clouds. There’s hope coursing through every chord, so much so that lyrics feel like a bonus accessory here as opposed to a necessity.
Patrice Roberts, “Kitty Cat”
At the top of October, Trinidadian soca icon Patrice Roberts put her own spin on Suhrawh’s “Cat Attack” riddim. “Yuh have a weakness for sweetness/ Beggin’ for the kitty cat/ So, you have a weakness for sweetness/ I have the sweetness,” she coos over the beat, which sounds just a step or two away from something you might hear on a poppier Brazilian funk track. A tantalizing ode to the power of the kitty and a sultry showcase of both Patrice’s power and sexual prowess, “Kitty Cat” is the perfect song to channel the flirtatious energy of Carnival — even if the season may be over.
Buju Banton’s viral Afrobeats-lambasting Drink Champs appearance (Aug. 28) previewed a particularly contentious month for reggae and dancehall music, and September did not disappoint.
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After announcing the removal of the reggae recording of the year category from the forthcoming 2025 JUNO Awards, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has reversed its decision, allowing a new crop of competitors to join past winners like Leroy Sibbles, Exco Levi and Kirk Diamond. The news came just a few weeks before an update in the curious removal of Drake‘s “Blue Green Red” from streaming services. The dancehall-inflected track — which peaked at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a part of the rapper’s 100 Gigs EP — allegedly lifted elements from Tiger’s “When” (1991) without proper clearance. Later disputes about who actually serves as Tiger’s publishing representative continues to keep the song off streaming services, but producer Boi-1da asserts that the song could “possibly be back up” once those issues are resolved.
In live performance news, R&B icon Usher brought out a pair of Jamaican powerhouses for his Past Present Future Tour: Grammy-nominated reggae star Barrington Levy delivered renditions of “Here I Come,” “Black Roses” and “Tell Them A Ready (Murderer)” at the trek’s final Brooklyn show (Sept. 10), while Caribbean Music Award winner Masicka performed “Fight For Us” at the final Toronto Show (Sept. 3). At the latter stop, Canadian rapper and producer Kardinal Offishall also joined forces with Usher for a special cover of Chaka Demus & Pliers’ “Murder She Wrote.”
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Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado:
Freshest Find: Azato, “Disconnect to Connect”
As a global society, we’re probably past the point of no return when it comes to the unhealthy amount of time and energy we collectively give to technology and social media. With “Disconnect to Connect,” a warm, full-bodied mélange of soulful roots reggae and notes of soft rock and jazz, Hawaiian reggae band Azato deliver something greater than a finger-wagging “get off your phones” anthem. “Are we truly free, or just followers of likes?” he questions us, urging us to detox, if only for a moment. Roots reggae has proven to be rich soil for sociopolitical commentary for decades, and Azato offers up a distinctly 21st-century lens through “Disconnect to Connect.”
Runkus, Royal Blu & Kush Arora, “No Long Talking”
“Life In the Jungle” might be the main attraction, but “No Long Talking” is a much more intriguing offering from Jamaican artists Runkus and Royal Blu and Bay Area producer Kush Arora. A fiery amalgam of drill and dancehall, complete with machine gun sound effects, rapid fire flows, and a promise to get “straight to the action, don’t wanna play.” Built around Kush’s “Desi Cowboy” riddim, both Runkus and Royal Blu embody the lawless spirit of the Wild West with this slinky gun chune.
Morgan & Byron Messia, “Wheel Up”
It’s been over a year since “Talibans” dominated the summer across the Caribbean diaspora, and Byron Messia still stands as one of the biggest dancehall breakout stars in recent memory. On his new collaboration with U.K. pop/R&B arist Morgan, Messia proves himself a surprisingly strong supporting player. A sleek fusion of R&B and dancehall, “Wheel Up” is a sultry ode to Jamaican sound clash culture and the heated nights of passionate dancing and flirting that follow. “One more sin inna mi cup/ Dis ting we affi wheel up,” Morgan croons in the chorus of the Slim Typical-helmed track. Ain’t nothing with rewinding those fleeting moments of connection to make them last a little while longer!
Gyptian, “In the Dark”
Gyptian has been cranking out love and lust-minded dancehall classics for years now, and he’s showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. With his latest single, “In the Dark,” the Billboard chart-topping star zeroes in on the love affairs that thrive when the night falls. “She said, ‘I can come over tonight’/ ‘And do with you whatever’/ Wait till it’s dark outside/ And just make your way over,” he sings over the guitar-inflected reggae-pop beat, painting a thrilling narrative of a secret relationship that can only live in the darkness. It’s a less heartwarming story than the one he tells on “Hold Yuh,” but it’s equally enthralling because of the forbidden spaces it pushes his songwriting to.
Shenseea, “Dating SZN”
It’s wild to think that in 2024, people still (figuratively) clutch their pearls when women speak about balancing different partners, but leave it to Shenseea to render that faux outrage null and void. “You a nuh mi man, mi nah haffi explain/ Mi nuh have no obligation/ Journey might be slow/ But mi haffi sure say you’re the one/ So mi have couple a unuh inna rotation,” she explains in the first verse, letting it be known that she sets the terms of all these arrangements — nobody else. The Supa Dups-produced track references the iconic instrumental hook from TLC’s Hot 100-topping “No Scrubs,” an increasingly rare instance of a newer song referencing a classic track and building on that song’s narrative and concept. These guys are scrubs, why would Shenyeng ever lock herself down like that?
Jahmiel & Minto Play Da Riddim, “Self Worth”
Always good for a poignant, introspective track, Jahmiel delivers yet again with “Self Worth,” a tender collaboration with Minto Play Da Riddim. Emphasizing themes self-empowerment, the track balances somber piano keys, a spoken interlude, and an undercurrent of gospel melodies to create a sonic comforter of hope and reassurance. “A user nah go ever love you like you love yourself,” he croons, reminding us all that our sense of self should always be grounded in an intimate understanding of our own individual self-worth.
Popcaan, “Show Me”
The Unruly Boss is back with a new drop. “Show Me,” the dancehall icon’s latest offering is standard sexed-up dancehall fear, and that’s perfectly fine. Produced by Teejay of TJ records, “Show Me” is as playful as it sensual, with Popcaan begging his prospective lover to “show me what you can do.” His smooth delivery offers a nice complement to the hip-hop-inflected riddim, but there’s just enough fire in his exclamations and ad-libs to make sure the flame never dies.
Vybz Kartel, “The Comet”
As the whole world knows by now, Vybz Kartel is finally free. He’s already dropped off a collection of new bangers since his release and in a wholly characteristic move, he’s given us some more. If anything, “The Comet” feel like a foreboding prelude to a new set of bangers ahead of his highly anticipated return to the stage in Jamaica later this year. “Mi f–k yuh madda thru di prison grill/ Mi f–k yuh gyal thru di prison window/ Wet up ‘e p—y wid mi middle finger/ Then mi dig it out hard wid di timber,” he snarls in trademark badman fashion before chanting, “I thought I told you that the comet is comin’” in the chorus. Who knows what “The Comet” is warning for, and, honestly, it doesn’t even matter — it’s a heater all on its own.
Bamby, “Guyane”
Guyanese dancehall and shatta singer Bamby infuses those two Jamaica-indebted genres with a healthy dose of her own Creole roots. Complete with a video shot in her home country, Bamby sings in both French and Creole as she waxes poetic about the beauty, strength and virtue of Guyana. “Yé ka mandé pou kissa nou fâché (They ask why we are angry)/Babylon pa pé rété (Babylon can’t stay)/ Malè ki zot voyé (This misfortune they sent)/ Lanmè ké fine pa chariél (The sea will no longer carry it),” she croons over a sparkly, thumping dancehall beat.
Amanda Reifer & Sean Paul, “Sweat (Part II)
A sequel to the opening track from her Island Files project earlier this year, “Sweat (Part II)” finds Barbados’ Amanda Reifer joining forces with Jamaica’s Sean Paul for a sexy reggae-pop jam. The new version of the song changes very little from the original, but Sean Paul’s mellow guest verse offers a nice male perspective to complement both Amanda’s POV and her loftier vocal register. “You waan me touch it girl/ Me well conscious me want you trust it girl/ The stars and the moon shine for us girl/ You are my Isis , I am Osiris girl,” he proclaims to close out his verse. Who said the breezy reggae love jams have to stop when the weather gets chillier?
In the weeks preceding my trip to Grenada to celebrate Spicemas 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris – amid her ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket – became the subject of a kind of Birtherism 2.0, in which former President Donald Trump attacked and undermined her Blackness because, in his mind, a person cannot be both Black and South Asian or any combination of races.
While I am not mixed, I identified with those attacks. I grew up the only son and eldest child of two St. Lucian immigrants in a majority Afro-Caribbean neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. I’m Black. I’m American. Ethnically, I’m Afro-Caribbean. Culturally, I’m a pretty solid mixture of Caribbean and African-American. I’ve always understood myself to be all of these things at the same time. Trump’s attacks on Harris’ Blackness hit so close to home, not because she and I share the exact same racial-ethnic-cultural makeup, but because his disrespectful jabs were an extension of a nefarious movement to strip non-American Black people of their Blackness. All this is to say, how I perceive and define my own Blackness was heavy on my mind as I boarded my flight to Grenada on Aug. 9.
I should note that I’ve yet to visit St. Lucia – fingers crossed for this winter – so this trip to Grenada was my first visit to the Caribbean, the place in the world where the majority of my roots lie. Upon reviewing the trip’s itinerary, which was painstakingly curated by the Grenada Tourism Authority, Industry 360 and Mel&N Media Group, I noticed that we would be learning the history of the Grenadian tradition of jab jab. Now, I had heard about jab jab here and there growing up, but with descriptors that often landed on some variation of “demonic,” I wasn’t really sure what I was actually getting into. I wasn’t afraid, but I was relentlessly curious. After feeding my musical soul at Soca Monarch and Panorama, I was ready to indulge myself in the rawer parts of my Caribbean heritage – and hear from actual Grenadians about this specific cultural practice.
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On Friday, J’Ouvert morning, about two hours before the sun announced itself, my fellow revelers and I enjoyed a traditional Grenadian breakfast at Friday’s Bar, where we got to hear the true history of jab jab.
“Black was seen as the devil. Black was seen as bad, substandard, scum of the earth. So, we got even blacker,” explained Ian Charles, one of the founders of Jambalasee Grenada, a group committed to the preservation of Grenada’s culture and history. “You have to understand that jab jab utilizes satire, mockery, [and] ridicule to fight against a system which was designed deliberately to mentally, physically [and] spiritually break us.”
Dating back to 1834, the jab jab tradition finds its roots in freed Afro-Grenadians celebrating the abolition of British-operated slavery through masquerading. Across the island, Grenadians literally become “blacker” by coating their entire bodies in molasses, black paint, tar, engine oil, or the more recent (and more sustainable) combination of vegetable oil and charcoal powder.
Repurposed helmets adorned with either cow or goat horns crown their heads, while their hands drag loose chains (also black) in recognition of their freedom. Although we hit the road a bit later than anticipated, I was still able to catch a glimpse of the Capitals — individuals who lead different groups of jab jabs in call-and-response chants (also known as spellings) that blended unifying proclamations with historical and sociopolitical commentary.
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As I rubbed the charcoal-oil concoction over my body – and eventually gave into the gravity of the engine oil’s richer pigmentation – everything clicked. Jab felt natural in a way that I wasn’t necessarily anticipating. Everything was so Black. From the dozens to the Black ballroom practice of “reading,” satire, sarcasm and a general finessing and manipulation of language is inherently Black. It shows up across the diaspora in the ways we converse and the ways our intonations shift mid-dialogue. By painting ourselves black, we were tapping into the tradition of “playing the devil.” (“Jab” means “devil” in Patois). If slave masters were going to call us devilish, we were going to take it, flip it and mock them. As we made our way down the road, I thought about the ways I’ve unknowingly “played Jab” in different contexts in my life.
I haven’t been on this Earth for too long, but my story is pretty lengthy: lots of twists, and a few turns as well. I’ll spare you all the details here, but there were more than a few instances in my life in which my Blackness was demonized with the hopes that I would try my best to detach myself from it. I doubled down every time. Yes, the scales are vastly different, but, to me, the essence is one and the same. When all is said and done, our Blackness will never be demonized; not by ourselves, and certainly never by those who are wholly unable to see Blackness for what it truly is.
In conversation with the late Greg Tate, hip-hop artist Djinji Brown said: “Sometimes when I’m rhyming on the [mic], I feel like there’s nothing inside me but blackness – no veins, no organs, just a shell physically, but open and full of universes from my toes to my hair follicles. There are rhymes coming out of me, because there ain’t no stomach, there ain’t no heart, no intestines to get in the way of that s–t.”
We weren’t rapping on the road – although some of those chants were a not-so-subtle sonic bridge between call-and-response rhythms and hip-hop song structures – but there was indeed nothing but blackness inside of and all around us. In that blackness lay a level of liberation that was hard-fought, and a predisposition for resistance that was inherited – and reinvigorated in the wake of Hurrican Beryl. Like everything else, my Spicemas experience exists in the context of all that came before it, including Hurricane Beryl, which particularly ravaged Grenada’s sister islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. While stepping into Grenadian culture, I couldn’t stop thinking about how the Global South – and its people, artists and culture – will be the first to feel the cruelest effects of climate change primarily spurred by superpowers in the Global North. It’s not fair and it’s not right. It’s just the latest effect of the incredibly violent and heinous project that is colonialism. But it’s also a stark reminder that we must protect the breadth of our West Indian cultures with every fiber of our beings.
Spicemas
Querine Salandy for Chambers Media Solutions
Whenever my height doesn’t annoy me, it can be quite an advantage. My heart swelled as I took a look at the sea of Blackness in front of me and the waves of Blackness behind me. I was literally and figuratively consumed by Blackness on all sides and it couldn’t have been a more picturesque sight. I’ve always considered Brooklyn to be home, and I still do – those blocks raised me, after all – but the sense of connection I felt to the literal land of Grenada while playing jab forced me to, if only for a few moments, seriously reconsider how I understand the term “home.” As far as I know, I don’t have any family in Grenada, but the air felt familiar, as did the energy that permeated the atmosphere. Almost all of my family hails from another island just over 100 miles away, but I still felt the connection of a deep, shared history that I felt an innate responsibility to help protect.
From Miami to Notting Hill, the Caribbean carnival experience has evolved into myriad celebrations around the world – many of them inching further away from the history that grounds those practices. As we continue to wade our way through this particular era of globalization and the commercialization and corporatization of carnival celebrations, maintaining and respecting the rich history of its formative traditions will be paramount to protecting the integrity and sanctity of the Caribbean at large. Jab jab is resistance in one of its purest forms, rooted in the soil of Grenada. What’s Blacker than that?
Seeing how fiercely protective and reverent Charles was in his explanation of jab jab reminded me of something chart-topping Afrobeats superstar Rema said in an Apple Music interview promoting his new Heis album. “Everyone is chasing something that the whole world can enjoy… we’re listening to the voices of the world too much,” he said. “We gotta listen to the voices back home to keep our roots. Our roots [are] very important.”
But how do we balance prioritizing “the voices back home” while inviting outsiders amid an effort to increase the amount of capital we can squeeze out of centuries-old cultural practices? That’s a question I toyed with a lot. After all, I’m a first-generation St. Lucian-American experiencing Spicemas by way of a press trip — is the call not coming from inside of the house, to some degree? For Jab King, a Grenadian soca powerhouse whose “Jab Did” was inescapable throughout Spicemas, it’s certainly a “bad idea” when cultural practices start bending to the whims of capitalism and corporatization, and we should “let the Carnival evolve on its own and control it along the way.”
Ideally, that’s the next frontier of this era of musical and cultural globalization: concerted efforts to protect the history of the cultures that so often get pillaged and bastardized for capitalism-blinded, voyeuristic eyes. The pessimist in me says that’s wishful thinking, but there was simply too much hope in that sea of blackness for me to let that voice win.