Billboard, an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation, on Jan. 9 listed 10 Caribbean artists who it says fans must \u201cwatch out for\u201d in 2025.<\/p>\n
The list comprises: Jo\u00e9 Dw\u00e8t Fil\u00e9 (Haiti); Likkle Addi (Jamaica); AnnaleaX (Jamaica); Bamby (French Guiana); Umpa (St. Lucia); 1SkiMask (Jamaica); Shemmy J (St. Lucia); Akeen Fennell (Jamaica); Leighanna (Trinidad and Tobago); and Renecia Bernard (Jamaica).<\/p>\n
Billboard said Haitian zouk-konpa singer Jo\u00e9 Dw\u00e8t Fil\u00e9 has \u201cput out at least one new album (or a deluxe version) every year since 2018, so there\u2019s no reason to expect he won\u2019t keep up that pace in 2025. And he has all the reason to.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter scoring a viral moment on TikTok last year, \u20184 Kamp\u00e9\u2019 has quickly grown into one of Fil\u00e9\u2019s biggest hits yet, reaching No. 8 on Billboard\u2019s France Songs ranking at the top of the new year (chart dated Jan. 11),\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Billboard said while \u201cLikkle Addi may have started putting out music with his brother Likkle Vybz over a decade ago, not every artist is an overnight sensation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween a 2022 joint album with his brother and 2023\u2019s Thugz R Us EP, Likkle Addi has been diligently building up his catalog \u2014 and his new collaboration with his father looks to be the hit that will bring him to the next level,\u201d Billboard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLikkle Addi\u2019s father is, of course, Vybz Kartel \u2014 who brought both him and Likkle Vybz onstage to perform at his blockbuster Freedom Street homecoming concert on New Year\u2019s Eve (Dec. 31, 2024),\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
After signing to Miami-based record label SoBe Entertainment in 2021 and breaking out with that year\u2019s \u201cWavy (Y U Playin\u2019 Me?),\u201d Billboard said rising Jamaican reggae singer AnnaleaX \u201csteadily dropped a collection of singles that eventually became Alter Ego, Vol. 1, her 2024 debut studio album.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith more live shows on the way and her first Spotify million-streamer under her belt (2024\u2019s \u2018Don\u2019t Worry\u2019, a cover of Bob Marley\u2019s \u2018Three Little Birds\u2019), AnnaleaX is set to significantly level up in 2025,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Already an award-winning powerhouse in Guyana and across the French Caribbean, Billboard said to \u201cexpect more major moves from Bamby in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cA singer who traverses across dancehall and shatta, Bamby burst out into the scene in 2016 with hits like \u2018Run Di Place,\u2019 and by 2018, her debut studio album Bambyland took the French Caribbean by storm,\u201d it said. \u201cThat album has not yet seen a release in the US though; a wide release of Bambyland or a new project on the heels of her \u2018Guyane\u2019 momentum could facilitate a real global crossover moment for Banby in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billboard said \u201cas St. Lucia\u2019s dennery segment \u2014 a genre characterized by its fusion of soca, zouk, kuduro and Kw\u00e9y\u00f2l-sung lyrics \u2014 continues to grow in popularity, expect Umpa, one of its reigning kings, to remain at the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billboard said that, last year, Umpa collected over 2.63 million global streams on Spotify, \u201can impressive number for a rising artist from a niche genre without a proper studio album.<\/p>\n
\u201c2019\u2019s \u2018One Drop\u2019 and 2021\u2019s \u2018Plat\u2019 continue to be some of his most recognizable hits, and both were winners when he performed them during his set at Miami Carnival\u2019s \u2018No Borders\u2019 event in October 2024,\u201d it said. \u201cA new calendar year means a new carnival season, and it\u2019s practically a given that Umpa will soon deliver some new road anthems for 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billboard noted that, last year, 1SkiMask signed a deal with Epic Records \u2014 in partnership with Against Da Grain Entertainment \u2014 just over a year after he rebranded from social media comedian and actor Valdomore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billboard said that 2023 breakout hit \u201cDawkniss\u201d caught the ears of Epic vice president of A&R Tyshawn \u201cFly Ty\u201d Johnson, and, by October 2024, 1SkiMask \u201chad himself a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, Billboard said Shemmy J earned a best new soca artist nod at the 2024 Caribbean Music Awards, \u201cand he\u2019ll likely spend this year proving why he was just as deserving of the win as Yung Bredda.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeloved for his amalgamation of soca, Afrobeats, bouyon and other traditional Caribbean music styles, Shemmy J has been cranking out hits since 2018,\u201d it said, adding that, \u201cin 2023, \u2018Ms Grippy\u2019 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\u2019t above life\u2019s more vulnerable moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billboard said that album also featured a collaboration with Umpa (\u201cTop\u201d), \u201ccementing the pair as two of St. Lucia\u2019s defining voices.\u201d<\/p>\n
The entertainment magazine said Akeen Fenell ended 2024 as the \u201c20th victor of Jamaica\u2019s Digicel Rising Stars competition \u2014 a platform that has spawned award-winning reggae superstars such as Romain Virgo and Christopher Martin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billboard said he \u201cquickly followed up that victory with a pair of singles that previewed the different places his new recording career could take him in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether he\u2019s 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,\u201d Billboard said.<\/p>\n
Back with a new team and a clear vision after some post-pandemic career reassessment, Billboard said rising Trinidadian soca star Leighanna is kicking off 2025 with a new single titled \u201cFlowers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSung over Bodyroc and Shot Master J\u2019s \u2018Eyeland\u2019 riddim, \u2018Flowers\u2019 is Leighanna\u2019s dedication to the beautiful diversity and resilience of women \u2014 and a reminder to men to cherish and respect them,\u201d Billboard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPartially inspired by her soca foremothers like Patrice Roberts and Fay-Ann Lyons, \u2018Flowers\u2019 \u2014 and the other new music she has on the way ahead of the 2025 Carnival season \u2014 is the culmination of Leighanne\u2019s years-long journey to stability in the recording industry,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Billboard said that \u201cafter getting voted off the show and coming back as a wild card contestant, 17-year-old crooner Renecia Bernard\u2019s talents took her all the way to second place on season 20 of Digicel Rising Stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough 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,\u201d Billboard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Billboard quoted Griffiths as telling the Jamaica Gleaner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally want to take her to a good producer who will help really take her to the next level,\u201d Griffiths added. \u201cShe has great potential \u2013 she has the natural talent, but, with a little grooming, she could be great.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Billboard, an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation, on Jan. 9 listed 10 Caribbean artists who it says fans must \u201cwatch out for\u201d in 2025. The list comprises: Jo\u00e9 Dw\u00e8t Fil\u00e9 (Haiti); Likkle Addi (Jamaica); AnnaleaX (Jamaica); Bamby (French Guiana); Umpa (St. Lucia); 1SkiMask (Jamaica); Shemmy J (St. Lucia); Akeen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}