Lady Lava may have dominated the night with four wins, including female soca artist of the year and zess song of the year (“Bob the Builder”), but the fourth annual Caribbean Music Awards certainly avoided clean sweeps.
Co-hosted by Majah Hype and soca star Nailah Blackman at Trinidad & Tobago’s National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port of Spain on Sept. 18, this year’s Caribbean Music Awards marked the first time the ceremony took place in its namesake region. The official broadcast premiered on the official Caribbean Music Awards YouTube page on Oct. 25, delivering a star-studded celebration of the biggest and brightest stars across the contemporary Caribbean music scene.
This year, several new categories were added to the ceremony’s sprawling lineup, including much-needed spotlights of fast-rising genres like bouyon, jab and Dennery segment. Billboard’s Kyle Denis hosted a red carpet livestream on the ground in Trinidad, catching up with a bevy of stars, including eventual winners Kes and Ayetian, as well as the night’s biggest victor, Lady Lava.
Outside of Lava, several other acts took home multiple trophies at this year’s ceremony. Trinidadian brother production duo Full Blown took home three awards, including soca song of the year for “The Greatest Bend Over” (with Yung Bredda) and soca video of the year for “Good Spirits.” They tied as this year’s second-most awarded act alongside pop-dancehall princess Shenseea and French-Haitian konpa singer Joé Dwèt Filé, who swept the konpa and French-Caribbean fields with his smash hit “4 Kampé.” Skillibeng, Kes, V’ghn, Lila Iké, Masicka, Moliy, Ayetian, Silent Addy, and Ravi B also snagged multiple awards.
In addition to over 50 competitive awards, several Caribbean music legends were honored for their timeless contributions to the culture. Billboard Hot 100-charting reggae and dancehall queen Patra earned the Lifetime Achievement Award; Victoire de la Musique winner Calypso Rose received the Elite Calypso Award; konpa giant Alan Cavé scored the Elite Konpa Award; and Belizean-born, Brooklyn-bred hip-hop and political icon Shyne snagged the Global Ambassador Award.
While the ceremony certainly had its heartwarming moments, there were also quite a few head-scratchers. Here are six of the biggest snubs and surprises from the fan-voted 2026 Caribbean Music Awards.
-
Surprise: ‘Dansa’ Wins Dennery Segment Song of the Year
When Klassik Frescobar’s “Dansa” was announced as the winner of Dennery segment song of the year, Saint Lucian Twitter was almost instantly set ablaze. Dennery segment, an offshoot of soca combining elements of kuduro and zouk with Kwéyòl lyrics and dancehall-esque attitude, was developed in Saint Lucia’s Dennery District.
It’s a fast-rising, distinctly Lucian sound that finally got a spotlight at the Caribbean Music Awards for the first time this year, so it was no surprise that a Jamaican-American (Frescobar) beating out an all-Lucian lineup of songs would ruffle some feathers. The other nominees in the category were: “Clap” (Blackboy), “Freak Out” (Hollywood HP & Ricky T), “Life of Party” (Pimp Juice), “Nuh Nuh” (Mighty & Mikado), “Pain Killer” (Umpa & Mikado), “The Car” (Dezral & Jardel) and “Toko Doak” (Natoxie & Deejay Asap).
While Frescobar recorded “Dansa” over a beat helmed by Lucian Dennery segment producer DJ Kalli, the track is closer to late-2010s Dennery segment than the genre’s current sound — and it’s notably lacking the Kwéyòl lyrics that are a foundational element of the style. In a TikTok posted to his official account a week after the ceremony, Frescobar joked that he was “just as confused as you guys were,” and Umpa, who won Dennery segment artist of the year, recently told Billboard that “‘Dansa’ had the potential to win’ because of its crossover commercial success relative to the rest of the nominees.
Ultimately, this should’ve gone to a Lucian Dennery segment artist — preferably “Nuh Nuh” by Mighty and Mikado.
-
Snub: Lil Kerry & Muddy Go Home Empty-Handed
Lil Kerry and Muddy have been instrumental in raising the Grenadian soca scene’s profile over the past year. Kerry clinched this year’s Grenada Road March title with his pulsating “Mayhem,” while Muddy landed a spot on Rolling Stone’s Best Songs of 2025 with his equally electric “Payroll.” Both artists also brought their high-octane, road-ready energy to the Caribbean Music Awards stage in NAPA, and they both earned nominations in this year’s newly established categories of jab artist of the year and jab song of the year.
Nonetheless, neither artist could take down V’ghn, whose Terra D Governor-assisted “Jab Decisions” — a notable departure from his usual groovy soca — swept the jab field. Surely, we could’ve spread the wealth for a genre with just two categories?
-
Surprise: Prince Swanny Wins Dancehall Album of the Year
Dancehall is one of Jamaica’s biggest cultural exports, so it’s always a surprise when an artist from another island snags an award in the genre.
Trinidad’s very own Prince Swanny won dancehall album of the year for his slinky, sultry Saint LP, beating out a stacked up line-up that included Masicka (Her Name Is Love), Popcaan (Nothing Without Love), 450 (Pieces of Me), Valiant (Prove Them Wrong), Armanii (The Impact), Vybz Kartel (Viking – 10th Anniversary Edition) and Ding Dong (From Ding Dong to World Ding).
-
Snub: Machel Montano & Ayetian Come Up Short in Soca Collaboration of the Year
King of Soca Machel Montano and Ayetian, Billboard’s Caribbean Up-And-Comer of the Month for July 2026, scored one of the most beloved and infectious crossover soca hits of recent years with “Truth & Balance,” but even they proved no match for the power of Nicki Minaj’s Barbz. The Trinidad-born, Queens-bred rapper coasted to a victory in soca collaboration of the year, thanks to her dedicated fan base rallying around her “Eskimo” link-up with zess artist Trinidad Killa.
-
Surprise: Masicka Snags Dancehall Video of the Year
Last year, Shenseea, Masicka, and Di Genius cleaned up in the dancehall category with “Hit & Run,” winning song, video, and collaboration of the year. This year, Moliy attempted to do the same with “Shake It to the Max” — which also features Shenseea, alongside Skillibeng, Silent Addy and Disco Neil — but Masicka thwarted her attempt at a clean sweep by taking home dancehall video of the year for his steamy “Rich Sex” visual.
-
Snub: Bunji Garlin Shut Out for Second Consecutive Year
Justice for Bunji Garlin! Last year, the soca powerhouse came up short for all three of his nominations — and history repeated this year. Garlin earned nods for male soca artist of the year, soca song of the year (“Carry It”), and soca collaboration of the year (“Flatten,” with Voice). Admittedly, the soca field was especially competitive this year, but “Carry It” truly deserved recognition for its expert balance of deft, culture-rooted lyricism and downright galvanizing melody.
