Music

For the “Voices of the Caribbean” segment, Jamaican singer-songwriter and reggae fusion artist Romain Virgo graced the stage with solid renditions of “Soul Provider” and “Fade Away,” two cuts from his 2015 Lifted LP.

While his performance certainly flaunted his vocal chops, Virgo made an interesting, if not confusing, choice to ignore his most recent album, 2024’s The Gentle Man. That record earned Virgo three awards at this year’s ceremony, including reggae album of the year, male reggae artist of the year, and reggae song of the year for the Masicka-assisted “Been There Before.” It’s always nice to honor an album anniversary, but it would have been even sweeter to see The Gentle Man get its moment in the spotlight.

Maureen scored a major global hit alongside Blaiz Faiyah and DJ Glad with the shatta-inflected “Money Pull Up.” Considering we didn’t get “Hit & Run” (Shenseea, Masicka & Di Genius) or “Shake It to the Max” (Moliy, Shenseea, Skillibeng, Disco Neil and Silent Addy) performances — after all, those are probably the two biggest global Caribbean hits of the past year, alongside “The Greatest Bend Over” — it would have been nice to see “Money Pull Up” get a shining moment.

Regardless, Maureen absolutely rocked Kings Theater with a fiery rendition of 2020’s “Tic.” Complete with high-octane choreography (including the splits!) and electric stage presence sourced from music’s greatest divas, the France-based Martinican artist pulled off one of the strongest solo performances of the night. Maureen may have lost French-Caribbean artist of the year to Joé Dwèt Filé, but she still left the ceremony a winner.

Similar to Virgo’s performance, Lila Iké’s part of the “Voices of the Caribbean” segment was an impressive display of her singing and performance prowess. As soon as she stepped on stage, Iké instantly enchanted every ear in Kings Theater with hef smoky, earthy timbre.

It’s always a treat to hear “Where I’m Coming From,” one of the most resonant hits from her 2020 ExPerience EP, but Iké had a slew of new music she could have performed. That night, she took home her third consecutive trophy for best female reggae artist, which coincided with her additional nominations for reggae song of the year (“Fry Plantain,” with Joey Bada$$) and reggae collaboration of the year (“Bruises,” with Mortimer & Kabaka Pyramid). Moreover, the Manchester Parish-bred star dropped her debut full-length album, Treasure Self Love, just six days before the ceremony (Aug. 22).

Virgo and Iké are two of contemporary reggae’s brightest stars and strongest voices. Hearing them amplify their newest releases would have brought the night to another level.

Between “Ring Finger” and “Bob the Builder,” most of 2025 has belonged to fast-rising Trinbagonian zess star Lady Lava. With that in mind, it’s no surprise the Cardi B-approved artist was tapped to close out the ceremony.

Donning a bright pink ball gown-esque number, Lava strutted out onstage to the tune of the humming “Ring Finger” intro, waving a wand as she turned Kings Theatre into her personal zess-steam royal court. Although her background dancers were giving their all, they were simply no match for Lava’s presence and charisma — or the infectious nature of her irresistible smash hit.

Elephant Man and Ding Dong have ruled dancefloors around the world for two decades with “Pon de River, Pon de Bank” and “Badman Forward, Badman Pull Up,” respectively, so it only makes sense that the two dancehall icons joined forces to open the third annual Caribbean Music Awards.

Beginning his performance in the Kings Theater lobby, Elephant Man, decked out in a glitzy navy blue sweatsuit, paraded into the main theater to the tune of “Pon de River,” trailed by a procession of dancers that included Tanisha Scott, a three-time nominee for the MTV Video Music Award for best choreography. As Elephant Man made his way to the main stage, Ding Dong pulled up to perform “Badman Forward,” the song that sparked his musical breakthrough exactly 20 years ago.

The two artists then performed their “Dip Again” collaboration before trading solo cuts back and forth. Elephant Man delivered raucous renditions of “Nuh Linga” and “Signal de Plane,” while Ding Dong tore through “Ravers Gas” and “Happiness.” With unwavering energy and a catalog-traversing medley, Elephant Man and Ding Dong perfectly set the tone for the rest of the ceremony.

Outside of “Shake It to the Max,” no Caribbean song dominated the globe like Yung Bredda’s “The Greatest Bend Over,” which appears on Full Blown’s wildly successful “Big Links” riddim.

Although Yung Bredda, this year’s soca impact award winner, was not in attendance, that didn’t stop the sibling production duo from delivering the night’s best performance. Kicking things off with their own “Good Spirits,” Full Blown turned Kings Theater into a backyard family gathering, complete with folding tables, plastic cups and all. Keeping things focused on the “Big Links” riddim, the duo then brought out Machel Montano for a surprise performance of “The Truth,” which gave way to another surprise — this time, one from Machel himself.

In a smart riff on the lyrics and title of “The Truth,” the current King of Soca surprised the Caribbean Music Awards with Ayetian, one of the hottest new names in dancehall. Together, the pair performed their hit “Truth and Balance,” bridging multiple generations of soca and dancehall stars, before closing things out with a theater-wide sing-along of “The Greatest Bend Over.” Sure, surprise performers are a low-key cheat code, but that only works when those performers deliver a set that immediately lives up to that hype — and that’s exactly what Full Blown accomplished alongside Machel and Ayetian at the Aug. 28 ceremony.