NARIS­SA FRAS­ER

Free­lance Cor­re­spon­dent

Trinidad and To­ba­go took cen­tre stage at the 2026 Caribbean Mu­sic Awards on Sat­ur­day night, with lo­cal artistes win­ning across mul­ti­ple cat­e­gories as the re­gion­al mu­sic in­dus­try gath­ered at the Na­tion­al Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts (NA­PA) in Port-of-Spain.

Sev­er­al stars from across the re­gion made their way across the red car­pet, with some lat­er per­form­ing on stage for the cer­e­mo­ny co-host­ed by Nailah Black­man and Ma­jah Hype.

Lead­ing the charge was the Queen of Steam, La­dy La­va, re­tain­ing her ti­tle as Zess Artiste of the Year and adding Fe­male So­ca Artiste of the Year and Chut­ney So­ca Song of the Year (Cyah Pick with Ravi B) to the mix. She was nom­i­nat­ed in a to­tal of nine cat­e­gories and was the most-nom­i­nat­ed act.

Speak­ing to Guardian Me­dia just be­fore her wins, she said she felt great to be there, adding that be­ing recog­nised in this way was “amaz­ing.”

“(This event) is very im­pact­ful to the Caribbean… and it gives hope to the oth­er artistes com­ing up,” she said.

Trinidad and To­ba­go scored again when Free­town Col­lec­tive claimed the Caribbean Fu­sion Artiste award.

Lead singer Muham­mad Muwak­il said this re­gion sur­vived en­slave­ment, colo­nial­ism and many oth­er forms of tur­moil, but re­mained re­silient—and that re­silience was on dis­play.

“Look at us tonight,” he told the au­di­ence.

Gui­tarist and vo­cal­ist Lou Lyons added that it was a vic­to­ry for the Caribbean be­cause “every per­son is in­flu­enced by every­one in the Caribbean.”

Full Blown broth­ers Kevon and Ko­ry Hart took home the So­ca Im­pact Award, which they ded­i­cat­ed to their late grand­par­ents.

“They had a big im­pact on our lives and our ca­reers,” Kevon said.

Male So­ca Artiste of the Year went to Kes, who seemed to be pleas­ant­ly sur­prised when called on stage.

“Aye, what?” he said with a laugh as he held the award in his hand.

“I just want to say it’s an ho­n­our to be recog­nised, but it’s an ho­n­our to be here and cel­e­brate each oth­er… Let’s make the world a bet­ter place with our vi­bra­tions.”

Ear­li­er that evening, he told Guardian Me­dia that peo­ple re­al­ly need to ral­ly around such events as they are cru­cial for the in­dus­try’s growth.

Yung Bred­da won So­ca Song of the Year with his hit The Great­est Bend Over. He gave a shoutout to his team, as well as Full Blown, who wrote and pro­duced the track.

“We com­ing from since COVID times to now, and we have an even fur­ther jour­ney to go,” he said. “I want thank each and every per­son out there that’s been sup­port­ing what we do­ing and sup­port­ing all my mu­sic. Peace and love every time.”

Leg­endary ca­lyp­son­ian Ca­lyp­so Rose was al­so one of four hon­orees, along­side Shyne, Pa­tra and Alan Cavé.

She re­ceived a stand­ing ova­tion as she was brought on stage, smil­ing and wav­ing.

Re­gion­al acts in­clud­ing Ja­maica’s 450 and Ayet­ian, V’ghn, Lil’ Ker­ry and Mud­dy from Grena­da, among sev­er­al oth­ers, al­so ex­pressed their joy to Guardian Me­dia on shar­ing the mo­ment with so many tal­ent­ed peo­ple.

List of win­ners

Best New Artiste (Dance­hall)

—Ayet­ian

Caribbean Fu­sion Artiste

—Free­town Col­lec­tive

So­ca Im­pact

—Full Blown

Artiste of the Year (Bouy­on)

—Mr Ridge

Artiste of the Year (Zess)

—La­dy La­va

Song of the Year (Den­nery)

—Dansa by Klas­sik Fres­co­bar

Song of the Year (Dance­hall)

—Moliy—Shake It to the Max (Remix)

Song of the Year (So­ca)

—Yung Bred­da

—The Great­est Bend Over

Song of the Year

(French Caribbean)

—1t1 & Theo­maa—Ou­ba

Male So­ca Artiste of the Year

—Kes

Peo­ple’s Choice Award

—Al­ka­line

Song of the Year (Jab)

—V’ghn & Ter­ra D Gov­er­nor

—Jab De­ci­sions

Song of the Year (Chut­ney So­ca)

—Cyah Pick—Ravi B & La­dy La­va

Fe­male So­ca Artiste of the Year

—La­dy La­va