Nicki Minaj at the inaugural Caribbean Music Awards 2023

The inaugural Caribbean music awards at the King’s theatre in Brooklyn brought out a number of stars from the region on Thursday, August 31^st.

This new award ceremony is an attempt at celebrating the achievements of musicians and singers from the Caribbean, a region that has produced many iconic artists for decades. From reggae to R&B, the awards celebrated the who’s who from the region in all genres, bringing to light the depth and versatility of the artists coming from the Caribbean.

Reggae icon Buju Banton received the humanitarian award for his extensive work in the field. The stand out attraction at the event though, was the world-renowned R&B artist Nicki Minaj who took home the collaboration of the year award for her song ‘Likkle Miss’ which was recorded in collaboration with Skeng.

Minaj represented Trinadad and Tobago and garnered appreciation for her album Queen Radio: Volume 1, a compilation of her greatest hits. This album has also ranked 10^th on the Bill Board 200 in August 2022.

The ceremony also celebrated Beres Hammond, who received the male artist of the year award in Reggae and the elite icon award on the same night. Machel Montano won the lifetime achievement award as well as the male artist of the year award in the soca category. Kabaka Pyramid, Patrice Roberts and Ding Dong also won two awards each on the night.

The impact award of the year in dancehall went to Chronic Law, while the impact award of the year in soca went to Viking Ding Dong. Vybz Kartel took home the artist of the decade award, the collaboration of the year award in soca went to GBM Nutron and DJ Spider for “Down Dey”.

EP of the year dancehall went to Alkaline, The Ripple EFFX. Album of the year dancehall went to Masicka, 438. The award for female artist of the year in dancehall went to Spice and the performer of the year award in soca went to Mr. Killa.

The event was hosted by Wyclef Jean and was streamed online on Tempo Network, YouTube and Instagram through @CaribbeanEliteMagazine.  As a result, the award show was a massive success and was view by the Caribbean diaspora not just in their home countries but around the world.

The show also gave people the world over, a look into the music industry in the Caribbean, a region that is renowned for the producing excellent artists like Bob Marley in the past and continues to impact the music industry around the world.

The awards focused on celebrating genres and categories that have been traditionally popular in the Caribbean. Awards were handed out in the reggae, soca, zouk and dancehall categories, celebrating the contributions of Caribbean artist in the region and around the world. This was an example of the reach of Caribbean music around the world.