November Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks of the Month: Vybz Kartel, Shatta Wale, Kes, Popcaan & More

The holidays may be right around the corner, but it’s war season in the world of dancehall.

As 2025 comes to a close, dancehall stars Masicka — who exclusively announced his new Her Name Is Love EP via Billboard on Monday (Dec. 1) — and Tommy Lee Sparta have kicked off the culture’s latest clash. Seemingly stemming from Masicka proclaiming himself as the “greatest of all time” at this year’s Reggae Sumfest, where Vybz Kartel was officially crowned King of Dancehall, the clash finds each artist taking jabs at the other’s career. On “Control” (released on Monday), Tommy Lee — a longtime Kartel associate — advised Masicka not to “size up wid di Gaza don”; by Tuesday morning, Masicka replied with “Vain,” doubling down on his Sumfest declarations with lines like “mi say mi a di GOAT a who fi vex.”

Between Masicka accusing Tommy Lee of hijacking Kartel’s post-incarceration momentum and the latter Lee jeering at the former’s alleged lack of street cred, the two deejays are clearly just getting started. Case in point: Masicka dropped “Tears” on Tuesday, and Tommy Lee responded on Wednesday with “Destroyer.”

On the flipside, a more pop-leaning dancehall song returned to the headlines last month. Two weeks ago (Nov. 19), Billboard reported that Moliy, Silent Addy, Disco Neil, Shenseea and Skillibeng’s “Shake It to the Max” was deemed ineligible to compete in best global music performance at the 2026 Grammys because the song was submitted with the word “remix” in its title. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Shawn Thwaites, a former genre manager in the Recording Academy’s awards department, took to social media to share that he had been terminated 48 hours after Billboard published his article — and that he would be “seeking the proper legal support.”

The world also spent November grieving the loss of Grammy-winning reggae icon Jimmy Cliff, who passed on Nov. 24 due to “a seizure followed by pneumonia,” according to his wife, Latifah Chambers. Check out the Billboard staff’s list of Cliff’s ten best songs here.

Naturally, Billboard’s monthly Reggae/Dancehall Fresh Picks column will not cover every last track, but our Spotify playlist — which is linked below — will expand on the 10 highlighted songs. So, without any further ado: