Every 2025 Caribbean Music Awards Performance, Ranked

From reggae legends like Sizzla and Buju Banton to innovative breakout stars like Lady Lava and dancehall upstarts such as Armanii, the third annual Caribbean Music Awards certainly weren’t lacking in star power and memorable performances. The Aug. 28 ceremony, which unfolded at Brooklyn’s Kings Theater ahead of a BET telecast on Sept. 12, celebrated the biggest artists and buzziest records across Caribbean music over the past year, with over 40 categories honoring genres like reggae, dancehall, soca, zess-steam, konpa, calypso, gospel and R&B.

Shenseea, who tied Masicka as this year’s most-nominated artist (seven apiece), was the night’s biggest winner, with five victories, including dancehall album, song and collaboration of the year. King of Dancehall Vybz Kartel, who kicked off 2025 with a revelatory Billboard cover story, took home three awards, including male dancehall artist of the year and music event of the year for his seismic Kingston-conquering Freedom Street concert last December. Lady Lava, whose “Ring Finger” earned an effusive co-sign from Cardi B, won the inaugural zess-steam artist of the year award, and Yung Bredda and Armanii took home this year’s impact awards for soca and dancehall, respectively.

Outside of the hardware, this year’s ceremony also featured a slew of roof-raising performances from acts such as Elephant Man, Full Blown, Lady Lava, Lila Iké, Romain Virgo and more. Although Spice and Kes were named performers of the year for dancehall and soca, respectively, neither act graced the stage. Additionally, none of the night’s special honorees (Busta Rhymes, Bounty Killer, Sizzla, Kerwin Du Bois, Shirley Ann Cyril-Mayers, Austin “Super Blue” Lyons and Carimi) performed, save for an impromptu freestyle from Bounty near the end of his lifetime achievement award acceptance speech. All of their on-stage absences were certainly felt, but this year’s Caribbean Music Awards featured a lineup that pleased music lovers across generations and genres.

Here’s Billboard’s ranking of every performance at the 2025 Caribbean Music Awards.