Wyclef Jean to Host Inaugural Caribbean Music Awards in Brooklyn

UPDATE (Aug. 15): Alison Hinds, Jada Kingdom, Dexta Daps, Kranium, Lila Ike, Nailah Blackman, Ding Dong and Rupee are set to perform at the Caribbean Music Awards, set for Aug. 31 at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. The show will also feature appearances from Spice, Baby Cham and Toni-Ann Singh. Reggae star Beres Hammond will be honored with an Elite Icon Award.

The Trinidadian soca group Kes is the top nominee, with five nods. Masicka, Ding Dong, Machel Montano, and Shenseea each received four nods. Spice, Skeng, Dexta Daps, DJ Cheem, Kabaka Pyramid, Protoje and Nailah Blackman each earned three. 

PREVIOUSLY (July 26): Wyclef Jean is set to host the first Caribbean Music Awards, to be held on Aug. 31 at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. The show will livestream on YouTube at 8 p.m. ET.

Jean discussed hosting the show on NBC’s Today show last week. He said the success of the Verzuz episode in May 2020 featuring Bounty Killer and Beenie Man demonstrated the potential this awards show could have. “It reminded us how much we love the Caribbean,” he said. “For me, what’s exciting is Caribbean culture is shared, whether it’s fashion or [music].”

Jean hosted the 2000 MTV Europe Music Awards, which were held in Stockholm. He made a memorable entrance on an elephant, and said on Today that he wants his entrance here to be dramatic as well. “I want the entrance to be grand. I want it to be very carnival-like.”

The Haitian rapper and musician is a three-time Grammy winner. He won two awards for work on Fugees’ 1996 album The Score and one as a co-producer of Santana’s Supernatural, which won the 1999 award for album of the year. Jean, 53, was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2005 for co-writing the song “Million Voices” for the film Hotel Rwanda.

The Caribbean Music Awards have 26 categories across a range of genres, including reggae, dancehall, soca, kompa and zouk. Voting opened on April 6 and closes on Monday (July 31).

The event is presented by the Caribbean Elite Group (CEG), publishers of Caribbean Elite Magazine, a print and digital publication which covers Caribbean culture.

Trinidadian soca singer, record producer and songwriter Machel Montano is set to receive a lifetime achievement award. Montano, 48, topped Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart in 2019 with G.O.A.T.  

Tickets, which range in price from $60.50 to $161, are on sale here.

For the latest updates and information, visit the official website.