Morella at the Caribbean Music Awards 2025

We were invited to the Caribbean Music Awards at short notice. Flights booked, bags light, we landed in Brooklyn and joined the line of cameras outside Kings Theatre. The real reception was not inside. It was on the steps, by the barricades, in that narrow corridor where handshakes turn into plans. Artists, executives, and media who already track what we build in the UK stopped us mid stride to talk - still new and still moving, we treated the trip like a live brief.

We worked the street as if it were a studio. Interviews set up on the fly. Quick resets for lighting. Audio checked between sirens. We filmed, posted, replied, posted again. The TikTok coverage took off. Several clips went truly viral, not just in views but in saves, stitches, and comments that kept looping for days. Our conversations with Serani, Mýa, Dolly Dawn, Ayesha, Young Turnip, and Daniel Jean did the heavy lifting. The setting helped. No green rooms. No polite pauses. People were already in performance mode, and the camera read it.

Virality can be empty when it floats. These videos did not float. They anchored to faces and names, to context and place. The comments told the story back to us. Viewers in New York tagged friends in London. Diaspora threads compared notes on stages and radio sets. Executives we met at the rails messaged later with meeting times. It was proof that presence is the most efficient spend in media. You cannot buy that timing. You can only be in the way of it.

Inside, the broadcast reached further through BET without losing the charge. Majah Hype kept the pace tight. The red carpet livestream with Naomi Cowan, Spexdaboss, and DJ AG had already warmed the air with passes from Alison Hinds, Amanda Reifer, Ayetian, Buju Banton, Busta Rhymes, D’Yani, Dexta Daps, DJ Puffy, Elephant Man, Jessie Woo, Kerwin Du Bois, Konshens, Mýa, Nailah Blackman, Patrice Roberts, Prince Swanny, Romain Virgo, Serani, Shaneil Muir, Sizzla Kalonji, Skinny Fabulous, Spice, Spliff Star, and Swizz Beatz. You could feel that flow on the sidewalk where we were filming. The line between carpet and street was thin. Our lens lived on that line.

Elephant Man set the tone from the lobby with “Pon de River, Pon de Bank,” moving through dancers led by Tanisha Scott and onto the stage where Ding Dong picked up the thread. “Badman Forward Badman Pull Up,” “Dip Again,” “Nah Linga,” “Ravers Gas,” “Signal de Plane,” “Stir Fry.” The room moved as one. The balcony mirrored the steps. It read like a street procession carried indoors, which is why those first outside clips moved so fast. People could see the room before they entered it.

Awards landed with intention. Serani delivered Reggae Collaboration of the Year to Bugle, Buju Banton, and Damian “Jr Gong” Marley for “Thank You Lord.” Mr. Ridge later took Bouyon Artist of the Year and stepped in with Shaneil Muir to present Female Soca Artist of the Year to Patrice Roberts. Jessie Woo honored CaRiMi with the Legacy Award via a joint video, a Kompa lineage kept current. Naïka and Pumpa saluted Lady Lava with Zess Steam Artist of the Year. Alison Hinds lifted Rihanna’s two decades of influence without fanfare. Producer Honors went to Kerwin Du Bois, Calypso Honors to Austin “Superblue” Lyons, Gospel Honors to Shirleyann Cyril Mayers. We posted short, clean pull quotes across these moments and watched them ripple. The viral engine likes movement, but it loves clarity.

The “Voice of the Caribbean” segment dialed the volume down and the attention up. Romain Virgo held the theatre with “Soul Provider” and “Fade Away.” Lila Iké followed with “Where I am Coming From.” Our clip from that section traveled for a different reason. You could hear the air. No spectacle. Just phrasing and control. Comments from vocal coaches sat next to notes from fans who had not heard these songs live before. That is the kind of spread that tells you a format is working.

Soca hit peak altitude when Full Blown charged in with “Good Spirits.” Machel Montano stepped into “The Truth,” slid into “Truth and Balance,” then welcomed Ayetian for his section. They closed with “The Greatest Bend.” Flags rose. Aisles swayed. Our outside angle caught the spillover, dancers mimicking steps against the metal barriers. Those thirty seconds did numbers because the beats per minute were only half the story. The other half was joy you could see without sound.

Busta Rhymes took the Elite Icon Award from Buju Banton and used the microphone like a map. East Flatbush. Family discipline. Speed learned from clash tapes. Heroes named in the present tense. He called the Caribbean “cheat code” a matter of training and community. That quote became a caption and the clip moved across hip hop pages and Caribbean culture accounts without help. When a line holds weight on its own, the platform carries it.

Mýa presented Sizzla Kalonji with the Humanitarian Award for the Sizzla Youth Foundation. Seventeen years of sustained work around education, food programs, recording arts, film, technology, and safe spaces. The standing ovation told the room everything it needed to know. We ran the segment with on screen text that explained the programs for viewers who watch on mute. The reach on that post built slowly and then surged. Service stories reward patience.

Bounty Killer accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from Swizz Beatz and DJ Khaled and turned acceptance into a live deejay freestyle over a classic riddim. The crowd responded like a clash. Longevity here is not a plaque. It is timing, breath, and a read on the room that never left. The raw phone audio helped. People do not always want crisp. They want proof.

Shenseea set the night’s record. Presented by Naomi Cowan, she took Female Dancehall Artist of the Year and closed with five wins on the night and six overall, the most for a solo artist in CMA history. “Hit and Run” alone collected three. Our edit intercut her first acceptance with the final tally. The comments shifted from celebration to analysis in minutes. That mix of emotion and scorekeeping is the sweet spot where culture pages and industry pages meet.

Maureen fired off “Tic.” Lady Lava finished with “Ring Finger.” House lights rose on a crowd still moving. Outside, interviews continued under street lamps. Serani spoke with the ease of someone who has answered every possible question and still finds a fresh angle. Mýa gave a thoughtful salute to the humanitarian work that had just been honored onstage. Dolly Dawn, Ayesha, Young Turnip, and Daniel Jean each brought their own cadence. Those exchanges were not footnotes. They were the spine of our week.

Here is what the trip proved. Last minute is not a disadvantage when the plan is simple. Show up. Film well. Post fast. Reply with care. Repeat. Be useful to artists and teams who are working, not mingling. Keep the lens where the culture lives, which is often on the sidewalk before security wristbands come out. Numbers matter, but the right kind of numbers matter more. Views are a start. Saves and stitches suggest a future.

We left New York with new contacts, real conversations, and a clear directive. Morella needs a regular presence in America. Not as tourists. As partners who report from the source and build bridges that move both ways. The Caribbean Music Awards gave us a perfect test case. The community met us with generosity. The content met the moment. The platform did what it does when the inputs are honest.

Thank you to the organizers for the invitation. Thank you to the artists and teams who made time on a packed night. Thank you to everyone who watched, shared, and argued in the comments. We will be back with more pages, more cameras, and more coverage that treats these stories with the focus they deserve.

Complete winners

Bouyon Artist of the Year

Mr. Ridge

Caribbean Fusion Artist of the Year

Naïka

Caribbean R and B Artist of the Year

Dexta Daps

Dancehall Best New Artist

Malie Donn

Dancehall Album of the Year

Shenseea, Never Gets Late Here

Dancehall Collaboration of the Year

“Hit and Run,” Shenseea x Masicka x Di Genius

Dancehall Impact Award

Armanii

Dancehall Performer of the Year

Spice

Dancehall Song of the Year

“Hit and Run,” Shenseea x Masicka x Di Genius

Female Dancehall Artist of the Year

Shenseea

Female International DJ of the Year

DJ Ana

Female Reggae Artist of the Year

Lila Iké

Female Soca Artist of the Year

Patrice Roberts

French Caribbean Artist of the Year

Joé Dwèt Filé

Konpa Artist or Band of the Year

Rutshelle Guillaume

Latin Caribbean Artist of the Year

Bad Bunny

Male Dancehall Artist of the Year

Vybz Kartel

Male International DJ of the Year

DJ Private Ryan

Male Reggae Artist of the Year

Romain Virgo

Male Soca Artist of the Year

Kes

Music Cruise of the Year

UberSoca

Music Event of the Year

Vybz Kartel, Freedom Street

People’s Choice

Vybz Kartel

Reggae Album of the Year

Romain Virgo, The Gentle Man

Reggae Best New Artist

Sevana

Reggae Collaboration of the Year

Bugle, Buju Banton, and Damian “Jr Gong” Marley, Thank You Lord

Reggae Impact Award

YG Marley

Reggae Song of the Year

Romain Virgo featuring Masicka, Been There Before

Reggae Dancehall Video of the Year

Shenseea x Masicka x Di Genius, Hit and Run

Soca Best New Artist

Blaka Dan

Soca Collaboration of the Year

Trilla G x Lil Boy x Quan, Someone Else

Soca Impact Award

Yung Bredda

Soca Performer of the Year

Kes

Soca Video of the Year

Patrice Roberts, Anxiety

Soca Song of the Year

Mical Teja, DNA

Zess Steam Artist of the Year

Lady Lava