The first-ever Caribbean Music Awards were held in Brooklyn on Thursday night.
The party started on the red carpet. Grammy Award winner and host Wyclef Jean and his dancers set the stage at Kings Theatre in Flatbush.
“It’s a big movement. This is the first time that the Caribbean has decided to embrace each other,” Jean said.
“This moment, the Caribbean deserves it. We deserve it,” artist Mr. Killa said.
“It’s our time now, right? Because the Caribbean like we came from, we’ve contributed so much, … Think about that, right? The swag, the food, the fashion, with our dance,” Jean said.
The event brought some of the biggest names in soca, reggae, dancehall, kompa, and zouk under the same roof.
In addition to numerous award —including People’s Choice going to T&T soca star Kees Dieffenthaller and Best New Soca Artist going to T&T performer Tempa— T&T calypso master David Rudder OC was honoured with an Elite Calypso Music Award and T&T soca superstar Machel Montano was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The event was precursor to kick off the Labor Day weekend and ahead of the West Indian American Day Parade on Monday.
WATCH THE MOMENTS TEMPA, KEES AND MACHEL WON THEIR AWARDS: