Top 3 Male Artistes for 2022

1. Skillibeng

Within three years of releasing the breakthrough hit Brik Pon Brik, and a few other hot tracks, such as Whap Whap, Crocodile Teeth and Mr Universe, the fast-rising deejay has already declared that he is the “greatest dancehall artiste” of his era. While the jury is still out on that, there is no doubt that Skillibeng is at the top of the list of male artistes who had a 2022 worth mentioning. Firstly, he started the year off on a good tone by making a partnership between his label Eastsyde Records and RCA Records official. “Upon meeting him, aesthetically speaking … just looking at the deejay, he gave me star vibes and he was showing that he means business,” said label executive Richard ‘Skane Dolla’ Ford of Skillibeng in a previous interview with The Gleaner.

Skillibeng has over 1.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify and almost twice the amount of streams on Apple Music. Music has taken him to international stages, including Rolling Loud and Wireless Festival, and he also did some touring of his own. He scored two nominations in the MOBO Awards; Best International Act, and for Best Caribbean Act. He walked away with the award for the latter. Although he never copped the award for Best International Act, he continues to steal the attention of global hitmakers. He is featured on DJ Khaled’s Grammy Award-nominated album God Did and it was announced last year that the St Thomas-raised dancehall artiste would be joining Chris Brown on his upcoming ‘Under The Influence’ tour across Europe.

2. Skeng

After delivering an epic performance at Reggae Sumfest on Dancehall Night, Skeng did quite a bit of stage hopping across the Caribbean. He performed in St Vincent, Trinidad, Guyana and the Cayman Islands. Despite getting a lot of fight, Skeng emerges as a strong warrior, determined to hit hard and make persons feel it. The dancehall deejay not only had some of the most played singles circulating the airwaves in 2022 - songs like Protocol with Tommy Lee Sparta; Gvnman Shift, London and Taliban with Stalk Ashley - they also all trended in the top five positions on the YouTube Music charts. In November, Skeng released his Beast of the Era project to a packed audience in Kingston. Prior to the release of the EP, the artiste was named the most streamed dancehall artiste on YouTube.

3. Ding Dong

Dancer-turned-artiste Ding Dong has been a hallmark entertainer in dancehall. This is owed to the artiste’s contagious energy and lyrics, as well as approach to the business side of music. Though he does not have the highest streaming numbers, Ding Dong’s singles such as Rich Walk, Stir Fry, Bounce and Happiness have dominated the airwaves, and have earned him the praises from the dancehall fraternity and corporate Jamaica for being a positive figure on the scene. An ambassador for Grace Kennedy since 2018, the entertainer’s fans saw him hosting a financial literacy master class series for the company and he was also named ‘Chief Dancing Officer’ for the Magnum Tonic Wine brand. Ding Dong hosted a sold-out concert for his birthday, which a lot of the biggest names in dancehall supported.

stephanie.lyew@gleanerjm.com