The emergence of Trap Dancehall has helped in the rise of several young artistes. Despite the setback in the entertainment sector caused by the coronavirus disease in 2019, Dancehall’s new generation of artistes have been making waves locally and internationally over the past five years.
This list takes a look at the young Dancehall artistes leading amongst their peers who got their big break over the past half-decade. In recent years, we have seen the rise of artistes such as Armanii, 450, RajahWild, Skeng, Skillibeng, Valiant, Kraff, Malie Donn, Byron Messia and more. This list is based on their performance on YouTube.
- Skeng
Skeng gained major attention locally in 2021 with the release of songs like Street Cred, Gvnman Shift, and Protocol with Tommy Lee Sparta. The deejay, born Kevaun Douglas, now has over 1.16M subscribers on YouTube, with his 65 videos on the platform racking up over 599.2 million views.
His most viewed song on YouTube is currently his collaboration with Tommy-Lee, with over 92 million views. In addition to his collaborations with local artistes, Skeng has also teamed up with international artistes like Nicki Minaj.
Nicki dubbed Skeng the “future” in 2022, and the rapper co-signing the artiste did a considerable amount for his career. Skeng’s Likkle Miss remix with Nicki earned him his first US Billboard entry.
2. Skillibeng
Another artiste co-signed by Nicki who gained international attention is Skillibeng. Born Emwah Warmington, Skillibeng’s career was propelled by hits like Brick Pan Brik, which was released in 2019.
However, it was his later released singles Crocodile Teeth (2020) and Whap Whap (2022) that would lead to the artiste getting international recognition. Like Skeng, Skillibeng earned his first Billboard entry with Nicki, with the rapper featured on Crocodile Teeth’s remix.
The original version of the single is his most viewed video, with over 64 million views. Skillibeng has over 1.31M subscribers on YouTube, and the 137 videos shared on the platform have amassed more than 578.1 million views.
3. Valiant
The St. Andrew native has over 780k subscribers and over 493 million total views on YouTube with his biggest song being ‘Dunce Cheque’.
5. 450
450 has over 580k subscribers and over 329 million total views on YouTube with his biggest song being ‘Wild n Rich’.
6. Byron Messia
Despite the controversies he tends to ignite, it is nearly impossible to talk about Dancehall’s leading artistes without mentioning Byron Messia. Though he may not be based in Jamaica, the Kittitian deejay produced one of Dancehall’s best internationally performing hits over the past few years, Tallibans.
Released in 2023, Talibans remains his most viewed video on YouTube, with over 93 million views. While Talibans was a mega-hit, Byron’s numbers on YouTube are less than Skillibeng and Skeng.
The artiste has over 500,000 subscribers and over 322.3 million views acquired with 89 videos released on the platform.
5. Malie Donn
St. Catherine native Malie Donn may not have international collaborations to the level of Skeng and Skillibeng just yet, but the artiste continues to perform well on YouTube. The deejay is currently ranked number 5 in the top five artiste on YouTube in Jamaica.
With 84 videos on his YouTube channel, Malie Donn has acquired over 244.2 million views and more than 474,000 subscribers on the platform. His most viewed song on YouTube remains his 2023 hit V6, with over 40 million views.
Other young artistes currently winning on YouTube are Kraff and RajahWild. Both artistes have developed a gothic Dancehall persona, their songs and music videos at times leaning into the fascination with the occult that has become popular in the genre.
Kraff
Kraff has acquired over 560,000 subscribers and more than 312 million views, while RajahWild has 453K subscribers and more than 237.1 million views. In regard to the artistes’ most viewed videos, Kraff’s Rum Behaviour remains popular with over 31 million views, and RajahWild’s Go Go is currently his best-performing video.
RajahWild
While Skeng may have the highest numbers on YouTube in this list of artistes, the gradual rise of Dancehall artiste Jamal cannot be ignored. Jamal’s initial emergence was a controversial one, with the deejay garnering fans and backlash for his promotion of ‘dunce’ culture in Dancehall.
Jamal
The release of songs like Ballandor, Tru Believa, Time, and Never Fear led to a resurgence in Jamal’s career. His latest single, 999, is currently dominating trending.
Though some industry insiders may not have been paying attention to Jamal’s career, veteran Vybz Kartel is most certainly a fan of the deejay. The Fever deejay praised Jamal in multiple recent interviews as he expressed confidence in Dancehall’s young generation of artistes.
