Information Americas, New York, NY, Mon. Feb. 2, 2026: Impartial Jamaican artist Keznamdi captured the 2026 Grammy Award for Finest Reggae Album on Sunday evening, edging out style heavyweights, together with Vybz Kartel, in a victory that underscored each reggae’s evolving sound and the rising affect of impartial Caribbean artists on the worldwide stage.
Keznamdi claimed the distinction for BLXXD & FYAH, launched independently in August 2025, marking his first Grammy win and his first nomination. The album triumphed over Kartel’s Coronary heart & Soul, Lila Iké’s Treasure Self Love, Jesse Royal’s No Place Like Residence, and Mortimer’s From Inside.
The announcement was made in the course of the Grammy Premiere Ceremony on the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 1.
“Reggae music has at all times been a music weh defend truths and rights, African liberation, and Black man redemption,” Keznamdi stated whereas accepting the award. “We a characterize Jamaican tradition — dancehall and reggae.”
Born into music, Keznamdi is the son of Errol and Kerida, lead vocalists of the worldwide reggae band Chakula. He grew up touring globally and recording in a house studio within the St. Andrew hills of Jamaica, the place the band produced ten albums.
He recorded his first tune at age 5 and commenced performing publicly throughout his mom’s album launch excursions for her youngsters’s undertaking Save the World, which grew to become a viral hit in Jamaican major colleges. His musical growth continued by research at St. Mary’s Faculty in Northern California, adopted by youth residing in Tanzania and finishing highschool in Ethiopia.
BLXXD & FYAH options collaborations with Kelissa, Mavado, and Masicka, mixing roots consciousness with up to date international manufacturing.
Keznamdi’s breakthrough got here on an evening that proved unusually resonant for Caribbean and diaspora artists throughout genres — not solely in wins, however in message.
Puerto Rico–born international famous person Dangerous Bunny made Grammy historical past by changing into the primary Latin artist to win Album of the 12 months with a Spanish-language album. Throughout his acceptance speech, Dangerous Bunny overtly criticized aggressive U.S. immigration enforcement.
“Earlier than I say because of God, I’m going to say ICE out,” he instructed the viewers, referencing current civilian deaths amid heightened enforcement actions. He later added, “We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We’re human beings.”
Dangerous Bunny additionally gained Finest International Music Efficiency and Finest Música Urbana Album, additional cementing his dominance on the evening.
Cuban-born icon Gloria Estefan gained Finest Tropical Latin Album for Raíces and used her second within the press room to name for a return to democratic rules and humanity in immigration coverage.
“These values are the rationale individuals need to be right here,” Estefan stated. “I hope our authorities listens to our plea for humanity.”
British singer Olivia Dean, who has Jamaican-Guyanese roots, was named Finest New Artist for Good To Every Different. In her speech, Dean invoked her household’s immigrant historical past, noting that her grandmother was a part of the Windrush era.
“I’m right here because the granddaughter of an immigrant,” she stated. “I’m a product of bravery. We’re nothing with out one another.”
Past speeches, seen protest marked the ceremony. A number of artists wore pins studying “ICE OUT,” together with Kehlani, Billie Eilish, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and jazz vocalist Samara Pleasure.
The coordinated symbolism mirrored a broader second of cultural dissent — pushed largely by artists whose identities are formed by migration, diaspora, and cross-border histories.
Whereas Keznamdi’s Grammy win marked a private {and professional} milestone – and a victory for impartial reggae – the evening itself signaled one thing bigger. Caribbean artists weren’t solely acknowledged for his or her musical excellence; they used one of many world’s greatest cultural platforms to say their humanity, historical past, and proper to talk.
In a style born from resistance and survival, Keznamdi’s phrases echoed lengthy after the trophy was raised — on an evening when Caribbean voices didn’t simply win, they outlined the second.
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