From music to film, 2024 was a banner year for Caribbean artists. Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Bob Marley: One Love biopic opened the year with two weeks atop the domestic box office, while its accompanying soundtrack earned a Grammy nomination for best reggae album.

Bob Marley: One Love previewed a busy year in Caribbean music that included Dash’s Road March victory at Grenada’s Spicemas, a new Spice album celebrating her 25-year career and the announcement of a new podcast chronicling the life and career of Vybz Kartel. At the Caribbean Music Awards, Shenseea (dancehall), Lila Iké (reggae) and Patrice Roberts (soca) were named the female artists of the year, while Valiant (dancehall), Romain Virgo (reggae) and Skinny Fabulous (soca) reigned as the male artists of the year. Masicka‘s Generation of Kings took home dancehall album of the year, and Buju Banton‘s Born for Greatness was crowned reggae album of the year.

2024 was a particularly poignant year for Banton, the voice behind reggae classics like “Murderer” and “Champion.” Last July, Buju sold out New York’s UBS Arena two times over with his first Stateside shows since spending eight years in federal prison on convictions of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense and using communication wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offense. The Grammy winner turned his Long Walk to Freedom shows into a 14-date U.S. arena trek that found him visiting major cities like Houston, Chicago and Atlanta.

Banton wasn’t the only West Indian icon to make a long-awaited return to the stage in 2014. Months after walking out of prison a free man after serving 13 years of a now-overturned life sentence for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams, Vybz Kartel mounted Freedom Street — the biggest concert Jamaica has seen in almost half a century. Di Worl’ Boss sat down with Billboard for our first cover story of the year and explained how the whole thing came together, but the real kicker was when he revealed an upcoming collaboration with Cardi B.

Next month, Kartel (Party With Me) will face off against Shenseea (Never Gets Late Here), Collie Budz (Take It Easy), The Wailers (Evolution), and the Bob Marley: One Love soundtrack for the best reggae album Grammy. Afterward, 2025 is wide open with ample opportunity for crossover hits and breakthrough artists to make waves across the globe.

Here are 10 Caribbean artists to watch out for in 2025.