Alkaline and Vybz Kartel dominated dancehall airwaves last year and as the awards seasons kicks into overdrive both deejays are are leading the 2017 Youth View Awards nominations.
Alkaline is the top contender with a total of 10 nominations across 9 categories including Favourite Local Chart — Topping Song of the Year and Favourite Dancehall Artiste. Vybz Kartel came in second with eight nods across seven top categories including the two that Alkaline are listed in.
Kartel’s former protege Popcaan and his frequent collaborator Spice tied for six nominations. Popcaan is also up for both Topping Song of the Year and Favourite Dancehall Artiste. Spice is contending for Favourite Local Female Artiste of the Year and Young Hot and Hype Female of the Year. Konshens, who had a great year last year, picked up five nods including the Song of the Year category for his chart topper “Bruck Off Yuh Back.”
Female dancehall newcomer Shenseea and Ding Dong each shared four nominations, while Mavado and Ishawna picked up three. This is particularly interesting given the great year that Mavado had on the local dancehall scene with a slew of hits.
This year the Youth View Awards will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary having launched in 2008 with a mandate to appreciate the Jamaican entertainment culture and a big part of that culture is dancehall music. This year’s event will be held on February 8, 2017 at the National Indoor Sports Arena in St Andrew. The awards will be hosted by Yendi Phillips and Bambino.
Alkaline and Vybz Kartel are both engaged in a lyrical feud, so it will be interesting to see who emerged from the YVA with the most trophies this year. The incarcerated deejay already put the genre on high alert that he plans on releasing a thousand new songs this year alone. Both artists released albums last year.
