Likkle Addi’s ProtoSTAR EP taps Vybz Kartel and new-gen buzz

Likkle Addi is no longer introducing himself quietly. ProtoSTAR landed as a seven-track digital release on Uptown Gaza Records and used Vybz Kartel, Pablo YG, Tjorry106 and Likkle Vybz as both guest names and proof of camp gravity. In a dancehall lane where lineage can open the door but not hold the room, the EP became a sharp test of whether Akheel Palmer can stand as more than Kartel’s son.

The track list makes that strategy plain. Reggaeville lists Night ’n Morning, 10 outta 10, It A Tape (Again) featuring Vybz Kartel and Tjorry106, She Wah F_ck, 9night featuring Pablo YG, Right Deso featuring Tjorry106 and Tun It Up featuring Likkle Vybz. The strongest attention grabber is Kartel’s presence on It A Tape (Again), a link that gives Likkle Addi instant reach inside the Gaza orbit while also pushing the project toward listeners who follow current, melodic dancehall names like Pablo YG and Tjorry106.

The rollout had the feel of a controlled build rather than a surprise drop. The official It A Tape [Again] video went up on June 11, 2026, eight days before the June 19 EP release, giving the song time to work its way through clips, selectors and fan chatter before the full package arrived. LikkleAddiOfficial had already been using Proto Star branding on YouTube, where earlier releases such as BLACK CARD, Gwan Thru and M.O.T.M. helped establish a lane before the EP sharpened it.

Kaboom reported that Likkle Addi described the project as a way of showing people who he is as an artiste and where he is in his journey, which fits the title ProtoSTAR neatly. The release also carried industry weight because it came alongside his first Caribbean Music Awards nomination in the Best New Dancehall Artiste category. That nomination adds another layer to the campaign, turning the EP into a proving ground not just for fans but for the wider business around new dancehall acts.

The family and camp dimensions are impossible to miss. DancehallMag identifies Likkle Addi as Akheel Palmer, one of Vybz Kartel’s sons, and reported the family’s public reunion with Kartel during a prison family day on December 17, 2023. It also reported that Likkle Addi, Likkle Vybz and Aiko-Don co-founded the UTG Initiative Foundation and donated supplies to six Portmore schools in September 2024. Put together, ProtoSTAR does more than lean on a surname. It shows how the next wave of Gaza-affiliated artists is learning to move as a family brand, a community brand and a streaming-era dancehall brand all at once.