Vybz Kartel Wins Best Caribbean Music Act at 2026 MOBO Awards

Vybz Kartel secured his first competitive win at the MOBO Awards, taking Best Caribbean Music Act at the 2026 ceremony a year after receiving its Impact Award. The win came at Manchester's Co-op Live Arena on March 26, 2026, marking the first time the event was held at the venue as part of the MOBOs' historic 30th anniversary celebrations.

Kartel beat Masicka, Shenseea, Lila Iké, Ayetian, and Trinidad's Yung Bredda for the coveted award, which recognises Caribbean music in the United Kingdom. The shortlist was heavily Jamaican, but Kartel came out on top in what has become the premier UK platform for recognising the breadth of Caribbean sound. He did, however, lose in the Best International Act category to Ayra Starr, who won that prize for the second consecutive year.

The eligibility window that drove his nomination tells its own story. The 2026 awards recognised outstanding talent and releases from the eligibility period of September 1, 2024 to October 1, 2025, a stretch that, according to DancehallMag, captured his August 2025 album Heart & Soul along with a run of hit singles and videos. It is the kind of sustained output that separates a comeback from a full reinstatement, and MOBO voters clearly took notice.

Kartel was previously nominated for Best Reggae Act in 2004, 2010 and 2009. That category was instituted in 1996 but was renamed Best Caribbean Music Act in 2022. The category change was deliberate: the Best Reggae Act award was renamed to Best Caribbean Music Act in 2022 to reflect a broader range of Caribbean genres, meaning Kartel's earlier nominations never translated into a competitive win under the old banner. That two-decade gap between first nomination and first trophy makes Thursday night's result all the more significant.

Valiant took the prize at the 2024 ceremony, while Skillibeng won in 2022, the first year under the new name. Buju Banton won Best Reggae Act in 2020. Shenseea also took to the stage as a first-time performer at the ceremony. She first made MOBO history in 2021 when she became the first woman to win Best Reggae Act, and later secured the Best Caribbean Music Act award in 2025. Performing while also being on the shortlist Kartel won placed her in a rare dual position on the night.

Olivia Dean emerged as one of the ceremony's biggest winners, taking Best Female Act, Album of the Year for The Art of Loving, and Song of the Year for Man I Need, making her one of the standout names of the 2026 ceremony as MOBO marked its 30th anniversary year. Jim Legxacy picked up Best Male Act, while Central Cee won Best Hip Hop Act. FLO took Best R&B/Soul Act, and Nova Twins won Best Alternative Music Act. Wizkid won Best African Music Act.

MOBO founder and CEO Kanya King CBE said: "Thirty years ago, the MOBO Organisation was born out of a desire to create space where there was none." She added, "Tonight in Manchester, we've seen just how far that vision has come. From global icons to the next generation of trailblazers, this stage continues to be a home for excellence, creativity and truth."

For Kartel, the MOBO win lands at a moment when his re-entry into the music landscape has been anything but gradual. Music and marketing consultant Sean Anthony "Contractor" Edwards put it plainly: "Nobody has done the work he has over the past year with the dancehall genre. Sean Paul and Shaggy have their fans but in terms of dancehall energy in the marketplace, nobody has done that. He has toured the Caribbean, Europe, UK and Canada flying the flag for hardcore dancehall so he definitely deserves it. What it does is open up the door for him to do greater things in the industry.