It was truly a night to remember as scores of well-dressed individuals representing a culturally diverse cross section of the local and regional artistic community poured in the Myles E. Munroe Diplomat Center on Sunday July 3rd 2022 to attend and celebrate the Silver Jubilee ceremony of the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards.
Many of the top names in Caribbean Gospel took center stage during the four hour music extravaganza, which skillfully blended a collage of regional music styles, making this according to many in attendance not only the best ever Marlin Awards to date but one of the most well produced and professionally executed productions in the region.
Joel “Positive” Murray once again emerged as the top winner with a total of five (5) awards including the two most prestigious awards of the evening, Outstanding Album for “Heart Wired” and Outstanding Song for “Stay Up”. He also won awards for Outstanding Music Video
Male for “Stay Up” which was filmed on site in Italy, Outstanding Dancehall Recording for “Stay Up” and Outstanding Reggae Recording for his hit single “Nah Dweet”.
Following close behind with three (3) awards a piece were Bahamian gospel artists Christopher Roberts & Friends who won awards for Outstanding Choir/Chorale for their single “A Message from the Lord” that featured vocalist Clement Penn Jr as well as for Outstanding Junkanoo Rake & Scrape Recording for his national hit single “Jehovah Nick A Time” featuring multiple award winning artist Pastor Simeon Outten and finally for Outstanding Traditional Recording for “Plead the Blood” that featured the late Bahamian female gospel soloist Shaniqua Thurston, who passed away last year.
Also walking away with three awards this year was songwriter and recording artist Kevin Downswell from Jamaica, who won awards for Outstanding Contemporary Vocal Performance Male for “All the Way”, the title track of his latest album as well as for Outstanding Praise & Worship Recording Male for his worship single “Close to you”. He also won a Marlin Award this year for Outstanding Reggae Vocal Performance Duo Group for the single “Carry Me (Reggae Remix)” that featured a vocal contribution from top Jamaican reggae singer Romain Virgo.
Guyana recording artist, songwriter and producer Samuel Medas took home two of the biggest awards of the night, one in the Outstanding Reggae Vocal Performance Male category for his hugely popular single “Royalty” and the other for Outstanding Soca Recording for his mega hit “Stadium”, making him the first Guyanese artist to ever
win a Marlin Award in either of those categories. Medas won his third award that night for Outstanding Dance Recording for his single “Move”.
Winning two (2) awards each this year was Bahamian gospel newcomer Cara T. Newton who won her first ever Marlin Award for Outstanding Jazz Recording for her single “Him” and another in the Outstanding Junkanoo/Rake & Scrape Vocal Performance category for her hit “I Claim It (Victory)”. Also collecting her first pair of Marlin Awards is female singer/songwriter NISA from Trinidad & Tobago, who won one of the biggest awards of the night, Outstanding Reggae Vocal Performance Female for her single “Over It”, making this the first time in a number of years that Jamaica has not won this category. NISA also won the award for Outstanding Music Video Female for her video “Happy in Ah Real Lyfe”.
Neesha Woodz, the top gospel female recording artist from Barbados and considered one of the top female recording artist in Caribbean Gospel, won two awards this year, making this her third Marlin overall. Woodz won for Outstanding Calypso Soca Vocal Performance Duo Group for her single “Volume” that featured singer and producer Nathaniel from Trinidad & Tobago and she also collected her second award for Outstanding Praise & Worship Recording Female for her single “God of Miracles”.
Two of the top male recording artists from Trinidad & Tobago, Marc Isaacs and Farenite also won two awards each this year. For Isaacs his two award win this past Sunday adds to his win in 2017, making this his third overall Marlin Award. Isaacs, who is considered one of the top male gospel Soca vocalist in the region won for Outstanding Calypso Soca Vocal Performance Male for his single “Validate” and for Outstanding Pop Recording Male for his single “Scars”. Winning his first Marlin Award was recording artist Farenite who claimed the Outstanding New Artist award as well as the award for Outstanding Music Video Duo Group for the multi-artists single “Transit Riddim” that also featured recording artists Superz & Kyiros.
A number of artists won one award each this year including recording artist and television producer/host Orlando “Landlord” Miller from the Bahamas who won the Outstanding Reggae Pop Recording Duo Group award for “Lord You’re My Strength” featuring female vocalist Isabel Davis. Trinidad & Tobago songwriter, recording artist and producer J Prince also picked up a Marlin Award this year in the category of Outstanding Reggae Pop Recording Solo for the song “Brighter Day”. This will be the second overall award for Prince who won his first in 2014. Producer and recording artist Sherwin Gardiner also took home an award this year for his single “Favor” which featured the late Trinidad & Tobago worship leader and songwriter Samuel Dyer. Gardiner has won a number of Marlin Awards over the years including one for Outstanding Soca Recording in 2017.
The US Virgin Islands collected an award with first time recording artist and songwriter Eunice R.Callwood & VI Company of Praise who won the award for Outstanding Calypso Recording for their single “Caribbean Praise Anthem”. Teen vocalist Breana Jade from Jamaica is also a first time nominee and winner this year. Breana who is eighteen years of age and the daughter of past award winner Wayne Stoddart, won her award for Outstanding Adapted Recording Female for her remake of the international worship anthem “Heart of Worship”. Breana is also the youngest female winner this year. Her father Wayne Stoddart also won an award this year adding to his win in 2017. Stoddart won for Outstanding DJ Vocal Collaboration for the single “Jesus Junkie” that featured fellow Jamaican gospel recording artist Minister Marion Hall.
A number of Bahamian female artists also won individual awards including female songwriter and recording artist Alia Coley who won the Outstanding Calypso Soca Vocal Performance Female award for her single “Favor”, making Coley the first ever Bahamian female gospel artist to ever win this category. Legendary Bahamian gospel sensation Allison Mason Rolle won the Outstanding Traditional Vocal Solo category for her single “Abide in Me” and newcomer Latoya Culmer won for Outstanding Inspirational Recording Female for the song “Not Alone”. One of the most touching moments during the ceremony came when Christopher Roberts announced that Freeport Grand Bahama based female gospel recording artist Vanessa Rolle won the
Outstanding Black Gospel Recording award for her single “Plead My Cause”. Vanessa, who has been enduring major health challenges recently, watched the awards from her bed where she celebrated her win. Vanessa actually won her very first Marlin Award during the staging of the first ever Marlin Awards held in March of 1996.
Other Bahamian winners include Kenyatta Taylor who won for Outstanding Inspirational Recording Male for “Still I Wait “and Monique Terez who won her first Marlin Award for Outstanding Pop Recording Female for her single “Your Love”.
Several other artists won their first Marlin this year including UK based artists Toyin Adekale & Roger Samuels who won the Outstanding Adapted Recording Duo Group award for their remake of the Be Be & Ce Ce Winans award winning classic “Addictive Love”. Adding to the list of first time winners were two hip-hop artists from the Bahamas, Tammilee Jules who won her first Marlin for Outstanding Hip-Hop Performance Solo for her song “Tree Planted” and hip-hop duo Chosen Soldiers who also won their first ever Marlin Award for Outstanding Hip-Hop Recording for “Different & Cool” that featured E Man & Stacs. Rounding out the winners in hip-hop were Mekaiel featuring BJ’orn Pierre from Trinidad & Tobago who won the award for Outstanding Hip-Hop Vocal Performance Duo Group for their single “Surrender”, making this their very first award.
Past multiple award winners Nigel Lewis (Trinidad), Ayiesha (Bermuda), Jermaine Edwards (Jamaica) & Lili Forbes (St. Maarten) also won awards again this year. Lewis won the Outstanding Adapted Recording Male award for his remake of the international chart topping single “One Call Away”. Former Gotee recording artist Ayiesha won the Outstanding Contemporary Recording award for her single ”Indebted” and Edwards collected another award for his mantle, this time for Outstanding Dub Recording for his single “I Look to You”. Lili Forbes, part member of the award winning twin recording outfit Jumelle, won her first award as a solo artist this year for her single “Never Bitter”, composed and performed as part of for a new musical production.
In the Outstanding International Caribbean Recording category the gospel Latin recording artist La Red from Puerto Rico took home their very first Marlin Award for their single “Me Escogiste”, making them the first Latin American group to win a Marlin Award. Another international artist also capturing an award this year is Wadiwa Musiq, a gospel reggae/dancehall artist from Zimbabwe Africa who won his first Marlin for Outstanding Reggae Hip-Hop Recording for his single “Keyboard Operator”, making him the second artist from Africa to ever win a Marlin Award.
Recording artist, radio announcer and composer Pastor Michael Daley who hails from Jamaica but resides in South Florida also won his first Marlin Award for Outstanding Instrumental Recording for the reggae infused instrumental single “Organ Dub”.
Newcomers Oracle Worship from Trinidad & Tobago also secured their first Marlin Award when they won the Outstanding Pop Recording Duo Group award for their pop worship anthem “Ascend”. Also capturing his very first award is Guyana born but US based gospel reggae/ dancehall artist Dwayne Fyah who won the Outstanding DJ Vocal Performance award for his single “Ansa De Question”.
Several groups round out the list of winners this year including Nadine Blair & Perpetual Sounds of Praise from Jamaica who walked away with the award for Outstanding Inspirational Recording Duo Group for their single “That’s Who You Are to Me (Waymaker)”. Also from Jamaica female sisters The Foster Triplets won their first award in the Outstanding Traditional Vocal Duo Group category for their single “Bigger than My Circumstance”.
Another group taking home a Marlin this year is Gateway Outreach Ministry featuring Oslien Jadorte & GOW Worship who hails from the Island of Bimini in the Bahamas. The group won the award for Outstanding Praise & Worship Recording Duo Group for their single “I AM Determined”. Also taking home their very first award is Canadian group Powerhouse Fellowship Soul Choir featuring Shawn Cotterell who won the award for Outstanding Seasonal Recording for their single “Christ Came to Earth”.
Making history this year was producer and now recording artist, Reuel Lynch from Trinidad & Tobago, who won the award for Outstanding Producer for the third consecutive time (2014, 2017 & 2022), making him the first to ever achieve this feat in the awards twenty six year history.
Several special awards were also handed out including the President’s Award which was bestowed on regional industry legend as well as the CEO of the Barbados Gospel Fest and founder of Things Gospel retail shop, Adrian Agard from Barbados. Mr Agard was in the Bahamas along with his wife to receive his award in person. Mr Agard was honored for his years of contribution towards the promotion and advancement of Caribbean Gospel Music.
The Local Contribution Award was presented to the family of the late Sir Charles Carter on his behalf. Sir Charles was a former Member of Parliament and former Cabinet Minister but he was also a pioneer in the broadcast industry of the Bahamas. Sir Charles would go onto to launch several national radio programs to promote Bahamian music
which included Bahamian Gospel Artists and their music. He was honored for his years of contribution towards the promotion and advancement of Bahamian Gospel Music.
The Life Time Achievement Award was presented to the legendary Bahamian gospel group The Love Singers for their years of contribution towards the growth and development of Bahamian Gospel Music.
A number of the groups founding and original members were on hand to receive their award.
One of the evening’s most memorable awards was the introduction of the Dr Myles E. Munroe International Award of Merit which was presented for the very first time to the family of the late producer, radio personality, director and television host, Jamie Thomas from Trinidad & Tobago who passed away in 2021. Jamie was honored for his years of contribution towards the growth, promotion and advancement of Caribbean Gospel Music. There were over two hundred artists representing over twenty countries participating this year. Awards were distributed in over fifty categories.
Gold Sponsors for the 25th Anniversary of the Marlin Awards included Breezes Bahamas who served as the Official Resort for the awards, 101.9 Joy FM who served as the Official Radio Station of the awards as well as Caribbean Gospel Television (CGTV) who served as the Official regional television station for this year’s Marlin Awards. Bahamas Harvest Church and CARGOS TV served as a Bronze sponsors. CARGOS TV served as the official app for the 2022 Marlin Awards.
The Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards are produced by Oracle Media Consultants (formerly Harris Media Group). Photography by Kermit Taylor For a complete list of winners visit
www.marlinawards.com. Photography by Kermit Taylor for the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards. All rights reserved.