It was a great night for several of Dominica’s leading artists but in particular the ‘bouyon queen’, Carlyn Xavier-Phillip, stage name Carlyn XP who swept the first Dominica Music Awards (DMA) ceremony, taking home five awards at the end of the evening.
At the inaugural ceremony held on January 29, the versatile artist, copped the awards for Female Artist of the year, Female Bouyon artist of the year, album of the year, Bouyon Song of the Year -‘bouyon water’ and virtual event of the year- ‘Musical therapy.’
“Bouyon Boss’ Asa Bantan and ‘Undisputed King’ calypsonian Charles ‘Sour Sour’ Isaac had the second highest number of wins of the evening; Asa walking away with the male artist of the year and the male bouyon artist of the year, while Sour Sour was awarded calypso artist of the year and calypso song of the year for his hit ‘I enjoy my life.’
Speaking to Dominica News Online (DNO) following their win, the artists expressed their elation, noting that their achievement was only possible because of their fans.
“I feel overwhelmed; I feel blessed and I feel loved and supported by my fans,” Carlyn XP stated.
Speaking on the past two years which have been extremely challenging for those in the entertainment industry, she said, “I made the most out of the COVID-19; for people who didn’t know who Carlyn XP was, they surely do now because I did not sit back and let COVID break me down and disappointment me. I saw the opportunity to do something positive with the COVID-19 which helped save a lot of people and I just ran with it.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Asa Bantan labelled his wins for the evening as a “great accomplishment” that was “long-awaited.”
“For the past 10 to 15 years, I have been working hard, taking it really serious, carrying bouyon music to places it has never been played or heard before so getting an award especially during the COVID 19 pandemic while the artist and entertainment continue to struggle, it’s really is special to me,” he told DNO.
To their colleagues in the industry who were not awarded, the highly acclaimed artists encouraged them to not be deterred, but use this as an additional inspiration to hone their craft.
“I would just like to tell them that their work is definitely not going unnoticed. At the end of the day, not everybody can get nominated and not everybody will win but all they have to do is keep pushing forward, look at those who came before them and sort of partner on what they are doing, seek advice when necessary on how they can expound on their craft and by the next year they should be getting some nominations and some awards as well,” XP said.
For his part, Asa stated, “All of them are great; they have their own style., all of them are artists of the year, so it’s not only me who deserves to be awarded, we all do because everybody deserves it. I just want to tell them to keep doing what they are doing, don’t stop, keep being creative, with the different melodies and different vibes, because this is just the first year, there will be many more to come and they will get their own.”
As to their next step, both artists intend on making more music and music videos as well as touring different countries to promote the nature island.
As for Sour Sour, he vowed that this will not be his last award, and told the public to “be prepared for what I am about to unleash.”
The artists were marked on four key attributes to include composition 40 points, originality 25, production standard 20 and online voting 50 points.
Below is the list of winners in the various other categories:
New Artist of the year: Mr Ridge
Songwriter of the year: Shelly
Group/ Band of the year: TK International
Dj of the year: Dr Miguel Labadie
DJ mix of the year: DJ. Sleem ‘2020 Soca Mix’
Cadence-lypso of the year: Lobster – ‘DA Girls Love the River Water’
Music video of the year- Reo – ‘Dou Dou’
Reggae/Dancehall artist of the year- Colton T
R&B/Hip-hop artist of the year -Navy
Soca artist of the year-Starsha
Gospel artist of the year-Abiyah
Afro-beat of the year-Marie Pascale
Music producer of the year-Dada Lawrence
Lifetime achievement awards: Gordon Henderson, Michele Henderson, Dereck Rah Peters and Pat Aaron
Felix Henderson Award: The University of the West Indies (UWI).
Look now sour sour can hardly stand up straight but he ain’t care. That kind of pleasure is killing the body and soul.
Congrats to all the winners including the First Serenade Band. How sad and reflective it is that our journalist fail to include them in the list of awardees, although they were one of the lifetime awardees. Never mind Sere we love your music and thanks for the years of great lyrics, music and just entertainment.
I love to see a beautiful woman anytime I can but come on man, Cornel did not see Carlyn leaving the house? Sexiness sells in the entertainment industry but there is a time and place for everything. No wonder why we have school girls dressing half naked to go everywhere these days. Even in churches and funerals you see all their nanny exposed. SMMFH. I guess soon ASA and Sour will put on their bikini too when heading to church
……ohhh just the thought of it 
Shameful the way she dress
Do they expect young people to follow them
I guess they will
E X better than
Lovely voice but dress appropriately
You are not on the beach
Very disappointed
Good effort, give thanks. Sour looks slim and trim, I’m thinking, someone there needs to lose a pound or 2lbs at least wi pal. Wha appen, is it our food supply?
Aside from the obvious and unfortunate wadrobe malfunction by a very talented artist, this was a decent start for a wonderful showcase to honor our outstanding performers.
The glass is certainly half full with upside opportunities for organizers, promoters and artists alike. We have a starting point now. Let us put in the good work required to take this to a higher level.
What is that Calyn we went to all your shows in NY and thats the best you can do in your outfit ? MY MY. That was not a Victoria secret show.
Congratulations to all the winners. Maximum respect to the organizers and sponsors of the event. We have to push our own. Anything to expose our culture locally, regionally and internationally, I’m All-In.
Carlyn XP is exceptionally talented! She has the voice, looks, talent, in fact, the whole package.
Some people had a problem with her attire on the night. It was eye candy for me. (Just a light moment). Carlyn, you are wonderfully blessed. You don’t have to dress in those ‘ventilated’ clothes to attract attention. Best of luck in all your future endeavours. That also goes to all the winners, nominees and organizers. An overall great job but there will always be teething problems.
Oh how I miss just seeing Sour around singing his tunes. Respect Sour!
But wait nuh mamzelle was on her way to the Beach man and somebody tell her about the award show???
WhoMan have some dignity nuh and stop dressing like as doh you looking for Some Action,,,
Mamzelle not a married WhoMan nuh???
Cornel doh give you de memo and email man he get about “Time & Place”,,,
There is a time and place for everything and damnit dress appropriately when you going to a Formal Gathering next time!!!
@RastarMarn, indeed; there is a place and time for everything. I couldn’t believe my eye when I saw the kind of despicable dressing. Definitely despicable dressing for non-beach / non-picnic occasion. Appalling to say the least
It’s show business man keep your shirts on. I’d f rather be entertained by a ‘woman’ dressed in this attire than the man dressed in jacket and tie or even casual wear.
Congrats to Wadix and Creole Heartbeat for conceptualising and hosting the Dominica music awards. There was a vacuum and the filled it. Congrats also to all the winners. But, at the risk of sounding critical, I can’t help but comment on the event itself. I’m afraid the standards did not reach those of an awards show. Firstly, it’s a music awards show, 40 minutes of speeches, man? And not a single performance? Plus, none of the music of the winners, no word on who the finalists were and the only music played after the winners were announced was not Dominican music. At a Dominica music awards event? If fact, it was lacking in so many ways. While kudos go to the organisers for staging the event, I’m afraid it was not a professional job. Not good enough. We must lift our standards.
@Anon B True, I agree you all you have said and I must add that the organizers need to set a dress code in keeping with a sense of professionalize.
For you liberals, please look beyond the thought of discrimination. Standards are standards and standards must be geared to elevate.
I wish I could have seen the show to see you all receive your awards, especially you, CarlynXP. Congratulations, my dear lady–God has blessed your young Life.
And to you, Sour, sour, I did like your song “I enjoy my Life”. You deserved your award.
Blessed her life in Carnival? You taking God low, papa. Concerning such worldly activities, the Bible says to, “come out from among them and be ye separated.” So don’t take God’s name in vain, hear??
What bible, that isht is riddled with racism and religious bigotry in order to enslave you, your mind and future generations. Didn’t they, among other things already put you in your place as the kids of ham who saw his dad naked, and dad cursed him to be black?
Keep your nonsensical beliefs for if you happen to see those pearly gates over yonder. Heaven is not for swell headed people who thinks they know it all. Keep your argument for over yonder. But I’ll tell you this, Jesus loves you; but you won’t escape if you reject Him and His Love. You need a savior because you cannot save yourself.
Well I can see god saving me, but not that mythical African whose story came out of Africa with wooly hair, burnt skin that your European captors turned white complete with blue eyes, then used missionaries to force you to accept. I have an igloo to sell you in the middle of Roseau. It’s painted white but made out of snow,,,going cheap.
I said her young Life, you do not understand what I mean so be quiet. Do you know any human being who has been a saint from childbirth? For what glory would they be giving to God?
By the way you are not qualified to judge her!
This comment is to Wat Pat
As it appears, we are indeed the “Nature Island.” We don’t have Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals awards so we sticking with Wood? What type of wood are these trophies/awards made of? Pitch Pine?
Duh, would’nt you think most trophies are made out of wood, pewter or other material (foreign to Dominica), and then coated with gold, silver etc.?
So why didn’t they “coat” the wood in gold, if that’s the case? Seems like you don’t know about trophies. Dominica needs to up its game. The Chinese could have made plastic trophies to look like diamond. Next time around give our trees a break. No more wooden trophies.
Hi, does Sour Sour have another name? His birth name? All the other artists’ names with their stage names are quoted except his. Let others know who he is. Thanks.
ADMIN: Thank you, point taken. His given name is Charles Isaac, the article has been updated.