Spotify today launches the inaugural Carnival Sounds Live series, as part of its ongoing collaboration and sponsorship of Notting Hill Carnival. Celebrating 60 years of the UK’s biggest celebration of the Caribbean diaspora, this year’s collaboration sees performances from icons Shenseea, Original Koffee and V’ghn.
Original Koffee, one of Jamaica’s biggest stars, pays tribute to the island’s biggest musical icons Bob Marley & The Wailers, with her own rendition of ‘Three Little Birds’, a reggae anthem first recorded in 1977 at Notting Hill’s Island Studios.
Alongside Original Koffee, Shenseea represents Dancehall with a performance of Diana King’s iconic 90’s track ‘Shy Guy’ and her latest single ‘Bruk Sweat’. Since 2020, Shenseea has seen a 353% growth in streams in the UK, proving she’s an artist on the rise.
Grenadian Soca star V’ghn, who has seen an incredible 390% growth in streams since 2023, completes the line-up with performances of Kes’ Carnival anthem ‘Hello’ and his latest hit ‘Jab Decisions’.
Caribbean music’s popularity in the UK is not limited to the weeks surrounding Carnival. Nearly fifty years since ‘Three Little Birds’ first recording, Bob Marley & Wailers’ enduring legacy on the UK’s listening habits continues, as they are the most played Reggae artist in the UK this year on Spotify.
Soca, the genre synonymous with masquerade bands who play at Carnivals across the world, is now the highest growing genre from the Caribbean in the UK, with listening increasing by 136% since 2020. This year Kevin Lyttle was the most listened to soca artist in the UK due to the popularity of 2003 single ‘Turn Me On’, followed very closely by Trinidad’s Machel Montana and Kes.
Safiya Lambie Knight, Spotify’s Head of Music Partnerships in the UK shares V’ghn’s Grenadian & Trinidadian heritage:
“Notting Hill Carnival is one of the most important cultural moments in the UK calendar — a celebration of Caribbean identity and creativity that resonates with people from all around the world. To celebrate 60 years, we produced Carnival Sounds Live, showcasing some of the most popular artists from the Caribbean right now to cover songs that have soundtracked Carnival over the years.
“We also wanted to highlight that Caribbean music is listened to all year round demonstrated by soca’s rise in popularity, to Bob Marley and the Wailers still reaching new listeners, and dancehall connecting with a younger generation, this all speaks to the lasting cultural power of Carnival and the communities behind it.”
