A crowd of thousands spilled across the historic Coney Island boardwalk in New York this past Sunday (June 29, 2025), not for roller coasters or funnel cake—but for a full-scale Caribbean takeover. Sandz Caribbean Music Festival World Tour, in its “Bikini x Jersey” edition, brought the island to Brooklyn, transforming a seaside venue into a high-octane celebration of sound, style, and culture.
The festival’s opening acts set the mood with precision. Kevin Crown, ever the showman, brought a muscular set filled with roaring transitions and a vocal connection to the crowd that came to party. He was joined by Guyanese-Canadian DJ Aye Brandon Duke, his 18-year-old protégé, whose skill belied his age. The two passed the baton like seasoned sprinters, jumping from Vybz Kartel deep cuts to soca whines to hip-hop anthems, each drop more euphoric than the last.
Then came Chromatic Live. And with them, the crowd shifted. They dug into the Gaza era catalog—with a set of songs that can make your throat hoarse from shouting and your knees buckle from ‘brukking out’.
What’s a Caribbean festival without food? Here, the food village offered an edible tour of the islands. Curry goat, jerk chicken, fried fish, shrimp—every plate was an argument for why Caribbean cuisine deserves Michelin stars. Liquor stations were powered by Vybz Kartel’s STR8 VYBZ Rum, which served blends with names like Fever, Ramping Shop, and Unstoppable.
And then came the night’s headliner. Originally slated headliner Skillibeng was a no-show, a disappointment murmured throughout social media leading up to the event forcing the Sandz team to reconfigured the setup. In his place? Mavado.
His entrance at 8:50 PM, lasted for less than 10 minutes, but his impact? Immediate. “A me first Sandz this inuh” Mavado proclaimed with shouts to the “bad man dem from Jamaica.” His singing voice as well as his deejay voice is still on point after 20 years in the business. The “Real McKoy” singer noted that he is still representing for “the real street”—as he rolled out his hits like “Gangster life” and “Money Changer”. Before leaving the stage, he tossed out that he’ll appear at Bounty Killer’s Barclays Center show on July 5.
There were no technical hiccups. No long bar lines. No fashion misses. The Sandz team pulled off an ambitious, multi-hour event that moved like a well-oiled riddim section.
One patron summed it up best as she exited into the humid Brooklyn night: “Sandz don’t owe me anything.”
They didn’t.
Sandz World Tour now goes to Toronto on July 5.
