Grammy-winning Jamaican star Shaggy has downplayed the significance of artistes dominating only a handful of markets, arguing that at his age, he is doing better than most of his contemporaries.
The 58-year-old entertainer specifically contrasted the fanfare surrounding artistes packing Barclays Center in Brooklyn with his ability to fill venues in less obvious reggae and dancehall markets, including Lithuania.
“Strategic, yeah, which is why to this day I’m 58 years old and I’m still the second-largest streaming person in dancehall and reggae,” Shaggy said during his Road Block Radio interview.
“Don’t watch all the internet madness you see everybody posting up. Like, you know, some of these guys only got three markets, right? Oh yes, we packed the venue in Brooklyn at Barclays, and we’ve got, you know — I’m packing a coliseum in Lithuania on a Wednesday.”
During the wider interview, Shaggy named himself, Sean Paul and Bob Marley among the Jamaican names with enduring recognition across numerous international markets. Discussing streaming, he said, “Bob and I go back and forth,” while crediting Sean Paul with having “really cemented himself” internationally. Shaggy also said there is “no one king” of dancehall, pointing to different artistes whose impact dominated particular periods.
Buju Banton helped set the arena benchmark in 2024
Buju Banton delivered a sold-out Barclays Center concert on November 17, 2024, during his Overcomer Tour, following a back to back run earlier in the year at UBS Arena. It was the first time a danchaall act was solo headlining an arena in the U.S. gowsing 4.5 million accosss the two shows. The Brooklyn appearance was also his first performance in the borough in 15 years.
Earlier that year, Reggae Fest Massive brought a large dancehall cast to Barclays on August 31, featuring Mavado, Dexta Daps, Aidonia, Vanessa Bling, Mr Vegas, Elephant Man, Ding Dong, T.O.K., Serani and Wayne Wonder.
But it was Vybz Kartel who subsequently pushed the dancehall box-office story at Barclays to another level.
Kartel turns Barclays into a record-setting run
In April 2025, Kartel staged back-to-back sold-out Barclays Center concerts following his release from prison and return to the United States performance circuit.
The April 11 and 12 concerts made Kartel the first dancehall artiste to stage back-to-back sold-out shows at the arena.
His Barclays run eventually expanded to three sold-out performances in 2025, a figure confirmed by Barclays Center itself. The arena listed Kartel among the Caribbean acts responsible for a record year in which seven Caribbean concerts attracted more than 80,000 attendees and accounted for 20 per cent of Barclays Center’s gross revenue for the year to that point.
World MusiV Views reported box-office data from Pollstar which put ticket sales for Kartel’s first two Barclays concerts at 31,126, with a combined gross of approximately US$8.4 million — a new US concert record for a solo Jamaican dancehall artiste.
Shaggy’s own career was built during an era when Jamaican artistes had considerably less infrastructure available to them internationally. He previously recalled in a WMV interview having to work “10 times harder” with smaller budgets and less sleep, while making records “10 times better” to compete with mainstream acts enjoying substantially greater industry support.
