Kranium Dumps Caribbean Music Awards Trophy In The Trash, Organizers Admit ‘Human Error’ Caused Mix-Up
Dancehall artist Kranium threw his Caribbean Music Awards trophy in the trash after claiming organizers stripped him of his award for “R&B Dancehall Artiste of the Year” and gave it to Dexta Daps. The organisers have since apologized and admitted that the blunder was a “human error” they regret.
The Caribbean Music Awards (CMA), which took place on August 28 in New York and aired on BET on September 12, had been promoted as a premier platform to recognize Caribbean music and culture. But instead of a highlight, Kranium says the situation was the “biggest disrespect” of his career.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, he wrote in the caption: “Caribbean Music Award y’all are one set a p_____s and users !!! @caribmusicawards.” He then shared an Instagram Story video that showed him tossing the award in the garbage. Kranium captioned the clip: “@caribmusicawards garbage is on Tuesdays… a it this me done with the conversation.”
Pierre Bost, the singer’s manager since 2013, said in a statement to DancehallMag that he had “never seen anything like this before.”
“Kranium attended the award to perform Higher Life and because he was nominated in 5 categories (one of the artist [with] the most nominations this year),” Bost explained. “Kranium delivered a great performance as usual and won Caribbean R&B Artist of the Year. He collected his award on stage in front of all the industry people present in the packed Brooklyn venue.”
According to Bost, days after the August 28 ceremony, the CMA team called Kranium, along with Dexta Daps, to say the award was given to the wrong person. They allegedly asked Kranium to return the trophy in exchange for a ‘non-existent’ category, Best Caribbean R&B Song of the Year, which he had not been nominated for.
“We all know that it wasn’t a mistake – BET already contacted us to license the track for Tv rights,” Bost declared, adding: “We obviously didn’t agree to this stupid and disrespectful option.”
“As a result of this incredible situation, the Caribbean Music Award team removed Kranium completely from the BET tv show and gave the award to Dexta Daps,” he claimed.
On September 16, the CMA issued an official statement via Instagram, apologizing for what it described as an “unfortunate human error” during the August 28 taping of the show.
“This year, we introduced the Caribbean R&B Artist of the Year category to recognize singers whose music may not fit strictly within traditional Caribbean genres,” the organizers explained. “During the process, we debated for weeks up until the week of the award ceremony whether to base the award on the artist overall or the impact of an artist’s song during the voting period.”
They said that based on fan votes focused solely on the artist, Dexta Daps was the clear winner, receiving 40.8% of the vote, while Kranium received 12.6%. “Had we focused on individual songs, Kranium’s Higher Life could have led based on streaming numbers. Considering no songs were publicly listed in this category during the voting period, we decided to keep the award focused on the artist and planned to introduce the Caribbean R&B Song of the Year category next year.”
The organizers admitted that “outdated documentation was mistakenly used in creating the winner cards,” which led to the wrong announcement on the night of the show. “We informed all talent teams of the situation, took responsibility, and shared resolutions before the show aired,” the organizers said.
After internal review, they said, the decision was made to correct the Caribbean R&B Artist of the Year winner “to maintain the ethics on which the show was founded,” while also proposing the introduction of a Caribbean R&B Song of the Year category.
The CMA added that they had “documented communication with Kranium’s management.” According to their timeline, on September 2, his team requested that his likeness and performance be removed from the show and declined the proposed category award. On September 4, Kranium’s team also asked that no mention of the error be included in the updated winner’s press release, according to CMA.
“We understood Kranium’s disappointment and respected his team’s decision, honoring all of their requests,” the statement read.
The CMA closed by expressing regret: “We deeply regret all that has transpired and we are implementing new safeguards to prevent future issues. It is never our aim to divide, diminish or dishonor. We remain committed to amplifying and uplifting Caribbean music.”