Few dancehall careers have moved as fast or cut as sharp as Earlan Bartley’s. The Kingston deejay born in December 1993, known to fans as Alkaline, Young Lawd, Vendetta Boss and ManHimselff, arrived with tattooed eyes, a bold visual style and a hip-hop edge that split opinion and filled dances.
Picking the best Alkaline songs means tracing that whole run, from the rough early tracks of 2013 to the 18-week reign of New Level Unlocked atop the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
He has never really gone quiet. AllMusic counts over 55 tracks between 2013 and 2017 alone. Top Prize followed in 2021, and his third album, NPT, landed on AutoBamb Records in March 2026. These are the twelve records that define the Champion Boy, ranked strongest first.
1. Alkaline, “On Fleek (Love Yuh Everything)” (2015)
This is where the wider world started paying attention. “On Fleek” rode True Loyal Records’ Money Me A Look riddim, a bright, keyboard-driven, mid-tempo backing that also carried Vybz Kartel’s title track and voicings from I-Octane, Iya Champs and Likkle Dainjah.
On a riddim stacked with heavyweights, Alkaline’s sing-song lover’s anthem stood out, with one reviewer crediting his cut with “a slicker youthful edge.” Apple Music calls it his first lasting impact.
Alongside the “Ride On Me” remix, it pushed him into the international market in mid-2015. More than a decade later it still sits among his most played songs. The melody remains instantly hummable, and the affection in it still lands.
2. Alkaline, “Champion Boy” (2015)
Some songs become a name. “Champion Boy” arrived on 30 October 2015 and quickly turned into Alkaline’s calling card, the handle fans and critics still use for him. It is pure self-coronation, delivered with the swagger of a young deejay who already believed the crown was his.
The single became a cornerstone of New Level Unlocked, the album that gave dancehall its first deejay-led No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in five years.
VP Music Group put it on Reggae Gold 2016, and selectors kept the energy going with remixes over other riddims, including a Culu Culu riddim version. Years later, it is still the song that tells you exactly who he thinks he is.
3. Alkaline feat. Sean Kingston, “Ride On Me (Remix)” (2015)
Hooking up with Sean Kingston gave Alkaline a crossover bridge, and he walked across it without softening a thing.
The DJ Frass Records remix kept the raunchy, uncensored attitude of the original “Ride On Me” and paired it with Kingston’s pop-ready melodic touch. The result was a club record that worked in Kingston and well beyond it.
The music video followed in September 2015 and extended the song’s run into the back half of the year. Together with “On Fleek,” it is the record most responsible for carrying his name overseas that summer. It remains one of his best-known collaborations and an early sign of the global co-signs to come.
4. Alkaline, “Ocean Wave” (2020)
Released on 6 March 2020 as an early taste of what became Top Prize, “Ocean Wave” showed a side of Alkaline many had not heard.
The track is dreamy and unhurried, letting his voice drift where his earlier hits charged. Krash The Culture named it arguably the most commercially successful song on the album and one of his best efforts, and by April 2021 it was close to 4 million streams.
That same month he took it to Audiomack’s Fine Tuned live series, where it held up beautifully in a stripped-down setting. For fans who think of him only as a firebrand, “Ocean Wave” is the gentle counterargument.
5. Alkaline, “Nah Fi Like” (2020)
“Nah Fi Like” has quietly become his biggest song in the streaming era. In October 2026 it sits at the very top of his Apple Music artist page, ahead of everything from the New Level Unlocked years.
The 2020 single carries the defiant, unbothered attitude that has always powered his best work: a man unconcerned with whether the doubters approve. Its video racked up millions of YouTube views and charted highly as anticipation built for Top Prize.
The song arrived at a point when people were asking whether Alkaline still had it, and it answered them plainly. Six years on, it keeps spinning.
6. Alkaline, “Cree” (2020)
If “Ocean Wave” was the calm, “Cree” was the storm. DancehallMag described it as a grimy cut loaded with vivid threats, and it lands like a reminder that the Vendetta Boss never really left.
Krash The Culture placed it in the same stratosphere Teejay hit with “Uptop,” which tells you how heavily it moved through the streets and the streams.
Released as a single in 2020 before taking its place on Top Prize, it passed 3 million streams by April 2021.
He also brought it to Audiomack’s Fine Tuned series, where its menace sat neatly beside the softer “Ocean Wave.” Few deejays carry both moods this convincingly.
7. Alkaline, “123” (2013)
Go back far enough and you find “123,” a raw early record from the stretch when Alkaline was firing out songs under Cahban Rekords.
It turns up on the 2013 EP Showcase Raw, and the title fits: hungry and unpolished, the sound of a young artist working out his voice in real time.
The appeal lies in that energy, the feeling of a deejay with everything to prove. What makes “123” remarkable now is its staying power.
In 2026, TikTok users have been asking whether it is trending again, as a new generation finds the record that came before the fame and the Billboard run. Early material rarely gets a second life like this.
8. Alkaline, “Extra Lesson” (2016)
By late 2016 Alkaline was riding the momentum of a chart-topping album, and “Extra Lesson” showed he had more to teach.
Released in October 2016 through DJ Frass Records, the production house behind much of his breakthrough, it became one of several hits that made 2016 his busiest year.
The song carries the playful, cocky charm that made him a dance favourite, built for selectors who wanted something fresh to drop after the album cuts had been worn in.
It belongs to an era when every Alkaline release felt like an event and his name dominated sound system conversations. It still slots easily into a 2016 dancehall throwback set.
9. Alkaline, “ATM” (2015)
“ATM” dropped on 30 September 2015, right in the middle of the most important stretch of his career. It became one of the hit singles that made up New Level Unlocked, the album Billboard later ranked No. 3 among its 10 Best Reggae Albums of 2016.
The record fits neatly beside “Champion Boy” and “On Fleek” as part of the run that turned a controversial newcomer into the deejay everyone had to reckon with.
It has the confident, money-minded bravado of a young star who can feel the tide turning his way. Played back now, “ATM” captures that late-2015 rush, when every new single seemed to land.
10. Alkaline, “Top Prize” (2021)
A title track has to carry the album’s meaning, and this one wore it proudly. “Top Prize” arrived in February 2021 as the lead single for his long-awaited second album and passed 2.4 million views by the end of April.
Alkaline framed the project in plain terms: “Top Prize is a testament of victory against all odds.” That idea of survival and vindication runs through the song, five years after New Level Unlocked had set a very high bar.
The song served as both a declaration and a scene-setter, telling fans the wait was nearly over. It remains the clearest statement of what that second chapter meant to him.
11. Alkaline, “Maniac” (2021)
On an album full of contrasts, “Maniac” was the boldest sonic swing. ArmzHouse Records built the beat, and Reggaeville’s review captured its hybrid nature: dancehall and trap mashed together with buzz rolls and a dirty, distorted bass. It is the clearest example on Top Prize of the hip-hop influence AllMusic sees running through his catalogue.
Instead of borrowing from trap, he bent it to fit a dancehall frame. Krash The Culture singled it out as a highlight alongside “Ocean Wave,” which makes sense: the two songs mark the outer edges of the album, one floating and one grinding. “Maniac” sounds as current in 2026 as it did on release.
12. Alkaline, “Gyal Good” (2026)
The newest entry shows where the Champion Boy stands today. “Gyal Good” comes from NPT, the 16-song third album he released on 23 March 2026 through AutoBamb Records, and it has climbed into his top songs on Apple Music.
Written by Darren Sortie and Earlan Bartley, it runs just 2:32, a tight, no-wasted-bars record built for replay. It arrived with an official music video, and its quick, punchy structure suits how fans find music now.
After more than a decade, Alkaline is still writing songs that slide into heavy rotation beside his classics. It suggests the NPT era could produce several more.
Why Alkaline Still Matters
Few dancehall artists of his generation have covered as much ground. Alkaline went from the raw energy of “123” to a Billboard chart reign, from the sweetness of “On Fleek” to the menace of “Cree,” and from the trap experiments of “Maniac” to the lean efficiency of “Gyal Good.”
Along the way he collected co-signs from Sean Paul and features with Shaggy, WSTRN and A Boogie wit da Hoodie.
The catalogue runs far deeper than twelve songs. “Block & Delete,” “My Side of the Story” and “After All” all belong to that crowded 2016 run.
In 2026 he has kept moving, with “No Emotions” aimed squarely at his doubters, the NPT album, and fresh singles “Decking” and “Powa” arriving through the summer. Ten years after New Level Unlocked, the Champion Boy is still competing for the top spot.
