2020 was the year the dance floor went quiet and dancehall got louder anyway.
Sound systems were unplugged, curfews were in place and stage shows were cancelled across Jamaica, so the music moved to phone screens, Instagram Live and YouTube trending charts.
The best dancehall songs of 2020 were made for that strange new reality: love songs written in quarantine, challenges that went viral from living rooms, and street anthems that kept the culture moving while the streets themselves sat empty.
What follows is our ranking of the twelve tunes that defined that year. We weighed their hold on the region, their reach abroad and how well they have aged six years on.
Some arrived wrapped in controversy. One dropped hours after its singer walked out of police custody. Another came out of a studio lockdown and gave a Grammy winner her very first love song.
1. Koffee, “Lockdown” (2020)
Six months after Rapture made her the youngest artist and first woman to win the Best Reggae Album Grammy, Koffee found herself as stuck as the rest of us.
She was recording at Popcaan’s studio during the COVID shutdown when Dane “Raygad” Ray of the Unruly camp played her an instrumental, and she wrote “Lockdown” on the spot. The song works on two levels.
It is a sunny commentary on a world in quarantine and a sweet, longing love song, her first. Fans pounced.
Koffee became the first reggae artist to pass one million YouTube views in 48 hours, and two weeks after release it was the number one trending music video in the region.
In March 2021 it won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding International Song. Its breezy hope still sounds exactly like summer 2020.
2. Tarrus Riley & Shenseea, “Lighter” (2020)
Rvssian has always known how to build a bridge between Kingston and the global pop market, and “Lighter” might be his most graceful crossing.
Released on 23 October through Rich Immigrants and Interscope, it pairs Tarrus Riley’s warm, unhurried vocal with Shenseea’s playful bite.
The smooth instrumental folds electronic textures into a dancehall frame at a relaxed 89 BPM. Los Angeles trio LIONCHLD shared writing credits with Riley and Rvssian, which explains the polished, radio-ready sheen.
Social media did the rest as the #LighterChallenge spread fast. By November 2023 the video had 91 million YouTube views and the song had 18 million Spotify streams, numbers Shenseea admitted went beyond her expectations.
When her “Lick” with Megan Thee Stallion arrived in 2022, the only bigger YouTube chart debut in Jamaica was “Lighter” itself.
3. Dexta Daps, “Breaking News” (2020)
No song in 2020 came with a wilder backstory or started more arguments. Dexta Daps was taken into police custody on 8 April in connection with gang activity investigations and released on 30 April without formal charges.
Hours after leaving lock-up, he dropped “Breaking News”, a moody domestic violence storyline built around a line divisive enough to launch a #BreakingNews challenge on Instagram.
By 2 May it sat at number one on YouTube’s Popular in Jamaica chart, yet plenty of listeners insisted the acoustic version he had first shared on Instagram was better.
Producer Mark Myrie put it bluntly: “diff riddim and d song lose the whole entire vibe.” On 15 May, Dexta asked women not to take the song literally.
The debate only made it bigger, and it remains one of the most talked about records of his career.
4. Alkaline, “Ocean Wave” (2020)
Alkaline traded in calm rather than chaos for much of 2020, and “Ocean Wave” was the proof.
Released in March on the Soul Survivor Riddim with production from Jahvy Ambassador, it rides an unhurried, rolling groove while the Vendetta boss offers something close to reassurance.
That restraint divided opinion. LargeUp panelist DJ Arems felt it was “a little too mellow” to be a true banger, but he still counted it among the biggest dancehall records of the year and praised its encouraging message for a strange time. The mellow approach paid off over the long run.
“Ocean Wave” became the lead single from Top Prize, the May 2021 album that peaked at number two on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart. An 8 Bit Arcade cover even surfaced in 2020, a sign of how far the melody travelled.
5. Shenseea, “The Sidechick Song” (2020)
Shenseea wrote “The Sidechick Song” during quarantine, and by her own account it was the record she was betting on that year, more than “Rebel.
The title alone tells you the territory: the complicated love triangle that dancehall has always loved to dramatise, delivered with her trademark mix of cheek and confidence.
It turned up across the year’s conversations, from Reggae.it’s Top 20, where it sat at number four, to Capital XTRA’s picks and TIDAL’s mid-year playlist.
The twist is that “Rebel”, the Good Good Productions cut on the Liquid Sunshine Riddim she was less sure about, kept growing too and passed 49 million YouTube views by late 2023.
Between these two songs and “Lighter”, 2020 was the year Shenseea became impossible to ignore.
6. Teejay, “From Rags to Riches” (2020)
Teejay opened 2020 in a reflective mood. “From Rags to Riches” came out in February through Damage Musiq on the Billionaire Sheikh Riddim, produced by Dwayne “Damage” Parkinson.
It is a song about loss, doubters and fake “bad and boujee” girls, sung by a man who knows exactly where he came from.
The cover art is his own childhood home, a detail that makes the gratitude feel earned. The September video sharpened the contrast by cutting between a zinc fence and a hilltop mansion. LargeUp called it “one of the biggest dancehall tunes out of Jamaica this year.”
By June 2021 it had passed 21 million YouTube views and become the title track of his debut album, Rags to Riches, cementing the song as the turning point of his career
7. Protoje feat. Popcaan, “Like Royalty” (2020)
Protoje and Popcaan each had a strong 2020, and “Like Royalty” is where those two years met.
Produced by Ziah and Winta James, it appears on In Search of Lost Time, the album Protoje released in August through his In.Digg.Nation Collective with Six Course Music and RCA. The track sits where roots reggae meets dancehall swagger.
Protoje’s measured, thoughtful delivery pairs naturally with Popcaan’s melodic ease, and the whole thing carries the regal confidence its title promises.
LargeUp’s panel called it one of the most impactful records of the year, and Jamaicans.com went further, ranking it number one among its reggae selections.
It is a crossover pick, but in a year when the lines between genres blurred, it belonged on every dancehall playlist too.
8. Agent Sasco, “Loco” (2020)
Agent Sasco has never needed to shout to be heard, and “Loco” caught the veteran deejay at his most assured.
Produced by Teflon Zincfence, the song ranked sixth on LargeUp’s critic panel list and third on Jamaicans.com’s mid-year reggae rundown.
That double billing shows how easily it moved between dancehall and reggae audiences. Sasco’s clear, conversational flow and sly wit carry the record, the kind of pen game that reminds younger artists why lyrics still matter.
The song had enough staying power to earn a “Loco (Remix)” that brought in Bounty Killer and Kabaka Pyramid alongside Sasco.
That cross-generational lineup turned a strong single into an event and kept the tune spinning well beyond its first run.
9. Govana, “Likkle Bit A Money” (2020)
Govana spent 2020 sounding like a man in full command of his craft. “Likkle Bit A Money”, produced by J.L.L. Prod and Emudio, landed at number ten on LargeUp’s year-end list.
The panel praised “a commanding voice, great lyrical content” and a delivery that “oozes personality”. That personality was everywhere that year.
“HAMANTS Convo” cracked Reggae.it’s Top 20 at number seven, and “Impossible” made Capital XTRA’s picks, so few deejays were as consistent from January to December.
What ties the songs together is that voice, deep and deliberate, landing every bar with the weight of somebody who has done the hard yards.
In a year short on dances and long on reflection, Govana’s grounded hustler’s realism hit exactly right.
10. Skillibeng, “Crocodile Teeth” (2020)
If 2020 had a breakout story, Skillibeng wrote it. “Crocodile Teeth”, produced by Johnny Wonder and Adde Instrumentals for his ESyde Records camp, was in LargeUp’s words “a major smash”.
The panel singled out his refreshing delivery and flow, which sounded like nobody else in the dancehall at the time.
The song climbed to number eight on Reggae.it’s Top 20, and it was far from his only weapon that year. “50 Bag” kept the momentum going, and the “Honda (Remix)” with Twani Price showed he could share a track without losing his edge.
Looking back, “Crocodile Teeth” was the moment a new generation’s sound announced itself, and many of the young deejays who followed owe something to that cadence.
11. Vybz Kartel, “World Government” (2020)
Even while incarcerated, Vybz Kartel kept the release schedule running like a factory, and “World Government” was one of his sharpest 2020 offerings.
Released through Shabdon Records on the riddim of the same name, it made Capital XTRA’s list at number fifteen and placed fifth in Ranker’s fan vote.
That vote was otherwise dominated by Ghanaian dancehall, a reminder of how far the Worl’ Boss’s reach extends.
The riddim also carried “Moon Walk” with Squash, which landed at number eleven on Reggae.it’s list, while “Tony Montana” made the same chart at eighteen.
Add “Of Dons & Divas” and “Live for the Summer” with Sikka Rymes and Daddy1, and Kartel had more quality material in one year than most artists release in five.
12. A’mari, “Neko” (2020)
Every year dancehall produces a hit nobody saw coming, and in 2020 it was “Neko”. The Jamaica Observer called it a surprise hit, one that even A’mari herself had not expected.
The video helped it travel, with A’mari wearing a striking tattooed-face, coloured-wig look that made the clip impossible to scroll past. Then came the drama.
She first said the “Neko” of the song was her ex, Gully Bop, and later admitted she had lied to boost traction.
It was pure dancehall theatre, the kind of storyline that keeps a song in group chats long after the first play. In a year of screens and timelines, A’mari understood the assignment perfectly.
Why 2020 Still Echoes
Six years on, 2020 looks like the year dancehall proved it could survive without its natural habitat. With no sessions and no stage shows, the songs had to win online, and they did.
Jamaica Observer even noted that Jada Kingdom’s “Win” took over from “Lockdown” as the region’s number one trending YouTube video, which shows how crowded the race was.
The year also marked a handover. Koffee and Shenseea pushed Jamaican women to global stages, Skillibeng and Govana sharpened the street sound, and veterans like Agent Sasco and Vybz Kartel proved their pens were as strong as ever.
Add honourable mentions such as Vershon’s “Outside” and Popcaan’s “Twist & Turn” with Drake and PartyNextDoor, and the depth is striking. The world stood still in 2020. Dancehall kept moving.
