Strong dancehall presence at Notting Hill Carnival

Dancehall artistes revelled in the experience at "Europe's largest street party" - Notting Hill Carnival - a massive Caribbean-infused festival, which was held over the weekend.

For Bayka, who was making his debut run at the carnival, "the experience and the reception was amazing".

"It's a blessed feeling... [and] it means a lot [because] dancehall is steadily growing and I'm just trying to be a part of that growth. Big up to soca music too...but I feel [dancehall music] has done amazingly well and it has made an amazing impact as well," he told THE STAR. Bayka promised to tap into producing more soca music with future collaborations in that genre, as he said he's been dabbling in that realm recently.

Similarly, for British-Jamaican hip-hop stars Krept and Konan, though they've attended the event before, this marked their first time performing as a musical duo.

"It's definitely something we've always wanted to do - the crowd gave the energy as always, everybody was hot, they were singing word for word; definitely a bucket list experience for us," said Konan, who's the son of reggae-rocksteady veteran Delroy Wilson.

"Notting Hill Carnival is a celebration of Caribbean culture. Even though it was like, mainly soca, I think it was important to sprinkle some dancehall in it. With us being rappers and coming from a Jamaican background and putting that in the music, I feel it was definitely needed in the mix of everything that's going on - it was definitely a big energy and a big vibe," Konan stated.

The artiste promised that the group's new music will feature more soca and dancehall singles to "get everybody dancing again and whining up their waist, especially after what I see at the carnival of how the music was uplifting everybody and make them wanna dance".

Notting Hill Carnival 2025 was nothing short of diversity, talents and a variety of artistes from reggae, soca, hip hop, dancehall and calypso to add to the fire. The event also hosted performances from Stylo G, Laa Lee and British-Jamaican rapper/dancehall artiste Big Zeeks. Track legend and music producer Usain Bolt was among the revellers.

The three-day festival, which is held over the Bank Holiday weekend commenced last Saturday with a steel band competition, then rolled over into Sunday with the Families and Children's Day of J'ouvert, Children's Carnival and Parade. The day ended with an Adults Dutty Mas Judging Zone coupled with live performances. On Monday, the street were filled with revellers 'chipping and wining' to the sound of live Mas bands, sound systems juggling and a mix of live artistes' performances at a massive street parade. Also this year, at 3 p.m. on both Sunday and Monday, 72 seconds of silence were observed to remember the 72 lives lost in the Grenfell Tower fire. This moment of reflection also honoured those whose lives were recently cut short at Notting Hill Carnival, while showing appreciation to the event's pioneers.

Head of marketing at BET UK, Portia Clarke- Millanaise, who was the mastermind behind merging the featured dancehall artistes with the carnival, said that while soca music is key to carnival, one of the key messages in music at carnival is "Caribbean music".

"So whilst it's predominantly soca music, having that sprinkle of dancehall, it gives that unity of what Caribbean culture and carnival is all about...having that element of dancehall music, it just shows that it's really coherent and the Caribbean culture is spread across Notting Hill Carnival. It was a full Caribbean takeover," shared Clarke-Millanaise who's also the owner of the event production organisation, Aisle 44 Agency.

Stylo G said Notting Hill is the biggest Caribbean event in the UK.

"Suh to be performing on [legendary UK dancehall-reggae sound system] Saxon Sound which is one addi real, veteran sound system from back in di days, which we grew up on in the UK, before I even migrated to the UK, it's a pleasure to perform on that platform - big up Saxon," said the Touch Down artiste.