In Grenada’s Kirani James National Stadium, a parade of Caribbean artists made one thing abundantly clear: soca music is ready for the mainstream.
Singers from Trinidad & Tobago to Jamaica, performed a pass-the-mic procession of carnival season’s buzziest hits. Leading the jump and wave vibes was Grenada’s very own global star V’ghn who graciously made space for his musical bredrin on the final stop on his V30: Jab Decisions tour.
Inspired by his massive jam, “Jab Decisions,” which debuted at Grenada’s Spicemas carnival last year, V’ghn headlined performances in London, Toronto, Miami and New York. For the hometown stop, that coincided with his 30th birthday, V’ghn invited 12 guest artists to share the stage for an epic soundclash of soca, R&B, dancehall and hip-hop. Artists included: Trinidad & Tobago’s Voice, Lyrikal, Mical Teja, Full Blown, Christo and Coutain; St. Vincent’s Skinny Fabulous; Jamaica’s Ding Dong; and his Grenadian brothers Dred Lion, Bubbah 473, Dash, and reigning Spicemas Road March winner Lil’ Kerry.
The night was not only a finale fete but a celebratory spotlight on the culture that informs V’ghn (née Jevaughn John) as an artist and proud Grenadian. From the introductory children’s choir performance to the fiery horns affixed over the stage, every element was intentional. The striking “horned” stage design—the first of its kind in the live entertainment space, according to his publicity team—was a direct homage to the island’s “Jab Jab” masquerade culture where revelers drench their skin in black oil and adorn horned hats, mocking the “devils” who enslaved their ancestors. Although this prominent inclusion may identify V’ghn as a Jab artist, the singer dismisses he’s not—respectfully.
“Most people, and even me, would not consider me a Jab artist because this is one of the very first times I actually did a song and mentioned ‘jab jab’ in it,” says V’ghn who started singing professionally as a teen. For many years, his fan base thought he was from everywhere but the Spice Isle.
“I just felt like I was misplaced a lot. A lot of people thought I was Trini… A lot of people think I’m from different parts of the Caribbean. It’s been a thing,” he says. “I was like, You know what? Let me do something that makes people understand where I’m from really and truly.”
Throughout the Caribbean, carnival culture’s connective thread is celebrating liberation with satirical revelry. But in Grenada, the revolutionary spirit of their ancestors is revered through Jab Jab, a post-emancipation masquerade.
“Jab Jab is more than a mas[querade]. It’s deeply rooted in culture. It goes all the way back to when the slave warriors rebelled against the masters,” V’ghn says. “We held onto that history, that ancestral vibe. It carried over into our festivities. We continued to celebrate not just the now, but we celebrate the before, the people that fought for us to be here, to be able to masquerade on the streets and to be able to do what we’re doing. This is what jab means to me, it means history. It means celebrating who we were and who we are today—rebellious.”
V’ghn’s taking this to heart by defying traditions as an artist. For his multi-city tour, he did more than share the stage, he advocated for pay equity for the artists. “This year was a year of giving for me,” he says. “I made a conscious decision to not focus on myself, but to help others. I took guys who has never toured before. I made sacrifices, cutting my price in half so that other people could get paid. I want people to see that it’s not just me, but there’s so much talent in Grenada, so much talent in the Caribbean. If we all come together, we can make some of the greatest shows in the world.”
A few weeks after of V30’s April 30 finale, V’ghn’s back with a new single “Knock It” and he’s on track for his next album release in time for Spicemas 2026. The project is by no means business as usual but rather representative of a variety of his influences. “I always say I’m just an artist. I’m not a soca artist or any artist in particular. I just create music. So in whatever body of work that I do, it would have a mixture of everything, everything that I love to do, everything that feels good,” he says. “It would have dance, it would have soca, even some R&B fusion—everything that is fun and everything that my spirit feels good creating.”