Barbadian soca artist Michael “Mikey” Mercer has cemented his status as the breakout star of this year’s Crop Over festival, pulling off a rare three-prize sweep that capped off the annual Caribbean celebration in dramatic fashion. His chart-topping hit *Like Uh Bajan* edged out competitors by the narrowest of margins to claim the festival’s most coveted award, the Tune of De Crop title, one single play ahead of the runner-up.
The milestone win follows Mercer’s earlier victories in the Sweet Soca and Power Soca Monarch competitions, making him only the latest elite artist to claim the highly sought-after hat trick of Crop Over’s top soca honors. Speaking to local media shortly after his win was announced on the final night of the festival, Grand Kadooment Day, Mercer described the unprecedented achievement as a humbling experience that rewarded months of creative work.
According to official competition results, *Like Uh Bajan* was selected for 14 rotations during the final judging round, beating second-place contender Leadpipe’s *Dah Wuh She Get* by just one play. Leadpipe took home a $7,500 cash prize for his second-place finish, while third-place winner Shaquille earned $5,000 for his track *After All*, which received 12 plays. Mercer claimed the top $10,000 prize for his Tune of De Crop win, adding to the earnings from his earlier two titles.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Mercer opened up about the inspiration behind his viral track, revealing that *Like Uh Bajan* was not originally written with competition success in mind. “When I wrote this song, there was no competition in sight,” he explained. His core goal was to foster genuine national pride among Bajans, pushing back against common stereotypes about Barbadian culture and centering positive representation of how Barbadians celebrate community and life.
“I was hoping that it was something that they would gravitate towards because people always have a lot of talk for Bajans in terms of how we party and so on and I wanted positivity to reign where we were concerned,” he said. Mercer added that he has been overwhelmed by the public reception of the track, noting that audience connection is an outcome artists cannot force or control. “It is a fantastic feeling as a lot of work went into this year and we are thankful that it paid off,” he shared. “The people holding onto the song at this level is something you cannot control. So I am humbled that the general public like it as they do.”
The breakout success of *Like Uh Bajan* has already opened new international doors for the artist, with Mercer confirming he has received multiple booking requests to perform at overseas events in the coming months. Looking ahead to next year’s Crop Over season, the artist is already ahead of the game: he revealed that he began working on new tracks in his recording studio before this year’s competition even kicked off, with several songs already fully completed. He added that he has not yet decided whether those early demos will be the tracks he releases for 2025’s contest, but emphasized his commitment to bringing the same high-energy, joyful spirit that defined his 2024 win to future work. “We are definitely going to look to bring some more energy and more fun within the soca,” he said, noting that he plans to continue creating as long as his health allows.