A new milestone has been reached for Saint Lucian music and the growing Dennery Segment genre, as homegrown talent Brendon “Umpa” Charlery has taken home the inaugural Dennery Segment Artiste of the Year award at the 2025 Caribbean Music Awards.
Umpa beat out five other high-profile regional nominees to claim the historic prize — fellow contenders included Blackboy, DJ ASAP, Mighty, Nerdy, and the duo Dezral & Jardel. Beyond his winning category, the artist also earned double additional nominations for the evening, scoring nods in the hotly contested Dennery Segment Song of the Year and Fuzion Artiste of the Year categories.
The awards ceremony was hosted last Saturday in Port of Spain, Trinidad, but the winners of the dedicated Dennery Segment categories were not revealed until several days after the main event. In a surprising twist, Umpa had already returned to his home country of Saint Lucia when the announcement went public, and he received the life-changing news in an unexpectedly casual setting.
“I was actually at a river lime enjoying a one-pot, when Elmo the producer called me to give me the news,” Umpa shared in an exclusive interview with the St. Lucia Times this week. The artist said he was overcome with joy at the announcement, emphasizing that the award carries meaning far beyond his personal career.
“ It really means a lot seeing that this is the highest award for Caribbean music and it shows how far Dennery Segment has come and the world is taking notice,” he explained. “This win was not just for myself, it is for the entire genre and for all of Saint Lucia.”
The win comes on the heels of another major career milestone for Umpa earlier this year, when Billboard named him one of the top 10 Caribbean artistes to watch in 2025. A prolific and widely traveled performer within the Dennery Segment scene, Umpa has built a loyal global fanbase thanks to a string of breakout hits including fan favorites *Pain Killer*, *One Drop*, and *Plat*. The self-titled “Lucian Shakespeare” credits consistent hard work and relentless dedication to craft as the driving forces behind his rapid rise.
“If you put in the hard work and keep trying to be better at what you do, you will reap the rewards,” he said. His historic win marks a turning point for Dennery Segment, bringing the unique Caribbean genre to increased global attention and opening new doors for emerging talent from Saint Lucia moving forward.