00:00We are so honored to be presenting this year's R&B, Hip Hop, and Caribbean Rising Stars
00:04for this year's 2026 Power Players Celebration.
00:08Starting off with Skippa, Billboard's Caribbean Rising Star for this year.
00:12He dropped the first crossover dance hall of the year with WIFL, a.k.a. What You Feel Like,
00:18the slinky, trap-infused banger that lit up clubs around the world,
00:21earning millions of streams, and establishing Skippa as one of the brightest new hit makers across Caribbean music.
00:30And for our Hip Hop Rising Star, we got Samara Sin.
00:33Yeah, make some noise.
00:35When we were looking for who we thought would be our rising star, we kept coming back to one name.
00:40And it was like, we wanted someone who I looked at like Samara, who's grounded in the traits of yesterday's
00:46stars,
00:46but also pushing the genre forward.
00:49You know, like who else has cosigns from Lauryn Hill to Denzel Washington, for real?
00:53You know, like she could bar up with the best of them, she's got a great ear for production,
00:57and she could do some singing too, like don't sleep on her with that.
01:01And I'm just like super excited to see where she takes it next.
01:03So shout out to Samara Sin, our Hip Hop Rising Star.
01:09And finally, our R&B Rising Star, Destin Conrad.
01:16After spending years sharpening his songwriting talents with early cosigns from Kalani and Matt King,
01:23the Florida-born star truly came into his own with 2025's Love on Digital.
01:29A take on queer love in the digital age that earned him his first Grammy nomination for Best Progressive R
01:36&B Album.
01:37In the past year, he's bridged R&B and jazz on his aptly titled Whimsy EP
01:46and blended his home genre with his Jamaican heritage on his newly released reggae album Roadrunner.
01:54And please welcome all our 2026 rising stars to the stage.
02:25Hey, y'all.
02:26How y'all doing?
02:29Shout out to Billboard.
02:30I did write something.
02:31Should I read what I wrote?
02:32Should I?
02:33All right.
02:34Okay, I'm going to read.
02:34I'm going to read.
02:35All right.
02:38How y'all feeling, first of all?
02:39Everybody good?
02:42It's an incredible honor to receive the 2026 Rising R&B Star Award.
02:48Thank you so much to Billboard for thinking of me for this.
02:51R&B music has played such a foundational role in my life.
02:55Music as a whole, really, but the different genres have given me the different backdrops
03:00to explore many facets of who I am.
03:03And they've inspired me to sing and write and create.
03:07But R&B has always been the foundation I come back to.
03:10There's always, there's something about the honesty and R&B that I feel like I gravitate towards.
03:15And there's something very free about the genre that's always encouraged me to trust my own ear.
03:20Over the last year, I put out three different bodies of work.
03:24Make some noise.
03:26Right.
03:29Yeah, three albums, all coming from the same place of intuition, curiosity, and honesty.
03:35And just wanting to have fun, whether it was Whimsy, my jazz album, or this new one, Roadrunner,
03:42the dance hall-esque album.
03:46Make some noise for Roadrunners.
03:51I think what's so exciting about R&B right now is the foundation is so strong,
03:55but there's so much room to push it and reshape it and take it somewhere unexpected.
04:01And I'm appreciative of the generation of artists that are showing how boundless music can be.
04:08And I'm grateful I get to be a part of it.
04:11So thank you to Billboard, and thank you to my team, Above Ground.
04:19Make some noise for David Alley, I don't know where he is.
04:22But I'm also really spoiled to have such an amazing team.
04:27And shout-out to Kehlani for introducing me to him.
04:31Yeah.
04:32Make some noise for Kehlani.
04:33Go on.
04:36Yeah, I'm really spoiled, so I love you guys.
04:38Thank you, Above Ground.
04:40Thank you, Gail.
04:42Yeah, thank you, guys.
04:45Make some noise for some more shirt.
04:50Okay, hold on.
04:50Let me fix this, because everybody's struggling.
04:54Hey, y'all.
04:55How y'all doing?
04:57I wrote something, too.
04:58Hold on.
05:00So, I think we can all maybe relate to the notion of, like, put your head down and get through
05:07it.
05:09My team and I have been putting our head down and getting through it for quite a while.
05:13And my mom always tells me, like, saying, just make sure you look up every once in a while, because
05:20you're going to miss something.
05:21And I think this is a really cool moment and reminder for us to be able to just look up
05:26and, like, really feel the moment and live in it, celebrate.
05:30And so, thank you for the opportunity to be able to do that.
05:35My team and I have been through so much these past few years.
05:38And I think sometimes we just get so caught up in the destination that we forget that the way and
05:45the who with is the funnest part.
05:47So, just remember that your story is never-ending.
05:52And, yeah, make peace with every moment.
05:54And, you know, pop a little bottle every once in a while to celebrate.
06:01Okay.
06:03But, yeah, thank you so much for loving on me and the music.
06:06Thanks so much to my team.
06:09Jory, Danielle, Armin.
06:11Thank you so much to my manager, Armin.
06:13I would still be working backstage on tours if he didn't walk me to the mirror.
06:17So, I appreciate that so much.
06:20And shout-out to Vanta, my label.
06:22Thank you for seeing me.
06:23And shout-out to Billboard.
06:24Thank you so much for seeing me as well.
06:26I appreciate the opportunity.
06:29All right.
06:31Skip off.
06:32Skip off.
06:33Skip off.
06:34All right.
06:34Good night, you guys.
06:35Good night.
06:36I feel like I'm the only one that didn't write something, but I'm going to try my best.
06:40I'm not really a man of much words, but I'll try my best.
06:44First of all, I'd like to say thank you to Billboard's.
06:46Not just for acknowledging rising stars, but young Caribbean rising stars.
06:51Yeah.
06:52And I'd like to also stretch my head to Kyle, because you're one of the main factors for something like
06:57that.
06:58I'd also like to thank my team.
07:00You know, my fans, every stream, every show, every like, every share.
07:05That really, you know, help put Skip on a pedestal to be acknowledged on something like Billboards.
07:11You don't know.
07:13Just know.
07:14Okay, I'll make some nice Caribbean music.
07:19Believe, man.
07:20And I'm also from Brooklyn.
07:21I live in Brooklyn.
07:22I'm from Jamaica, but I live in Brooklyn.
07:24So this also means a lot more to me than I feel like.
07:28You see me?
07:29So, like I said, thanks again to Billboard, my team, God, and my family.
07:34Billboard, Caribbean, North Carolina.
