The count­down is on for the in­au­gur­al Caribbean Mu­sic Awards.

Trinidad and To­ba­go is well rep­re­sent­ed as 19 mu­si­cians, pro­duc­ers, writ­ers, and artistes have been nom­i­nat­ed in var­i­ous cat­e­gories.

They in­clude Machel Mon­tano, Bun­ji Gar­lin, Kes The Band, Voice The Artiste, De­stra Gar­cia, Patrice Roberts, Fay-Ann Lyons, Na­dia Bat­son, Jadel, Nes­sa Prep­py, Lyrikal, Rae, Ani­ka Berry, Viking Ding Dong, Tem­pa, GBM Nu­tron, DJ Pri­vate Ryan and DJ Cheem.

The event is will be host­ed by Wyclef John at King’s The­ater in Brook­lyn, New York on Au­gust 31. It is be­ing put on by the Caribbean Elite Group (CEG), which pub­lish­es a print and dig­i­tal pub­li­ca­tion called Caribbean Elite Mag­a­zine.

Caribbean Elite Group rep­re­sen­ta­tive Prince Forde said the event will recog­nise and award in­di­vid­u­als in the Caribbean di­as­po­ra who have made sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions to mu­sic, en­ter­tain­ment, hu­man­i­tar­i­an ef­forts, sports and oth­er fields over the past years.

“This will be an an­nu­al event which will be host­ed in per­son, se­lect­ing a new lo­ca­tion each year in­clud­ing the Caribbean Is­lands,” said Forde.

“This will help to show­case the unique cul­ture of each is­land and give us the op­por­tu­ni­ty to work col­lab­o­ra­tive­ly with many Caribbean brands, cre­atives, and en­ter­tain­ers.

“It is be­cause of the im­mense tal­ent in the Caribbean di­as­po­ra that we thought it im­per­a­tive to award and spot­light the in­cred­i­ble tal­ent and achieve­ments of the past, cel­e­brate present day con­trib­u­tors, and pro­vide in­cen­tives to keep pro­vid­ing ex­cep­tion­al con­tent, stay­ing true to the rich cul­ture and en­cour­ag­ing in­no­va­tion.

“This will help im­prove our num­bers glob­al­ly and give our Caribbean artist the flow­ers and recog­ni­tion they de­serve on a in­ter­na­tion­al scale.”

Tay­lor said by ho­n­our­ing out­stand­ing mu­si­cians, pro­duc­ers, writ­ers, and artistes across var­i­ous gen­res, the awards cer­e­mo­ny can pro­vide a plat­form that mo­ti­vates and up­lifts the Caribbean mu­sic in­dus­try.

The event ac­knowl­edges a rich di­ver­si­ty of Caribbean mu­sic gen­res, from reg­gae, so­ca, and ca­lyp­so to dance­hall, zouk, and more. “High­light­ing a broad spec­trum of mu­si­cal styles will at­tract a wider au­di­ence and con­tribute to a more com­pre­hen­sive rep­re­sen­ta­tion of Caribbean mu­si­cal cul­ture,” said Forde.

“Bring­ing to­geth­er artistes from dif­fer­ent Caribbean coun­tries and gen­res for col­lab­o­ra­tive per­for­mances will not on­ly cre­ate mem­o­rable mo­ments but al­so ex­em­pli­fy the uni­ty and shared cul­tur­al her­itage of the Caribbean.”

The event or­gan­is­ers al­so in­tend to:

· Or­gan­ise work­shops and mas­ter class­es on var­i­ous as­pects of the mu­sic in­dus­try, such as song­writ­ing, pro­duc­tion, mar­ket­ing, and copy­right.

· Col­lab­o­rate with in­ter­na­tion­al mu­sic in­dus­try events, fes­ti­vals, and or­ga­ni­za­tions to ex­change knowl­edge, show­case tal­ent, and open doors for Caribbean mu­si­cians to per­form on a glob­al stage.

· Fa­cil­i­tate cul­tur­al ex­change pro­grammes where Caribbean mu­si­cians can show­case their tal­ents in dif­fer­ent coun­tries, pro­mot­ing cross-cul­tur­al un­der­stand­ing and ex­pand­ing their fan base.

· Tie the awards event to char­i­ta­ble ini­tia­tives that sup­port mu­sic ed­u­ca­tion, com­mu­ni­ty de­vel­op­ment, and hu­man­i­tar­i­an caus­es in the Caribbean re­gion. This not on­ly gives back to the com­mu­ni­ty but al­so high­lights the pos­i­tive im­pact of the mu­sic in­dus­try.

A host of Caribbean mu­si­cians are sched­uled to per­form dur­ing the show, as well, in­clud­ing Nailah Black­man, Dex­ta Daps, Ja­da King­dom, Ding Dong, and Kra­ni­um.