Last year, Ayetian solidified himself as one of Jamaica’s most promising rising dancehall stars with a trio of smashes, including “Tip,” “Balance” and “Wah Yo Deh Pan,” helping him earn 22.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams in 2025, according to Luminate.
Now, the Montego Bay-hailing artist, 21, is doubling down with a whopping seven nominations at the 2026 Caribbean Music Awards, as well as his recently released, star-studded mixtape: JamPack. “It’s all about keeping consistency,” he tells Billboard.
Born Malik Legend Tercien, Ayetian grew up in a Haitian household soundtracked by konpa and reggae, eventually finding his primary influence in Tommy Lee Sparta, a 2010s-defining dancehall star who also hails from Montego Bay. He even names “Captain Sparta” as the first song to get stuck in his head. A true child of the social media era, Ayetian earned his first viral moment at just 14 years old.
While in grade nine at Jamaica’s Cornwall College, Ayetian would frequently write poetry inspired by his daily life and freestyle his own songs under the early alias, Lyrical. A friend shared a video of one of those freestyles on TikTok, and within two weeks, Ayetian started gaining serious traction across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. “Even by the next day, we saw it getting a lot of views,” he says. “People were coming up to me like, ‘Yo, this bad!’” From that moment, he began to officially pursue a music career.
