Our Judges

Rebekah Fuentes (Trinidad)

Rebekah Fuentes (Trinidad)

Rebekah has twenty four years (24) of experience in the gospel music industry including production and stage management, video editing and graphic design, program planning, stage design, event coordination, marketing and promotions, as well as event lighting and sound reinforcement. She has also networked with a number of international gospel record companies, booking agencies and media houses worldwide. She is the Event Coordinator and Promoter of the Caribbean’s largest free gospel music festival called "Open House" which was held nine (9) times since over the years and draws a crowd of 20,000 persons over 3 nights. She is the Founder of Heartbeat events, an event management company with fifty-two (52) members who assist gospel artistes and Christian organizations worldwide to execute their events without charging for their services. They have executed over 300 events to date. She is a Technical Committee Member and Production Manager of the Gospel Music Awards in Trinidad and Tobago aka GMATT which is held annually since 2018. She has also served as a judge for several past Marlin Awards since 2010. Rebekah will represent her native country of Trinidad & Tobago.

Roxsy (St Maarten)

ROXSY (ST. MAARTEN)

Roxsy is an award winning artist who was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Her family moved to Saint Martin when she was just 2 years old and ever since then the Island has been her home. At an early age, Roxsy began to show her love for music by not only singing in her native language (Spanish) but also in English and French.

Roxsy launched her debut album “Shake It Off” and her first music video entitled "Speechless" on November 1st 2014. The album was nominated in the United States for five (5) Rhythm of Gospel Awards and on June 24th 2016 Roxsy won three of the five awards she was nominated for including Holy Hip Hop, Instrumental & Alternative Gospel CD of the Year.

In 2017 Roxsy was nominated for several Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards and was successful in winning the award for Outstanding Foreign Language Recording of the Year for her single “Necesito”. She has shared the stage with a number of award winning artists including William McDowell, Positive, Sherwin Gardner, Tercer Cielo and Shawn J

Keith Rolle (Bahamas)

KEITH ROLLE (BAHAMAS)

Keith L. Rolle was born and raised in Nassau, the capital city of New Providence, in the sub-tropical archipelago of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in 1975. He fund raised, traveled to and performed in numerous U.S cities such as Washington D.C, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia, during high school as a member of the Wesley Methodist Church Youth Choir. Upon graduation Keith joined The Bahamas National Youth Choir and performed for numerous local and international dignitaries, including most notably, former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Keith gained extensive experience serving and working in various aspects of the music industry over the years including 20 years with the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards, 3 years with music/distribution label Creative Soul Entertainment, 10 years in music retail between Logos Bookstore and The Oasis Music Centre as a music buyer, 13 years in radio broadcasting as the host of Inspiration with Keith on Island 102.9 FM, 7 years as the C.E.O of Dunamus Soundz Music Group, a hip hop label founded by the late Lavard "Manifest" Parks and 11 years as founder of KLR Management Group Ltd, a music media firm which organized artists from over a dozen Caribbean nations to gain 340 U.S. music award nomination ultimately bringing home 25 awards. Keith is a husband and father of two children 

Kerron Ennis (Jamaica)

KERRON ENNIS (JAMAICA)

Kerron began singing at the age of eight and by the age of 16 she became the choir director at the Boulevard Church of the Nazarene. Kerron released her debut album “God is By Your Side” in 2005 earning her Six (6) nominations at the 2006 Marlin Awards. She would go onto to win two (2) awards that year. In October 2007 Kerron received The Jamaica Observer Teenage Choice Awards for Gospel Artist of the Year and in 2012 she won the Web Award for Best Reggae Gospel Song of the Year for her single “God is not done with me yet”. At the 2014 Marlin Awards, Kerron was the top nominated female artist with an outstanding ten (10) nominations. She won the award for Rock Recording of the Year for her single “Last Days”.

Lytie Powell (England UK)

LYTIE POWELL (ENGLAND UK)

Lloyd Powell better known by his stage name, Lytie, is an international reggae artist who hails from Birmingham UK. Lytie’s musical inspiration came from the many hours of listening to artists like Nat King Cole and Dennis Brown. His passion for music would later materialize into an opportunity to tour Europe sharing the stage with the likes of Gregory Isaacs, Sanchez, Frankie Paul and Dennis Brown. 

Lytie would go onto record and release a single entitled ‘I Want You’, which reached the number one position on the Reggae Charts and earned him two gold discs for ‘Best Male Reggae Singer’ and ‘Bestselling Single’. Just when it seemed that life couldn’t get any better, things took an unexplainable turn and in desperation for answers, Lytie’s journey of self-discovery took him across to the United States. The three month trip was a life changing experience which he will never forget. Returning to the UK, Lytie cemented his faith and restored his lost relationship with Christ, sparking a new direction towards the Gospel genre. He would go onto release a full length gospel album which earned him a Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Award for Outstanding New Artist. Lytie recently released a new album ‘Light of the World' featuring the single "Better Days" which reached the number one position on various radio stations.

Linda Chocolate Berthier (St Lucia)

LINDA “CHOCOLATE” BERTHIER (ST. LUCIA)

Linda Berthier or Chocolate as she is affectionately called, will represent her native country of St. Lucia as a 2022 Judge for the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards. She is an award winning Singer, Songwriter, Television & Radio Host, Actress, and Vice-Chair & Director of ECCO (Eastern Caribbean Collective Organization for Musicians Rights). Chocolate is also a Registered Nurse (Midwife) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health. Chocolate is a past Marlin Award nominee and also a past Marlin Awards host.

Arnold Kelly

DR. ARNOLD KELLY (Jamaica)

Dr. Arnold Kelly has been in broadcasting for over 30 years and is the General Manager of the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) Media Group in Mandeville, Jamaica. Kelly is the host of First Light, the flagship weekday show on NCU 91 FM.

His media career began in 1986 when he volunteered at JBC Radio West after attending a broadcasting workshop, before he was employed as Technical Operator two (2) years later. Between 1994 and 2006, He served in various capacities at Love FM, Jamaica’s first religious radio station during which time he also hosted Caribbean Breeze, an afternoon show on the Miami based Caribbean Gospel (Satellite) Network (CGN).

His time as a student at the Caribbean Institute of Media and
Communication (CARIMAC) at UWI, Mona served to strengthen his commitment to expanding his work within the Caribbean region. At CARIMAC, he not only earned the Diploma in Mass Communication, but he also received the JN/CARIMAC Media Award for Radio for the year 1996-7.

He later developed The Caribbean Hour, a one-hour weekly programme which aired on 12 radio stations across the Caribbean region. His team traveled the Caribbean, hosted by the local tourist boards and event producers, covering major gospel festivals while highlighting tourist attractions and other unique features of each country.

The Caribbean Hour served as a vital meeting point especially for artistes, promoters, and listeners across the region. This interaction resulted in many fruitful relationships giving birth to invitations to grace platforms and stages in parts of the region previously unknown to them and listeners traveling to experience regional gospel events.

In 2006, he accepted a call to Northern Caribbean University as the institution prepared for the launch of The NCU Media Group. While at NCU, he continued his work across the region, including serving as a judge for The Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards where his work was recognized with the President's Award at our 2010 staging.

As General Manager of NCU Media Group, he guides the teams producing and delivering content via NCU FM, NCU TV, and NCU Multimedia. Dr. Kelly has hired, taught, and mentored several broadcasters who now occupy major positions in the fields of television, radio and related industries around the world.

In 2021, he was again recognized when the Atlanta based Emet Global Theological Seminary and College conferred upon him the honorary degree of “Doctor of Sacred Music”.

Darrnell Forde Photo

DARNELL FORDE (Trinidad & Tobago)

Darnell Brent Forde aka, Psalms 150 DJ aka, Psalms was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and is no stranger to Caribbean Gospel Music.  His introduction to the Caribbean gospel industry began in the late 80’s being part of the Cari-Gospel sound team and Trex Sound Systems (owned and operated by John Alexander) which was actively involved in the early days of Gospelypso in Trinidad and Tobago.

After migrating to the United States, several years later Psalms continued his passion for Caribbean Gospel Music by venturing into broadcast radio and teaming up with Jamaican born Paul (Pablo P) Williamson to host a Caribbean Gospel show on KURS 1040 AM, The Soul of San Diego.  After a frequency change from KURS 1040 to 1240 KSON and then to 1240 KNSN, Psalms welcomed the opportunity to produce and host Righteous Riddims which also featured Caribbean Gospel music with guest artists and interviews.  Following that, he would further go on to pursue his education and graduate from San Diego City College with an Associates in Communications with a concentration in Radio and then his undergrad in Workforce Education and Development from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Psalms' continuous pursuit of higher education was realized by his completion of two graduate degrees, one from Woodbury University, Burbank, CA in Leadership and the other from Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, CA in Business with a concentration in Project Management.  He joined Salem Media Group (a broadcast and digital media company) and was later promoted to lead the San Diego division as their Chief Broadcast Engineer.

Psalms is a father of two, Joseph (19) and Abigail (16), with faith, family and purpose being his primary core values.  He is a member of New Birth Kingdom Covenant Fellowship Church, San Diego, CA where he is the primary sound and media technician and also a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), Chapter 36, San Diego.

Psalms favorite quote is by Albert Einstein paraphrased - Try not to become a person of success but rather a person of value.

2022 MARLIN AWARDS | JULY 3RD 2022

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