IN THE FIRST week of May, the American music industry commenced a semi-annual tradition: singling out a lone piece of Jamaican music and sending it up the charts. 2018’s lucky winner is “Walking Trophy,” a confidence-boosting single by Hoodcelebrityy, a Jamaican-born, New York City-based singer. By early July, two months after appearing on the mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop airplay chart, “Walking Trophy” was reaching an audience of around eight million listeners a week.

“There’s one Jamaican record every two to three years,” explains the producer Jaxx (Kranium, Jada Kingdom). “The last big record was Konshens [‘Bruk Off Yuh Back,’ 2017]; before that it was Kranium [‘Nobody Has to Know,’ 2015]; before that it was Gyptian [‘Hold Yuh,’ 2010]; before that it was Serani [‘No Games,’ 2009].”

Singles like these often become popular when the weather begins to warm in the Northeast U.S., but when fall approaches, American gatekeepers promptly abandon Jamaican music. “We’ve always been trying to figure that out: Why are we only subjected to the summertime?” asks Ricky Blaze, an artist-producer who crafted the beat for Gyptian’s “Hold Yuh.” “We make cool music all year long.”