Steely & Clevie’s Iconic Legacy to Be Honoured at Grammy Certificate Ceremony 2025

The iconic production duo’s legacy honoured with Gold Disc at Grammy Certificate Ceremony. Clevie pays tribute to late partner Steely: “I wish my musical partner was here to share in this celebration.”

Legendary duo Steely & Clevie

The legendary production duo Steely & Clevie will be honoured at the 2025 Grammy Certificate Ceremony for their outstanding contributions to reggae and dancehall music.

At the event, they will receive their Gold Disc in recognition of producing Dawn Penn’s timeless hit “You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)” (1994). The track, which they crafted with their signature sound, was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in May 2022 after surpassing 400,000 sales in the UK.

“This recognition is truly a testament to the decades of work Steely and I dedicated to the music. To be honoured alongside other unsung heroes who helped build this industry is incredibly meaningful,” said Cleveland “Clevie” Browne. He added, “For me, the event will be bittersweet, as I wish my musical partner, Wycliffe ‘Steely’ Johnson, was here to share in this celebration. His genius and vision live on in every riddim we created. This honour is also for him, as well as the artists, engineers, and musicians who trusted our sound to carry reggae and dancehall to the world.”

Steely (Wycliffe Johnson) and Clevie (Cleveland Browne) are credited as pioneers of digital dancehall. Their innovative fusion of traditional reggae rhythms with electronic production in the 1980s laid the foundation for modern dancehall and inspired entire genres.

“This recognition is truly a testament to the decades of work Steely and I dedicated to the music. To be honoured alongside other unsung heroes who helped build this industry is incredibly meaningful”

The pair first crossed paths at Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Black Ark Studios before becoming house musicians at King Jammy’s, where their experimental approach transformed Jamaica’s studio culture. Among their iconic works are the Giggy Riddim (1991) and the immortal Punanny Riddim. Their production of Shabba Ranks’ “Dem Bow” would go on to influence the creation of reggaeton.

Over the decades, Steely & Clevie collaborated with some of the biggest names in Jamaican music, including Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, Beenie Man, and Dennis Brown. Their innovations not only shaped reggae and dancehall but also left a lasting imprint on hip-hop and reggaeton, cementing their legacy as one of the most influential production duos in Caribbean music history.

Kennedy Mensah, CEO of Back 2 Da Future Music Ltd., said, “It is virtually impossible to quantify the importance of Steely & Clevie in the development of the World’s popular Music. It has been 40 years of riddim from their fledgling partnership at King Jammy’s Studios to their own Studio 2000 & Steely & Clevie labels. It is indeed an honour for Back 2 Da Future Music Ltd to be able to assist in the consolidation of their legend at this year’s Grammy Certificate Ceremony.”

The Grammy Certificate Ceremony 2025 will be held on Saturday, 13 September 2025, at the Audi Showroom in Kingston, and will be livestreamed worldwide via On Stage TV. The event is officially endorsed by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment & Sport and supported by sponsors including ATL Automotive Jamaica, Tastee Jamaica Ltd and Castle Black Rum.