Mortimer expressed gratitude for the awards he won on Tuesday night. (Photos: Kevin Ferguson/BUZZ)

Lightning struck twice for rising Jamaican recording artiste Mortimer, who walked away with two prestigious awards at the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) annual award show on Tuesday.

Held

at the Little Theatre in St Andrew, Jamaica, the award show recognises

Jamaica’s most outstanding cultural pioneers.

Mortimer’s ascension comes as no surprise, as the musician has been gaining popularity with his song, Lightning. At the show on Tuesday, he snagged the Breakthrough Artiste of the Year, beating popular acts like Stylo G, Lila Ike, Kemar Highcon and Govana.

See highlights from the JaRIA Awards in the gallery below.

In

his acceptance speech, he expressed his delight for being selected as this

year’s recipient, while explaining that his wife has been the spring of his

ingenuity.

“I

appreciate it. I give thanks to JaRIA for this award, and I give thanks to

reggae music for all its done and been doing and all it has been to each and

everyone one of us. I want to give special thanks to his majesty too for life

and sound faculties, and I give thanks to my wife who has been a constant

source of inspiration,” he shared.

The artiste also won Song of the Year for his massive hit, Fight The FightLightning. The nominees for this category included Stylo G’s Dumpling, Koffee’s Rapture, Buju Banton’s Trust and Chronic Law’s Hillside.

The

award is given to any artiste in this category who has managed to cork the ears

of listeners with an unhurried delivery of signature lyrics and musical

symphony.

Past chairman and current board director of JaRIA, Ibo Cooper, says the intent of the signature event is to provide a vehicle that will push upcoming creatives to continue to place the island’s rich and authentic heritage at the forefront of the international scene.

“We

want emerging artistes and the youth to take a look at what we are doing and

look at the fact that we are getting older and they will need to come now and

take the mantle and keep the tradition going. You look at the Grammy Awards and

how many years it has been going. So, we must not start and stop, we must

continue and grow,” he told BUZZ.