“Rastaman Vibration” By Bob Marley & The Wailers Enters The Billboard Reggae Chart

Even as the Best Of Album Legend holds on to the top spot for 150 weeks, Bob Marley and The Wailers 1976 album Rastaman Vibration enters the Billboard Reggae albums chart at No. 4 this week for the first time.

The album is the group’s 8th solo album released by Island records and spawns the single “War.”

Earlier this year as the jury announced that they have reached a verdict in the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, Depp was seen on social media singing “War,” skipping his namesake track “Johnny Was” from the album.

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Rastaman Vibration is Marley’s only top 10 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart peaking at No. 8. The album also sold gold in the U.K. and also spawns “Roots, Rock, Reggae”, the only Marley single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 51. It is one of the three Wailers solo albums released in 1976, along with Blackheart Man by Bunny Wailer and Legalize It by Peter Tosh.

Bob Marley initially gave his friend TATA real name Vincent Ford writing credits on “Positive Vibration” and “Roots Rock Reggae” from Rastaman Vibration, however Marley’s widow and his former manager Danny Sims sued to obtain royalty and ownership rights to the songs. Marley himself the subject of much oppression and unfair dealings in the music industry according to Stephen Davis‘ biography “Bob Marley,” had credited several of his multi-million selling 1974-1976 songs including War to close friends and relatives because he was under an unfavorable publishing contract, signed in April 1968 with Cayman Publishing, that would have otherwise deprived him of much of his songwriting royalties.

The court decision favored the Marley estate in 1987, which assumed full control of the songs.

Another new entry on the Billboard Reggae albums chart this week at No. 8 is Iration‘s Backyard Sessions: Malibu Edition released November 18. Elsewhere on the chart, Dutty Classics by Sean Paul re-entered at No. 2 after falling off last week. Best Of Shaggy, slips to No. 3, Stick Figure’s Wisdom, World On Fire, and Set In Stone at No. 5, 7 and 9 respectively.

UB-40’s Greatest Hits goes down to No. 6 and Rebelution‘s Live At The Red Rocks slips to No. 10.

Afrobeats

On The Billboard US Afrobeats Songs Chart, Slip and Slide by Wizkid, Skillibeng and Shenseea slips to No. 32 after peaking at No. 19 last week.

Calm Down by Rema and Selena Gomez spends a 13th week at No. 1. The original version of the song is also No. 1 on the newly launched MENA charts.

The Official MENA Chart Top 20 –  Friday 18^th-Thursday 24^th November 2022

The Official MENA Chart is a streaming singles chart covering 13 countries in the MENA(Middle East & North Africa) region – Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and United Arab Emirates.