September 30 2022 is the cut-off date for albums and singles to be eligible for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Since 1985, the Grammy for Best Reggae Album has been reggae’s most prestigious trophy and albums and the artists who get nominated have made a public show of their win.
Ziggy Marley has won best album in the Reggae category seven times, the most for any artist —he did it 1989, 1990, 1998, 2007, 2014, 2015, and 2017. The Marleys together as a musical family have won the most Reggae Grammy awards, but Sean Paul’s ‘Dutty Rock’ is the most successful Grammy winning reggae album.
The Grammy for Best Reggae Album is presented at a pre-show award ceremony for a body of work deemed worthy as elected by registered voters and it could be a ska, reggae or dancehall album.
Often times the Grammys voting and organizing bodies are accused of being out of touch with the pulse of reggae’s core fan base and they only award known international faces in reggae and not necessarily the best album that year. WMV takes a look back at the albums that gained the most chart success and had the biggest cultural impact that also won Best Reggae album at the Grammys.
Best Reggae Recording 1985- Anthem by Black set the precedence for future roots reggae and dub fusion albums which gives off an ambiance of pop-reggae futurism. In addition to receiving the Grammy award, the album earned Black Uhuru their highest accolades and expanded their audience.
Best Reggae Recording 1986- Cliff Hanger by Jimmy Cliff, was released in 1985 through CBS Records. The album featured collaborations with members of Kool and the Gang and included two songs co-written by La Toya Jackson. It was the only album to beat a Marley at the awards. Cliff Hanger won the Grammy Award from among the nominees like Working Wonders by Judy Mowatt, Play The Game Right (Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers), Burning Spear (Resistance) and Alive in Jamaica by the Blue Riddim Band.
Best Reggae Album 1989- Conscious Party is Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers’ third album. This album became popular with the hits “Tumblin’ Down” and the reggae classic “Tomorrow People”. In 2009, “Tomorrow People” was grudgingly voted the “85th Greatest One-Hit Wonder of the 80s” by VH1. It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart and is certified platinum (1 million copies) by the RIAA. Tomorrow People peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Best Reggae Album 1990- One Bright Day – capitalizing on the momentum they received the previous year Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, were the first and only reggae group to be awarded back to back Best Reggae Album at the Grammys. The album is certified gold and reached number 23 on the Billboard 200.
Best Reggae Album 1992- and 1993 As Raw As Ever and X-tra Naked.
Shabba Ranks won the reggae Grammy twice; Raw As Ever was well received by critics and the audiences. It went straight to number 1 on the on the top R&B/Hip Hop albums chart and peaked at 89 on the Billboard 200 chart. X-tra Naked is his most successful release. Known as his bedroom album, it had “Slow and Sexy” which peaked at number 33 on the hot 100. The album helped to separate Shabba from his counterparts.
Of note, Shabba Ranks’ “Dem Bow” (not on any of these albums) produced by Bobby Digital. Although the lyrics are anti-imperialist and also anti-homosexual, elements of the song’s riddim have been incorporated into almost all reggaeton productions.
Best Reggae Album 1994 Bad to the Bone by Inner Circle had two versions (U.S. and international) were released in 1992, and a U.S. re-issue titled Bad Boys was released in 1993. The U.S. re-issue won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. Both Bad to the Bone (international version) and Bad Boys contain the singles “Sweat (A La La La La Long)”, “Rock with You”, and “Bad Boys”. Bad Boys quickly gained high popularity in the United States upon its 1993 re-release, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Top 40 Mainstream. It is now one of the most popular reggae songs having been the theme to cable TV show Cops and the recurring theme song of the Bad Boys movie franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
Best Reggae Album 1996- Boombastic is Shaggy’s third studio album released on July 11, 1995.
The album boasts five singles: “In the Summertime”, a remake of the Mungo Jerry hit, “Boombastic”, which went straight to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, peaked at 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 1 on the U.S. R&B chart, “Why You Treat Me So Bad”, the double A-side “Something Different” / “The Train Is Coming” which was remixed for the Money Train Movie soundtrack, and “Day Oh”, which was released as a Japanese only single.
“Boombastic” was used as the theme for a 1995 Levi’s claymation ad, which was directed by Michael Mort and Deiniol Morris. It was also used in the 2006 and 2007 films, respectively, Barnyard and Mr. Bean’s Holiday. A remake of “In the Summertime” was re-released for the 1996 film Flipper. The album was certified platinum in United States and gold in United Kingdom. It peaked at number 34 on the Billboard 200 and topped the ‘Top Reggae Albums’ chart in the US, and reached number 37 on the UK Albums Chart. Shaggy told World Music Views that he his “the most synced artist from Jamaica” which means his music appears in the most international commercials.
1998- Fallen Is Babylon is Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers 9th solo release in 1997. The single “People Get Ready”, produced by Michael Barbiero and Steve Thompson received wide acclaim and success.
Best Reggae Album 2001- Art and Life by Beenie Man
Art and Life is the twelfth studio album by dancehall King Beenie Man, released on July 11, 2000. The album further pushed him towards success in the United States with the help of the remixed hit single “Girls dem Sugar”. It was the first commercially successful reggae fusion album from a dancehall artist. It has sold more than 477,000 copies to date.
Best Reggae Album 2002- Halfway Tree by Damian Marley
This Damian’s career defining second album filled with entendres and layers of soul, dancehall, reggae and hip hop. Halfway Tree is the cultural center of Jamaica’s capital parish Kingston& St. Andrew and even the album’s artwork is iconic. Damian stands by a clock where there was once a cotton tree the cover of the album.
The album was co-produced by Damian Marley and his brother Stephen Marley. It debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart, after selling 2,000 copies, during its first week of release in the United States.Halfway Tree has sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States so far.
Best Reggae Album 2004- Dutty Rock by Sean Paul
Sean Paul’s second album all but made the world know that dancehall music was alive and here to stay. Released on 12 November 2002, it features two US number-one singles, “Get Busy” and Beyoncé’s “Baby Boy” (which Sean Paul features on), along with the 106& Park number 1 single “Gimme the Light”, plus other club bangers “Like Glue” and “I’m Still in Love with You”, which all charted in the top 6 on the UK Singles Chart. The album itself reached number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, and number 9 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. The album sold 65,000 in its first week but eventually became a the blueprint for making international dancehall hits producing five top hits on the Billboard Hot 100. An achievement no other dancehall act has ever done.
Hit hit “Baby Boy”, with Beyoncé became one of the biggest hits of 2003, spending nine weeks at number one. The album has sold over 3 million copies in the United States.
Best Reggae Album 2006 Welcome to Jamrock by Damian Marley
Third time was a charm for Damian Marley as Welcome To Jamrock released September 12, 2005, just before the Grammy nomination cut off date Marley won two 2006 Grammy Awards for the album, Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance (for the track “Welcome to Jamrock”). He is the only reggae artist to win two Grammy awards at a single ceremony. Welcome To Jamrock has so far sold 1.3 million units in the US.
