It has been more than a year since an album by a female reggae act debuted on the Billboard Albums chart. The last being Sister Nancy’s 1982 album One, Two.. which made its entry at No. 3 on April 26, 2025.
Since then, despite more than a dozen albums and EPs released by female reggae artists, no woman has secured a new entry on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart up to early November.
Shenseea is set to release her debut EP Catalyst via Columbia/Since ’93 on November 6. Her last time on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart was with her sophomore album Never Gets Later Here on June 8, 2024 at No. 4.
The Billboard Reggae Albums chart has made it easier for projects to chart since they expanded the chart to include a top 15, instead of a top ten which has ben in place since 2020.
Already Catalyst has over 8 million streams on Spotify thanks to the previously released Vybz Kartel collaboration Talk To Me Nuh, however Billboard compiles data from Friday through Thursday each week with an “album-equivalent” formula tracked by Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan).
Among the reggae releases by women this year are Sharon Marley’s Firebird (March 20), Jah9’s Open Heart Project (March 27), Etana’s The Ganja Collection (April 20), Keishera’s She Is Life (May 29), Kelissa’s The Good Side of Things (June 30), Aza Lineage’s Rebel Daawta (June), Etana’s Dubclaat (July 3), Queen Ifrica’s Breath of Life (August), and Dezarie’s Power Shift (September 4).
Other projects included Debbie Ryvers’ Ryvers Run Deep (May 1), Dezarie’s 7th Heaven (August), and Miriam Simone’s Rise Up (October 23).
Meanwhile, male acts including Masicka, Vybz Kartel, Buju Banton, Protoje and Alkaline have registered new chart entries this year.
