Kiss of Judas Riddim, a 22 track compilation album released on May 8, 2026, via Kemar McGregor/Billboard King Records, has held the No. 1 position on the sales-driven U.S. iTunes Reggae Albums chart for four consecutive weeks, despite the release of several reggae projects during that period.
The album, which features songs by Beenie Man, Rick Ross, Etana, and others, has charted at No. 1 on the US all-genres iTunes chart, above Drake’s Billboard No. 1 album Iceman, as well as his top-ten debuts Maid of Honor and Habibti. All of Drake’s May 15 releases have surpassed one million in sales, while Kiss of Judas has yet to crack the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
Subsequently, the reggae project, with its religious undertones, has sparked both whispers and public debate within the industry.
Adam Gross, president of Ineffable Records, speaking exclusively with WMV, questioned the album’s sales performance, contrasting it with the chart trajectory of Shark Belly Motel by The Elovaters. Released via Ineffable Records on May 15, the album debuted at No. 5 on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart and remained there for two weeks. It currently sits at No. 6 on the US Reggae iTunes Chart.
Discussing Kiss of Judas Riddim, Gross expressed skepticism about the relationship between its reported sales success and its streaming activity.
“It’s the worst kept secret in the industry that something doesn’t add up,” he said.
Gross pointed to Spotify data as a key reason for his concerns. According to his assessment, 15 songs from the project have accumulated fewer than 1,000 streams on Spotify, while six tracks have fewer than 6,500 streams. The title track, “Kiss of Judas,” is the notable exception, with approximately 563,000 streams.
“While dancehall can under-index on Spotify, the extreme variation between the Spotify numbers and the iTunes numbers makes it difficult to believe these sales reflect genuine consumer demand,” Gross said.
Gross further argued that the disparity between streaming activity and album sales raises questions about the authenticity of the purchases driving the album’s chart performance.
Unlike iTunes, which reflects digital purchases only, Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart measures overall U.S. consumption using a combination of album sales and streaming activity. The rankings are compiled by Luminate and include both traditional purchases and Streaming Equivalent Albums (SEA), which convert streams into album units. Under Billboard’s methodology, 1,000 premium subscription streams or 2,500 ad-supported streams are generally counted as one equivalent album unit
Still some players will try to work around the system and Gross said, “there are companies that people pay to mass purchase albums to keep them on iTunes Charts.”
Despite those concerns, the label boss acknowledged that chart providers have systems designed to detect irregular activity.
“Luminate and Billboard have enough tech in place to catch fraud,” Gross explained.
He also rejected the idea that the title track alone could explain the album’s reported sales performance.
“If the argument is that the Kiss of Judas song itself is driving the album sales, that doesn’t make sense either,” he said.
According to Gross, a genuinely strong consumer response to the single would likely be reflected in song-chart performance rather than album purchases.
“If that were the case, people would be buying the song/single itself and it would be charting on iTunes on the Top Songs chart,” he said.
Gross concluded by arguing that the available data does not support the notion that album buyers are purchasing the full project primarily because of one successful track.
“So on an album where none of the songs are streaming at all except one, people are buying the entire album for one song, and Luminate will remove it from contention, because it raises questions about the legitimacy of the sales,” Gross explained.
The Spotify figures cited by Gross highlight the disparity he believes exists between the album’s chart performance and consumer activity. While the title track has accumulated approximately 563,000 streams, most of the project’s other songs have generated little streaming traction.
Apple Music’s reggae chart, Gross also argued, provides a more accurate reflection of consumer listening habits in the United States. At the time of publication, Vybz Kartel’s God and Time occupied the No. 1 position on the Apple Music Reggae Albums chart.
Despite not appearing on either the Billboard Reggae Albums chart or Apple Music’s reggae albums ranking, McGregor, who has branded himself as the “Billboard King” has celebrated the project’s iTunes success on Instagram.
“Celebrating 🍾🍾🍾🍾 fourth consecutive week at No. 1 on the US iTunes all genres chart & iTunes Top 100 Reggae Albums,” McGregor wrote in a post marking the milestone.
Meanwhile, the current No. 1 song on the U.S. iTunes Reggae Songs chart is Better Than Revenge, an AI-generated track by Zeroworry Music. Released via 2219801 Records DK on May 30, 2026, the song has also gained traction on TikTok, reflecting the growing influence of artificial intelligence-generated music within digital music marketplaces.
Additional reporting by Chantal Thompson.
