Tracking The Biggest Dancehall Albums To Win A Grammy

All eyes are on the 65th Annual Grammy Awards which takes place on Sunday February 5, 2023 in Los Angeles. Last year WMV had the privileege of speaking exclusively with Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy.

One of the topics he touched on was whether in the future there could be a category at the Grammys for Dancehall separate from Reggae.

“We have worked really hard over the last two years to include more music not less…we want more people from more genres, from more regions and make sure we are honoring them properly. It’s possible only because anything is possible” he said. He also added that the way to do it is to propose it properly to the Recording Academy through a voting process.

“When it comes to categories it just depends on who submits. If the dancehall community wanted its own category and they felt so strongly about it- and the stakeholders in that category felt like ‘we want to have our own category’, and they submit it and they have the right language in the proposal, the right rationale as to why its important and they get the right signers and the right language and justification, you will have a new category.”

Although the Grammys are a US  based awards show, it’s one music organization that has a global impact.  I asked Harvey if he would ever consider bringing the Grammy Awards outside of the US to which he said ‘Yes’.

“I think we would consider that, there is a lot of opportunities, borders are coming down. With music you are seeing people come together and people from all different parts of the world loving other genres. Jamaica having Taylor(Swift) with the number 1 record is an amazing example of that, so where we have our show could change, where we honor music might widen. There might be a chance to do more work in serving music people around the world. There is a saying that talent is distributed evenly around the world but opportunity is not so, that would say to us we might need to take a look at other parts of the world, where we could have events,” he predicts.

Over the years a few dancehall albums have been awarded Best Reggae album. WMV tracks their achievements and progress on the chart and with certified sales reports provided exclusively by Luminate(formerly MRC Data).

Sean Paul

Global music superstar Sean Paul has set and broken almost every record as it relates to Dancehall music. He made RIAA history as his Grammy winning sophomore album “Dutty Rock” was certified triple Platinum by the US music certification body December last year.. The album released 20 years ago becomes the first full dancehall project to reach that milestone. Over the years other artists have infused dancehall elements with other genres to reap chart and certification success, but Dutty Rock has a line up of all Billboard top 15 dancehall tracks including “Like Glue”, “Get Busy”, “I’m Still In Love With You” and his first US smash hit “Gimmi The Light.”

The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and is also the first album by a Jamaican released this century to be certified triple platinum.

Dutty Rock debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard 200, selling 65,000 copies in its first week and  eventually peaking at number 9 on the chart as well as number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and topping the Canadian Albums Chart. Track 7 “Top of the Game” featuring Rahzel was featured in NBA Live 2004.

“Baby Boy“, a late entry collaboration with Beyoncé became one of the biggest hits of 2003, topping the Billboard Hot 100, spending nine weeks at number one giving the album a boost to sell over 6 million copies worldwide by the end of 2003.

Dutty Rock is also certified Platinum in Canada (300,000) and the U.K. (900,000), 2x Platinum in Europe (2,000,000) and Gold and Platinum Certifications in 13 other countries.

• Shaggy

Shaggy

Shaggy’s third studio album released on July 11, 1995 won the Grammy for Best Reggae album in 1996. The album spawned the single of the same name which was one of the few Jamaican songs to debut at No. 1 on the British singles chart.  The song was so impactful that Shaggy is forever known and “Mr. Boombastic, fantastic, romantic lover”, A.K.A “Mr. Luva Luva”, lines from the song. Boombastic (Virgin 1995) confirmed his commitment and success to the music industry.

By November 4, 1996 the album was certified platinum for selling 1 million records in the United States by the (RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). The album has so far sold 1.2 million copies in the U.S (Pure album Sales: 1M , Streams: 201.4M) according to Luminate.

Part of Boombastic- the album’s success is due to the song’s involvement in a Levi’s commercial which became popular all over the world in key music markets. The claymation commercial featured the song playing as a man used the core of his Levi’s jeans to save a woman from a burning building as they both swing on a makeshift zipline into each other’s arms. The song was recently featured in Season 5 of Netflix’s The Crown. 

Shabba Ranks

Ranks made a partial comeback in 2007 when he appeared on a song called “Clear The Air” by Busta Rhymes, which also featured Akon. Shabba released a single on Big Ship’s Pepper Riddim called “None A Dem”, in April 2011. In 2012, Shabba was featured on Tech N9ne’s EP E.B.A.H. on the track “Boy Toy”. In 2013, Shabba was also mentioned and made a cameo in the music video for the A$AP Ferg’s song “Shabba,” which has surpassed 100 million views on YouTube and was certified 2 times Platinum by the RIAA last October.

In light of the many disgruntled artist who have beef and ongoing court cases with with record labels, Ranks came out guns blazing as he addressed several topics relating to the entertainment industry in a post performance interview at the 2022 sailing of the Welcome To Jamrock Cruise. The Mr. Lover Man DJ says in-spite of his success he has been treated unfairly in the industry but he came from nothing and used what he had to achieve superstardom.  He has since shifted gears and is now looking to provide opportunities for his future generations.

Prompted by Winford Williams of Onstage the DJ said,

“Paul McCartney nuh give weh him music free inuh, Mick Jagger nuh gi weh him things free, 

Bruce Springsteen nuh gi weh him ting free. Mi gi weh enough free, so you see if a guy nah pay me fi Shabba sumn, well my youth them aguh release Shabba sumn.”

The deejay, whose real name is Rexton Ralston Fernando Gordon rose to fame in the late 80s and early 90s and was signed to Epic Records in 1989.

During his post Jamrock Cruise monologue, Shabba instructs his fans to call on the gate keepers of the industry to include him in the music that is being made in the reggae and dancehall community today.  “I work and make Dancehall be a multi-billionaire, multi-billions innah this music yah, and you see the people them who a the gate holder or the gate people them innah this music yah a gwan like seh them see every other artists and them don’t see Shabba, so hear what I want all of the people dem fi do”, as he paused. “Me want inuh fi chat to the people dem who a produce dancehall music and reggae music and make them know seh unuh want some Shabba music.”

The Seaview Gardens DJ says the reason he is excluded from producers and record label’s list of artist to work with today is due to his strict business principles.

“Because me a deal with business and some man a deal with hustling them gwan like them nuh wah deal with me. Cause them have a old rule weh dem a use pon new fool, but because me a old fool weh understand the old rule dem gwan like them nuh wah deal with me,” he said to much cheers in the background.

“If a guy nah deal with business, I nah deal with nuh business cause whatever I do from now on is not for me, I have done for me already, it’s for my children’s children”, he added.

In a more sober tone, the 54 year old Bed Room Bully artist emphasized the importance of owning the Masters of one’s music recordings, as that is the only way to ensure success and freedom. He also states that he will not be a slave to anyone else, and that he will emancipate himself if necessary.

“So unuh rob me of me already but unuh cyah rob me of my children’s children…a music me a deal with..If you do not own the masters you are a slave, and i refuse to be anymore slave, because them seh them emancipate we but me haffi emancipate myself.”

Damian Marley

Damian’s career defining second album Half Way Tree which features a sizable amount of dancehall cuts has sold 248,000 units in the U.S. as of January 2023 (Pure Album Sales: 194K, Streams: 59.6M).
Laced with entendres and layers of soul, dancehall, reggae and hip hop, Halfway Tree, features Bounty Killer, Yami Bolo, Stephen Marley, Capleton, Bunny Wailer and more. Half Way Tree is the cultural center of Jamaica’s capital parish Kingston & St. Andrew and Damian stands by a clock where there was once a cotton tree which comes off as a loaded metaphor for the condition of Jamaica’s capital city.

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

Beenie Man

Beenie Man‘s twelfth studio album, Art and Life, has so far sold 68,000 units since it was released on July 11, 2000. The album achieved commercial success in the US due to the reggae fusion hit single “Girls dem Sugar“. It won the Grammy Award forBest Reggae Album in 2001.