Today, September 30 is the last day for music and other releases to be eligible for nomination at the 65th annual Grammy Awards. Music released after today may only be considered for the 2024 Grammy cycle.
All the rounds for submissions for the 2023 Grammy Awards came to a close at the end of August. As the voters now select their nominated choice, the reggae category in particular has seen some heavyweights who dropped projects this year and already people are talking about who will walk away with one of music’s most coveted trophies.
Whether it is Reggae, Soca, Dancehall, Ska or any Island style music it will be classified as Reggae as far as the Grammys are concerned, as currently only one award category is available.
The Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr. recently told a group of Ghanian journalist that there are ways to add new categories to the Grammy pool. “I don’t decide categories. The categories are decided by proposals submitted by members,” he said as he discussed the possibility of including an Afrobeats category in the awards.
For now Reggae and Dancehall is considered one category and each year artists from the genres make their projects, some with the hope that they will be nominated and even win the Grammy for Best Reggae Album. Over the years the Grammys select albums that simply do not connect to the reggae community’s cultural psyche due to a voting process that requires active membership.
The Grammys voting process
The first round of submissions ended July 29. The final round of submissions will begin on August 17, 2021 and end on August 31, 2021.
The first round of voting usually commences in October and ends in November. The nominations will then be announced at a date to be decided by the Recording Academy. Then the final round of voting will happen between December and end in January.
According to Grammy.com “Voting members are required to vote on four categories in the general field and may vote in 15 other categories based on the individuals’ area of expertise”. An album must also contain at least 50% playing time of new music.
The voting process according to the Grammy’s official website consists of 5 stages and your chances remain higher to win a grammy if you submit in a non-crowded category.
Some Grammy experts also suggest that you name your album, song, or band name with a letter at the beginning of the alphabet.
Grammys Voting Process
The first and most obvious step in the Grammy’s process is the Submission stage then the Screening, where “experts” in various fields receive each Grammy submission to make sure that it is eligible, meets the qualifications, and that it is placed in the proper category.
Then the record is nominated by voting members in a first-round ballot stage, making up to five selections in each category, then to the final voting round.
In this round, an accounting firm tabulates the votes that leads to the big reveal of the results which remains unknown until the Grammy Awards presentation.
Whether you win or not, getting nominated is a good PR narrative to networking among fellow Grammy-level musicians.
The process to become a Grammy voter is not so simple especially for a non-US resident. However, all Grammy voting members must have creative or technical credits on at least six commercially released tracks on a physical music release whether cassette, vinyl or CD or 12 credits on digital releases. Voting members must also be in good standing with their $100 dues.
Being a voting member or an associate of the Recording Academy offers tremendous networking opportunities; from parties to conferences and private events. Even if you do not meet the requirements you may still apply at the recommendation of two eligible members of the Recording Academy.
It is much more difficult for independents to be nominated, but Etana got two nominations as an independent artist: “Reggae Forever” was nominated at the the 61st Annual Grammy Awards and in 2019 and “Pamoja” in 2022. All that Grammy politics and shoulder rubbing aside, this year there have been several projects that are eligible to be recognized as Best Reggae Album.
Here are WMV’s top picks for Best Reggae Album nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
Shenseea- Alpha
Shenseea dropped her Interscope debut album ‘Alpha’ on March 11, 2022. The album got fair reviews with industry insiders tempering her to “stick to her roots”. Leading up to the album’s release, the Run Run singer dropped songs that seemed geared at a pop market and initially the album was marked as hip hop on iTunes when it was made available for pre-release. With a change of heart by release date there was a collective sigh of relief when Jamaicans heard that it was a reggae album and that the full album wasn’t as bad as the four singles released.
Shenseea was nominated by way of Kanye’s Donda album for Album Of The Year at the 2022 Grammys and she is backed by Interscope records. Even as the Trick Or Treat deejay tries to move away from dancehall in pursuit of her pop dreams, having the Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album would elevate her status among her peers and fans.
Koffee- Gifted
2020’s Best Reggae Album winner Koffee also dropped her debut album Gifted March 25, 2022.
The Colombia/RCA recording artist’s album entered at number 2 on the Reggae Billboard charts with 3500 total units sold in the US in the first week. The album did 700 in total album sales and 3,290,800 streams. This followed Koffee’s number 9 debut on the UK top 100 albums chart.
Since Koffee came on the scene she has gotten a lot of label support. After winning the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2020, John Fleckenstein, co-president of RCA said to Rolling Stones “Koffee’s success continues, it’s not gonna end in Jamaica. It’s gonna end on a global level.“ The album is a refreshing modernization of reggae, with no clear stand out hits but a vibe that sets the precedence for her future.
Spice- Emancipated
Spice, was nominated for Best Reggae Album with her VP Records debut “10”, and she followed up with her independent sophomore album ‘Emancipated’ released August 26.
Masicka- 438
Masicka released his critically acclaimed album 438 on December 3, 2021. The album has been in the top 5 on Jamaica’s Apple Music chart since its release. The independent debut album has so far hit 100 million streams across all platforms drawing Masicka to the attention of record labels. Collaborations on the album include Popcaan, Stefflon Don, Sean Paul and Dexta Daps.
438 debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and had spent a total of 7 weeks in the Top 10 chart coming just behind Shenseea who spent 9 weeks and Koffee who spent 13 weeks on the chart.
Scorcha- Sean Paul
Sean Paul, who was nominated last year for “Live N Livin”, said he expected to win the Grammy and he was surprised when American band SOJA was announced as the winner. He released his Island Records debut “Scorcha” and the album has not done so well on the charts based on his previous standards.
After charting at No. 24 on the U.K’s midweek chart Scorcha debuted at No. 6 on the U.S Billboard Reggae Albums chart and peaked at no. 1 on the Reggae iTunes chart.
The 16 track modern dancehall album charted in 48 countries across the world at various positions: for iTunes it peaked at #8 in Indonesia, #16 in Hong Kong, #24 in Mexico, #29 in Canada, #49 in the United States, #54 in France, #54 in Japan, and #94 in Germany.
The album sold 1700 equivalent units from sales and streams in the U.S according to data provided to World Music Views by Luminate. This includes just over 600 copies in album sales and 1,400,000 in on-demand audio and streaming. Numbers aside, Sean is one of the most recognizable names in reggae music, equal only to Bob Marley and Shaggy who dropped a Sinatra tribute album in the same week as “Scorcha”. Perhaps the Grammys collective voting conscience won’t allow them to sidestep the Dutty Cup artist this year.
Wisdom – Stick Figure
The most commercially successful reggae album to be released in the last 5 years comes from California reggae group Stick Figure. “Wisdom” dethroned “Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley & The Wailers” and took the no. 1 position on the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart for 1 week.
To date “Wisdom” has sold 41,100 units including 13,000 pure album copies and 36M On-Demand streams.
Last week World Music Views reported, that “Wisdom” opened with equivalent 13,900 album units from sales and streaming in the United States during its first week of release on September 9 via Ruffwood Records. There is high possibility with these numbers they are n the radar of voters, but If Stick Figure wins the Grammy for Best Reggae Album it would be a hit to Jamaican grown reggae acts after the controversy that surrounded SOJA win last year. At the 64th Annual Grammys, the voters choice for Best Reggae Album was met with social media backlash from Jamaicans including Bounty Killer and Reggae Grammy winner Beenie Man, due to the non-Jamaican group’s win.
New York’s Hot 97 program director Ebro has also chimed in expressing oblivion with the selection via twitter.
Cristy Barber, a Grammy voter and PR for SOJA said, “At the end of the day it’s been a long time coming that one of these bands was gonna do it, I was so happy with Gramps, so happy with Sean Paul, even what shaggy did with Spice.”
As for winning a Grammy Barber said it comes down to one thing, getting in front of the voters. “We had a couple nominees this year that weren’t even grammy voters, you have to get in front of the grammy voters.
The Nashville Tennessee native said , “I have been a Grammy voter for 18 years and I take that more seriously than voting for the President Of The United States Of America.”
Bonus pick, Stephen Marley- ‘Celebrating Nina: A Reggae Tribute to Nina Simone’
There is an old Reggae Grammys tale that says if a Marley is involved they will win.
The sole Marley who released a new project this year was Stephen Marley who produced an album of Nina Simone covers : ‘Celebrating Nina: A Reggae Tribute to Nina Simone’ on Ghetto Youths International label. The album features Cedella Marley, Queen Ifrica, Maya Azucena, Melanie Fiona, Joss Stone, Terri Walker and Etana who all did justice to the Nina Simone classics in reggae style. However this album would not be nominated for Best Reggae Album Of The year because as per Grammy rules, a cover can only be submitted in a performance category (like Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Country Duo/Group Performance, etc.) or in an arrangement category.
Outside of the reggae category, Ziggy Marley’s Deluxe children album “More Family Time” would only qualify for the upcoming Grammys if it has 57% more playing time than the 2020 original.
Most Deluxes are barred from being nominated if the original albums were already eligible in a previous cycle.
