Reggae albums in the running for the Grammy

A total of 65 albums are up for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album corresponding to the 66th edition of these traditional music awards, whose ceremony will take place next 4 February 2024, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

This number represents a slight drop compared to the 67 eligible discs in 2022, but it is a significant collapse if we look 2021 when there was 125 reggae albums eligible to apply for the golden gramophone.

According to Recording Academy, the entity that awards these awards, The first round of voting that will determine the nominees for the respective categories began on 11 October and will end this Friday 20 October.

While the next 10 In November, the nominees for all categories will be announced. and between the 14 December and 4 of January of 2024 Voting will be carried out by the “Academia” to select the winners of each category, those who will be announced at the ceremony 4 February.

The last winner was Kabaka Pyramid with its production The Kalling, imposing itself on Koffee, nominated for her debut album Gifted; Sean Paul, “Echoes of Sound Systems – When the Two 7’s Clash” is presented as the Sound Clash to end all the sound clashes that will compete for the first major Scorcha; Shaggy, “Echoes of Sound Systems – When the Two 7’s Clash” is presented as the Sound Clash to end all the sound clashes that will compete for the first major Com Fly Wid Me, Y Protoje, “Echoes of Sound Systems – When the Two 7’s Clash” is presented as the Sound Clash to end all the sound clashes that will compete for the first major The Charm de Third Time.

The favorites

As always, Jamaican artists are expected to make up the majority of the nominations and this year's favorites include Buju Banton, with his Born for Greatness, one of the best premieres of this 2023 according to criticism.

We can also mention Burning Spear that after 15 years he released an album again, in this case No Destroyer, a release that coincides with the anniversary 50 from his first album Studio One Presents Burning Spear.

It should be noted that both Banton and Winston Rodney,the leader of Burning Spear, They already won the Grammy before.

Other favorites and eventual nominees

Just a few weeks ago the queen of reggae Marcia Griffiths presented Golden, which is also among the 65 eligible albums and could eventually enter the finalists who will be known on 10 of November.

Another favorite is the posthumous album by Lee “Scratch” Perry called Destiny, which was recorded by this reggae legend during the last year of his life, most of which he spent in his native Hannover, Jamaica.

Beenie Man with Swim is another of the possible finalists, also Grammy winner, and one of the main representatives of Jamaican dancehall reggae.

Other names that could “fight” by the golden gramophone are Julian Marley (Colors of Royal), Jah Cure (Undeniable), Sly Robbie & The Team Taxi (Shakespeare The Bassman), Hempress Sativa (Chakra) O Blvk H3ro (On a Mission).

An interesting detail is that the album Cali Roots Riddim 2023 of Collie Buddz present in this list is a riddim album in which various musicians and groups participate and precisely one of the songs is “Do it Right” played by Gondwana, the first adventure of the Chilean group with a one riddim.