Queen of Dancehall Spice and Reggae songstress Etana are among the six nominees for the Best Reggae Album Grammy Award in 2022. Spice was nominated for 10, while Etana earned a nomination for her album Pamoja.
The other nominees are Sean Paul for Live N Livin, Jesse Royal for Royal, Gramps Morgan for Positive Vibration, and American band SOJA with Beauty in the Silence.
It’s the first time in the 36 year history of the Best Reggae Album Award that two women have been nominated simultaneously. Only four females were previously nominated in the category, namely Koffee, who won in 2020 with her Rapture EP; Rita Marley who was nominated for We Must Carry On in 1991; Sister Carol for Lyrically Potent in 1996; and Etana for Reggae Forever in 2018.
In the announcement today, Etana picked up her second nomination for her album Pamoja, which featured Vybz Kartel, Stonebwoy, Damian Marley, Alborosie and more.
As some predicted, Spice gained a nomination for her Shaggy executive-produced 10, which was her first studio album. Released by VP Records, 10 included Spice’s biggest hit So Mi Like It and her recent summer hit Go Down Deh, which featured Shaggy and Sean Paul.
Sean Paul’s Live N Livin collaborative album also copped a nomination. Released under Paul’s Dutty Rock production imprint, the project featured 22 guest appearances including youngbloods Skillibeng, Masicka, and Intence, as well as seasoned hitmakers Buju Banton, Damian Marley, and Busy Signal.
This is the Temperature deejay’s ninth Grammy nomination. He previously won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album for Dutty Rock in 2003, the same year he was nominated for Best New Artist.
Jesse Royal also copped his first nomination for Royal which featured Vybz Kartel, Runkus, Stonebwoy, Protoje and more. Grammy-winning producer Sean Alaric (responsible for Koffee’s Throne and Teyana Taylor’s Bad) produced over half the album, along with Jesse Royal himself, Natural High, Dretegs, iotosh, Yared “Boomdraw” Lee, Romario Bennett (also known as Runkus), and Wayne Thompson.
Source: Dancehall Mag
