Recording artistes Spice and Etana have secured Grammy nominations for Best Reggae Album in the same year — a first in the history of the awards.
Spice got her nomination for her album ’10’, while Etana got the nod for ‘Pamoja’.
The other nominees in the category for the 2022 Grammys Awards show include: Gramps Morgan’s ‘Positive Vibration’; ‘Live N Livin’ from Sean Paul; Jesse Royal’s ‘Royal’; and ‘Beauty In The Silence’ from SOJA.
This is the first time two women have been nominated for a Reggae Grammy in the same year. Only four females have ever been nominated in the 36 years since the first Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album was presented.
With Spice’s nomination, she joins Koffee — the first and only female to win in the category — with her Rapture EP (2020); Rita Marley, who was nominated for ‘We Must Carry On’ in 1992; Sister Carol for ‘Lyrically Potent’ in 1997; and double nods for Etana for ‘Reggae Forever’ in 2019 and ‘Pamoja’ in 2021.
Etana congratulated Spice on landing her first Reggae Grammy nomination.
“Cheers to Spice on her first nomination, these are exciting times! I know the feeling. Congratulations to all the nominees,” Etana told Loop News on Tuesday.
She also thanked her fans for their support.
“All music lovers who thought this one was worthy of a nomination, thank you so much for recognising my hard work and that of my team, and all the other artistes on this one. This is my fourth independent project and to everyone who helped in the process of creating ‘Pamoja’, thank you so much! I love you all.”
Music critics believe that Sean Paul may be the front runner for his second Reggae Grammy. Released in March, ‘Live N Livin’ peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
He had previously won in 2004 for the multi-platinum ‘Dutty Rock’. His previous nominations were for ‘The Trinity’ (2006), ‘Imperial Blaze’ (2010), ‘Tomahawk Technique’ (2013), and ‘Full Frequency’ (2015).
This nomination is Gramps Morgan’s third. He helped to propel Morgan Heritage with ‘Strictly Roots’ in 2016, and the following year, ‘Avrakedabra’ received a nomination.
Released in July by Halo Entertainment Group, ‘Positive Vibration’ comprises 15 tracks.
SOJA’s seventh full-length effort, ‘Beauty in Silence’, was released on September 24 via Dave Matthews’ ATO Records.
‘Beauty in Silence’ debuted at number two on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
SOJA grabbed Grammy nominations for ‘Amid the Noise And The Haste’ in 2015 and ‘Live in Virginia’ in 2017.
