Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album

Last updated
Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album
Awarded forQuality reggae albums
Country United States
Presented by National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1985
Currently held by Julian Marley & Antaeus, Colors of Royal (2024)
Website grammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, [1] to recording artists for quality works in the reggae music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". [2]

Contents

Originally called the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Recording, the honor was presented to artists for eligible songs or albums. The Jamaican group Black Uhuru received the first award in 1985. Beginning with the 1992 ceremony, the name of the award was changed to Best Reggae Album. Starting in 2002, awards were often presented to the engineers, mixers, and/or producers in addition to the performing artists. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, eligible works are vocal or instrumental reggae albums "containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded music", including roots reggae, dancehall and ska music. [3]

Ziggy Marley holds the record for the most wins in this category, with seven wins as of 2017.

Recipients

1986 award recipient Jimmy Cliff in 1997 JimmyCliff.jpg
1986 award recipient Jimmy Cliff in 1997
Five-time award winner Stephen Marley (three times as a member of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers) in 2007 Stephen Marley (Vancouver 2007).jpg
Five-time award winner Stephen Marley (three times as a member of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers) in 2007
Six-time award winner Ziggy Marley (three times as the leader of his eponymous band), performing at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2007 Ziggy Marley Austin.jpg
Six-time award winner Ziggy Marley (three times as the leader of his eponymous band), performing at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2007
Three-time award winner Bunny Wailer, performing in 2009 Bunny Wailer Negril.jpg
Three-time award winner Bunny Wailer, performing in 2009
1996 award winner Shaggy, performing in 2006 Shaggy.jpg
1996 award winner Shaggy, performing in 2006
2001 award winner Beenie Man in 2008 Beenie Man 2008.jpg
2001 award winner Beenie Man in 2008
Three-time award winner Damian Marley, performing in 2015. Damian Marley Summerjam 20150704 IMG 0166 by Emha.jpg
Three-time award winner Damian Marley, performing in 2015.
2003 award recipient Lee "Scratch" Perry, performing in 2008 Lee scratch perry.jpg
2003 award recipient Lee "Scratch" Perry, performing in 2008
2004 award winner, Sean Paul Seanpaul01.jpg
2004 award winner, Sean Paul
Year [I] Performing artist(s)WorkNomineesRef.
1985 Black Uhuru Anthem
[4]
1986 Jimmy Cliff Cliff Hanger [5]
1987 Steel Pulse Babylon the Bandit
[6]
1988 Peter Tosh No Nuclear War
[7]
1989 Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Conscious Party [8]
1990 Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers One Bright Day [9]
1991 Bunny Wailer Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley
[10]
1992 Shabba Ranks As Raw As Ever [11]
1993 Shabba Ranks X-tra Naked
[12]
1994 Inner Circle "Bad Boys" [13]
1995 Bunny Wailer Crucial! Roots Classics
[14]
1996 Shaggy Boombastic
[15]
1997 Bunny Wailer Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley's 50th Anniversary
[16]
1998 Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Fallen Is Babylon [17]
1999 Sly and Robbie Friends
[18]
2000 Burning Spear Calling Rastafari
[19]
2001 Beenie Man Art and Life
[20]
2002 Damian Marley Halfway Tree
[21]
2003 Lee "Scratch" Perry Jamaican E.T.
[22]
2004 Sean Paul Dutty Rock
[23]
2005 Toots and the Maytals True Love
[24]
2006 Damian Marley Welcome to Jamrock [25]
2007 Ziggy Marley Love Is My Religion [26]
2008 Stephen Marley Mind Control
[27]
2009 Burning Spear Jah Is Real [28]
2010 Stephen Marley Mind Control – Acoustic [29]
2011 Buju Banton Before the Dawn
[30]
2012 Stephen Marley Revelation Pt. 1 – The Root of Life
2013 Jimmy Cliff Rebirth
[31]
2014 Ziggy Marley In Concert
2015 Ziggy Marley Fly Rasta
[32]
2016 Morgan Heritage Strictly Roots
2017 Ziggy Marley Ziggy Marley
[33]
2018 Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley Stony Hill
[34]
2019 Sting & Shaggy 44/876
[35]
2020 Koffee Rapture
[36]
2021 Toots and the Maytals Got to Be Tough
[37]
2022 SOJA Beauty in the Silence
[38]
2023 Kabaka Pyramid The Kalling [39]
2024 Julian Marley & AntaeusColors of Royal [40]
2025 Winner TBA on 2 February 2025 [41]

The albums nominated for ‘Best Reggae Album’ at the 2025 Grammy Awards [42] are:


^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

2010 controversy

2010 nominee and subject of controversy Buju Banton, performing in 2007 Buju Banton (Apollo theater, 2007).jpg
2010 nominee and subject of controversy Buju Banton, performing in 2007

Buju Banton's (real name Mark Anthony Myrie) nomination for the 2010 award sparked controversy and protest due to homophobic lyrics within his music. [43] [44] Banton's most controversial song, released in 1988, is "Boom, Bye Bye", which "promote[s] the murder of gay men by shooting or burning". [45] Following the artist's nomination, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center placed an advertisement in the Daily Variety encouraging Grammy officials to denounce music that "promotes or celebrates violence against any group of people". [43] The advertisement, which took the form of a letter signed by gay rights and civil rights activists, asserted that honoring Banton was awarding "extraordinary hateful work". The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences responded by insisting that artists are honored for quality music "regardless of politics". Banton has been quoted as saying that he sees "no end to the war" between himself and gay men. [43] [46] The 2010 award was presented to Stephen Marley. Banton was nominated in 2011 for the album Before the Dawn . [30] Other reggae musicians that have been accused of promoting anti-gay lyrics include Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Shabba Ranks and Sizzla. [47] [48]

See also

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