2023 REGGAE GRAMMY NOMINEES

November 23, 2022

The nominations for the 65th annual Grammy Awards have been released, and for the first time in two years, the nominations list for Best Reggae Album is completely Jamaican. The announcement was made by John Legend who revealed the six nominees.  They are The Kalling by Kabaka Pyramid, Gifted by Koffee, Scorcha by Sean Paul, Third Time’s The Charm by Protoje and Com Fly Wid Mi by Shaggy.

The Best Reggae Album category has been scrutinized heavily by Jamaicans and others after the California-based group SOJA won the last award. This created a stir of criticisms of the Grammys for the quality of music produced. Since its inception in 1984, the Best Reggae Album award saw only two non-Jamaican winners — Steel Pulse from England and SOJA from the United States. This year also have three past Grammy winners- Shaggy, Sean Paul, and Koffee vying for the coveted title along with past nominee Protoje (for his album A Matter of Time,2018) and first-timer Kabaka Pyramid. Sean Paul won the award for his album Dutty Rock from 2004, and Shaggy won the award in 1999 for the smash project Boombastic and again in 2019 for his collaboration 44/876 with Sting. Koffee won the award as the youngest female to win in the category in 2018 for Rapture.

Here are the lists of nominees:

• Sean Paul – Scorcha, which was released under Island Records, is his eighth studio album. He is no stranger to the Grammys, having been nominated several times before.
• Koffee – Giftedis her sophomore project following her Grammy-winning EP Rapture. The album was released through Land Recordings/Columbia Records.
• Shaggy – Com Fly Wid Mi – The Sinatra Songbook Inna Reggae Style, which is produced by his friend and collaborator, Sting, is a sample of Frank Sinatra’s 10 greatest songs but with a Reggae Twist.
• Protoje – Third Time’s the Charm, released in September 2022, marks his sixth studio album, and the album, with its mixture of traditional and future sounds, landed on the Top 10 of the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart.
• Kabaka Pyramid – The Kallingis a 15-track project released on September 30. The album is produced by former Best Reggae Album winner Damian “Junior Gong” Marley.