Shaggy Urges Jamaican Artistes To Join Recording Academy To Have Say In Grammy Voting
In the aftermath of the outcry by some Dancehall artistes about what they deem the snubbing of the genre by the Grammy Awards, Dancehall megastar Shaggy, has reiterated his call for qualified entertainers to become members of the Recording Academy.
Buju Banton’s album Upside Down 2020, Skip Marley’s Higher Place, Maxi Priest’s It All Comes Back To Love, Got To Be Tough by Toots & The Maytals, and The Wailers’ One World were the productions that were nominated for the upcoming 2021 Grammy awards set for February, for which second-round voting is now underway.
Following the announcement of the nominees Dancehalll deejay Popcaan had lashed out at the Recording Academy for not considering his high-performing FIXTAPE project for nomination in the list of albums vying for this year’s Best Reggae Album title.
In a post bearing profane words which he later deleted, the Unruly Boss had poured scorn on the Grammys for its snubbing of Dancehall and accused the organization of being corrupt.
But Shaggy who executive produced Maxi Priest’s It all Comes Back to Love and featured on The Wailers’ album’s One World One Prayer track, maintained that the Recording Academy was not to be blamed and that artistes themselves ought to play their role by registering with the organization so that they can cast votes.
“Every year that the Grammys come out people are disgruntled about it and this one is no different. It is what it is. I always tell people if you want to make a change, register and get involved and be a part,” Shaggy explained in response to a question on the topic, during an interview on television entertainment programme, Onstage.
“You caan just stay pon di side and seh di Grammy dem a dis and di Grammy dem a dat. If you are not registered then you are not a part of it. Get on board if you want a different outcome,” the platinum-selling artiste said.
According to Recording Academy rules, membership is open to creative or technical music professionals, such as singers, composers, producers, art directors, and engineers. However, voting members must have been either producers, performers, or engineers on six or more tracks of a commercially released album or 12 or more digital tracks.
But many Jamaican musicians have long contended that the issue with the Grammys lies not necessarily with voting, but argue that the root of the problem lies with the selection process for the albums, which is conducted by non-Jamaicans. There have also been longstanding criticisms that members of the Marley clan were unfairly favoured over other artistes who have better albums.
Things came to a head in 2016 after news surfaced that Ziggy Marley’s Israeli-born wife Orly, was a governor of the Los Angeles chapter of the Grammy’s executive, which is the largest such chapter in the United States, and which decides on eligibility for nomination and consideration, according to a 2017 Gleaner article.
The Gleaner also said insider sources had also revealed that Orly, was also the current chairman of the Reggae Grammy Committee at the time.
Back then veteran Reggae singer Freddie McGregor, had also blasted the Grammys for their annual picks for the Best Reggae Album. In an article published in The Gleaner, on December 20, 2016, McGregor condemned the Recording Academy, describing the Reggae arm of the organization “an embarrassment of indescribable magnitude to Reggae music”.
“When we allow non-Jamaicans to be the judge of our own Jamaican music, we have certainly lost it, and the reggae Grammy is officially a toy and a plaything for the West Coast of the United States,” the Big Ship artiste had said.
“I think what is happening is a slow deliberate deletion of our music form, and if we don’t have Jamaicans on a panel to determine the best Reggae album, how can white people decide that for us? It is a disgrace that the country that has created such a powerful music is now relying upon foreigners to tell us what is good Reggae music,” McGregor added.
Months later, executives of the Grammy Awards’ South Florida Chapter invited several members of the Reggae and Dancehall music fraternity including Mr. Vegas and producers John Fx and Major Lazer to address concerns.
A record of 23,207 entries were submitted to the Grammys across all music categories this year.
To be eligible for nomination, all recordings, irrespective of genre, must have been up for sale commercially via general distribution or made available as a digital recording, either for sale or through a recognized streaming service.
Additionally, to be considered an album, recordings must contain at minimum five different tracks with a total playing time of 15 minutes or, a total playing time of at least 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement.