Contractor Predicts Sean Paul Will Win 2022 ‘Best Reggae Album’ Grammy
Music insider and producer Sean ‘Contractor’ Edwards is betting that Sean Paul will walk away with the golden gramophone in the Best Reggae Album category at the 64th annual Grammy Awards this Sunday.
Speaking to DancehallMag, Contractor was of the opinion that Paul, who has been nominated nine times with one win, might be more popular among the voters.
“This year, it’s very difficult to pick the Grammy winner because none of the nominees are signed to a major label and there was no real, major crossover hit from any of the nominees. I like this batch of nominees because they are all fairly a young generation,” he said.
“However, if I had to choose one album that I think will win based on name recognition it would be Sean Paul. I think Etana and Gramps Morgan and Soja kept it most real to the Reggae genre. I would like to see Spice win based on all the struggles that she has been through in her career.”
Queen of Dancehall Spice is in the running with her debut album 10, while Sean Paul’s project was titled Live N Livin. Jesse Royal, Gramps Morgan, Soja and Etana are nominated for Royal, Positive Vibration, Beauty in the Silence and Pamoja, respectively.
Contractor said the Recording Academy did a fair job at their Reggae Grammy nominations this year and he’s already predicting who might be among the next batch of nominees for the 65th staging.
“I’m very pleased with the nominations this year as the albums are a good standard for our upcoming new generation artists to aim for. None of these nominated albums are laced with hate and violent lyrical content. So far, I think Shenseea and Koffee’s albums will be nominated for the next Grammy and Masicka has a chance as well,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sean Paul, who previously won the Best Reggae Album award with Dutty Rock in 2004, is confident that his upcoming Scorcha album will land him his second nomination in two years.
“Live N Livin was a great collaborative effort between me and a bunch of artistes who me rate, same with the producers and engineers. It is up for the Grammy now. Scorcha will be a great contender for the Grammys in 2023,” Paul told the Jamaica Gleaner in an interview last week.
If Sean Paul wins both years back to back, he will match the feats set by Shabba Ranks and Ziggy Marley, who won the Awards in 1992/1993 and 2014/2015 with their albums As Raw as Ever and X-Tra Naked, and In Concert and Fly Rasta, respectively.
Contractor also had a few words of advice for Reggae and Dancehall artists. He urged them to invest time into making holistic songs, and ensure that they have solid marketing strategies.
“Well, I think an album should have a concept and theme and the songs on the album should revolve around that concept. Also, the artists should try to make potential hits, not just good songs, and hit songs are all around us. Hits are topics that are universal issues that everyone worldwide can relate to,” he said.
“And good marketing of the album is so important, to gain new fans to the genre,” he added.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada this Sunday, April 3, 2022.