Sean Paul Wants More Jamaican Music Professionals In The Recording Academy

After Virginia-based band SOJA (Soldiers of Jah Army) won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, fellow nominee Sean Paul says there are absolutely no hard feelings on his end, despite the uproar that followed in Jamaica.

“It’s who God bless, no man curse. For whatever reason, God has blessed them (SOJA) maybe to put more fire in someone like me to come better next time. That’s how I see it,” Paul said during an interview with Fox5 New York on Monday (April 25).

However, the We Be Burnin’ singer believes that there’s not enough diversity among the members of the Recording Academy, who vote to nominate and then select the winners in each category.  Like Shaggy urged two years ago, Sean Paul said he hopes to see more qualified Reggae and Dancehall music professionals being instated.

“I mean, there’s a lot of politics involved in awards like this and whatever. I think one of the main things is that there’s not enough people in Jamaica who listen to the music daily that we produce that are on that panel, on the Grammy panel. So, we gotta get more of us on the panel,” said Paul, who won the Reggae Grammy in 2004 for Dutty Rock. This year, he was nominated for his project, Live N Livin.

According to the Recording Academy, membership is open to creative or technical music professionals, such as singers, composers, producers, art directors, and engineers. 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, a requirement that most of Jamaica’s music professionals of all ages, easily meet.  Prospective members are also required to provide two recommendations from their peers and must pay a $100 membership fee yearly.

“Reggae and Dancehall is in a strange place where it’s huge, worldwide, but also there’s so much players in the game so there’s different nucleuses. In Jamaica, we might not be hearing music from SOJA, so yeah, it was a shock for us. I think now, we’ve been finding out more about them,” Paul said, before one of the interviewers noted that when she thinks of Reggae, she thinks of Jamaica, and not an American state.

After the predominantly Caucasian group’s win at the April 3 awards show, many Jamaicans, including some entertainers expressed shock and disapproval. The other nominees in the category were Spice (10), Etana (Pamoja), Jesse Royal (Royal), and Gramps Morgan (Positive Vibration).

SOJA, who copped the award for their project Beauty In The Silence, had paid homage to Jamaica, the origin of the genre, in their acceptance speech.

“We wanna thank all our influences when we were growing up.  Starting our reggae band was kind of our dream and the only thing we wanted to do. And then one day people started coming to the shows,” the band’s lead singer, Jacob Hemphill, said.

“To the founding fathers of Reggae music into the island of Jamaica, you inspired us all.  Give thanks.  One love,” another added.