Kabaka Pyramid Gets Modest Bump In Sales, Streams After Grammy Win
Despite winning the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, Kabaka Pyramid‘s The Kalling is yet to debut on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. However, soon after the 65th annual staging, a few more Reggae lovers gravitated toward the album.
In the week following the Awards Ceremony on February 5, The Kalling sold 400 units in digital sales and streaming in the United States, up 187% from the previous week (100 units), according to data provided to DancehallMag by Luminate (formerly MRC Data/Nielsen Music).
This includes pure sales for the album, which rose to 100 copies during the same week, up over 3,000% from the previous week (3 copies).
Related: Here’s The Album Sales For The 38 Past Grammy Winners Of ‘Best Reggae Album’
The Kalling, which was released on September 30, 2022, via Ghetto Youths International and Bebble Rock Music, had sold 600 units during its first week of release in the US. As of December 31, 2022, it had sold 4,100 units in the US, including 4.7 million in audio and video streaming, according to Luminate.
While it hasn’t secured a big enough 7-day total to enter the weekly Billboard Reggae Albums chart, the album briefly topped the US Reggae iTunes Chart on Monday (February 6).
On Grammy night, the Well Done singer came out ahead of Koffee, who was nominated for her debut album Gifted, Sean Paul, who was nominated for Scorcha, Shaggy, for Com Fly Wid Mi, and Protoje for Third Time’s The Charm.
Kabaka Pyramid noted that he was honored that positive music was receiving the accolades it deserves.
“What it means to me, my career, my family, my team? You know; what it means for Reggae Music, positive music, coming out of Jamaica right now is just a joy. It’s a feeling of greatness, as I always say I would never be defined by things like these but, the recognition of the work on such a scale, in such a key market for us as the U.S. means a lot for us,” he said in a release.
He followed up with a tweet encouraging youth to remain steadfast in promoting constructive lyrics, amid societal pressure to do otherwise.
“I hope this can be an inspiration to artists that feel the deep urge in their soul to do music with a positive uplifting message. Not everyone will see this path but it yields results same way. Long term mindset, marathon run, steady wins the race. Give thankhs!!!
Understandably thrilled when announced the winner of the academy, Pyramid accepted the honor with his mother by his side and his friends from high school, now managers Abishai Hoilett and Duane McDonald.
His mother Marcia Salmon said: “This Grammy win is monumental for my son! Its well-deserved after years of hard work, my heart us grateful to God for sustaining him and his team and giving them success. I look forward to seeing the way forward unto even greater achievements and blessings.”
The Kalling—which featured Reggae legend Peter Tosh, Protoje, Buju Banton, Jesse Royal, Damian Marley, and Stephen Marley—was ranked No. 1 on DancehallMag‘s list of the best Dancehall/Reggae albums of 2022.