“Melissa can’t go without Chronixx.” That’s how music business consultant Lloyd Laing sums up his pick for Best Reggae Album, putting Chronixx’s Exile in the same breath as Lovindeer’s famous Hurricane Gilbert song.
With just three days left before the Recording Academy reveals nominees for the 69th Grammy Awards, Laing has laid out exactly who he thinks makes the cut.
His shortlist reads like a who’s who of the genre. Protoje’s The Art of Acceptance, Chronixx’s Exile, Ziggy Marley’s Brightside, Vybz Kartel’s God and Time and Shaggy’s Lottery are his five leading contenders, with Chronixx as his personal favourite to win.
Laing wants fans to understand how the voting actually works before they get upset. “I keep explaining to people that the Grammys is a peer review process, not a people’s choice,” he said.
In his view, visibility matters a great deal, and so does how much an album has shaped the music and the culture since its release.
That’s where Exile comes in. The album landed before Jamaica was hit by Hurricane Melissa, and Laing says it became “a guiding light that held us through one of the hardest times.”
He argues it satisfied every part of what he calls the trinity of judging a body of work, adding that “Chronixx’s album Exile satisfied the culture.
The Marley name, unsurprisingly, still carries weight in his eyes. “The Marleys are the Marleys, and their impact on Reggae is unquestionable because of the brand,” Laing said, adding that a Marley album “will be considered every time” it appears. That puts Ziggy’s Brightside firmly in the conversation.
Not everyone on the radar gets the same confidence. Dancehall star Masicka, who released his third studio album Forever Reign, faces a visibility problem according to Laing.
He argues that recognition has to stretch beyond the core Caribbean audience, and “Masicka hasn’t reached there yet in a real way.”
Laing also flagged two possible surprises. Runkus, with his album Supernova, could sneak in, though Laing questions how the Academy will classify him. “Runkus isn’t purely Reggae, in my opinion. It’s a mixture, and we have Shaggy in that niche,” he said.
Then there’s Destin Conrad and his project Roadrunner, which Laing sees as a potential outsider with real momentum.
He pointed to Dancehall’s long and complicated relationship with the LGBTQ community, noting that support is now flowing toward Conrad.
“It might be a possibility that the face of Dancehall in 2027 is somebody who is outright and straightforward about who they are,” Laing said.
That’s a bold suggestion for a genre with that history, and Laing admits nobody knows yet how the industry will respond.
Fans of Masicka will likely push back on his take too. All of it gets tested in three days, when the Academy finally shows its hand.
