For all those that made the August 30 submissions deadline for the 2026 Grammy Awards, the subsequent huge date within the journey is the primary spherical of voting, which opens in a number of days time. Beginning Friday, all who’re eligible will solid their votes for the nominees throughout 96 classes within the 68th annual Grammy Awards.
“It doesn’t matter what, that is all the time an thrilling time for the music trade, as a result of a Grammy is a Grammy is a Grammy,” music marketer Sean ‘Contractor’ Edwards instructed The Gleaner. “On Friday, we’ll know all of the works that made the listing for Grammy consideration throughout the assorted classes, and, you recognize that we’re significantly within the submissions for the Greatest Reggae Album class.”
Edwards has emerged as one of many few, daring voices, for the annual, unofficial Grammy Awards “title the nominees and the title the winner” within the reggae class, and he’s fairly excited at this yr’s prospects. He has so immersed himself on this enterprise of Grammys that he is aware of all of the official dates by coronary heart and rattles them off as if he’s studying a script from a Teleprompter.
“First-round voting for the Greatest Reggae Album class within the 68th Annual Grammy Awards will happen from October 3 to October 15. Throughout this era, Recording Academy members will solid their votes to find out the Greatest Reggae Album nominees. The official nominees might be introduced on Friday, November 7. The ultimate spherical of voting takes place from December 12, 2025, to January 5, 2026. The winners might be introduced on Sunday, February 1, on the official Grammy Awards ceremony,” Edwards mentioned, with out lacking a beat.
A producer, government producer, and likewise a recording artiste, Edwards has distinguished himself with the Tropical Home compilation reggae album sequence, which has loved immense chart success. The primary version in 2018, Tropical Home Cruises to Jamaica,climbed to #1 on the Billboard Reggae Album charts and stayed there for 4 weeks. It spent 19 weeks within the prime 10. Subsequent editions have included Reloaded (2019); The Reggae Collector’s Version (2020); and The Asian Version (2022), which featured Chris Gayle.
He doesn’t have any albums within the Grammy race this yr, nonetheless, he’s invested within the much-talked-about resurgence of Jamaican music in North America, with artistes like Buju Banton and Vybz Kartel promoting out arenas and Bounty Killer and Beenie Man within the US, after almost a decade.
“With the resurgence of dancehall music in America, this yr sees that reflection within the albums that have been submitted for Grammy consideration … a singular mix of reggae initiatives. Entrance runners in consideration might be albums from Lila Iké, Mojo Morgan, Israel Vibration and Aston Barrett Jr. , Vybz Kartel, Spragga Benz, Mr. Vegas, Child Cham, and American band Groundation,” Edwards acknowledged.
He famous that there was sturdy efforts to advertise the albums and recommended the artistes for taking the initiative.
“Lila Iké’s Treasure Self Love had launches within the UK and Jamaica. It was featured in main publications in America corresponding to grammy.com and Billboard journal. MojoMorgan’s Jamaica Love album was featured in NewsWeek Journal, BBC Radio and Scorching 97 with Ebro within the Morning. Mr Vegas, Spragga Benz and Cham have all been selling their albums on mainstream radio and tv in America as nicely,” he mentioned.
On August 29, Spragga Benz launched the 13-track undertaking, Endeavors, his first album in six years and it surged to the highest of the iTunes Prime 100 Reggae Albums charts, relegating Bob Marley’s long-running-number-one Legend to quantity two. August 29 was additionally the discharge date for Mr. Vegas’s album, Ghetto Reggae. Coronary heart and Soul from the Grammy-nominated Vybz Kartel additionally dropped on August 29. Kartel is making ready to move to Canada as headliner for Drake’s birthday celebrations on October 26 and 27 on the Scotiabank Enviornment in Toronto.
Grammy-nominated Cham dropped his fourth album, Sherlock, on July 31, to a lot acclaim. It pays homage to the Sherlock Crescent neighborhood which Cham known as dwelling. Reggae concord group, Israel Vibration and Aston Barrett Jr teamed up for Reggae Music By no means Dies, an providing which has been receiving a lot love, and I-Octane’s God & I, which was launched on April 25, has been persistently on the iTunes Prime 100 Reggae Albums Chart. On Monday, it was positioned at # 3.
The 2026 Grammys takes place Sunday, February 1, at Crypto.com Enviornment in Los Angeles.
