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/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC: Bad Vibes for Best Reggae Grammy

Howard Campbell

KINGSTON, Jul 22 2003 (IPS) - For the past two years, reggae music has had a sustained presence on the Billboard charts, dispelling talk that it is too ethnic to catch on in a big way in the United States. But even as it enjoys its most fruitful period, there is talk that the Best Reggae Album category may be dropped from the Grammy Awards after two decades.

Roger Steffens, chairman of the Reggae Selection Committee, which submits albums to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) for Grammy consideration, says officials there are concerned that not enough albums are being submitted to make the category viable.

"They were alarmed that the interest expressed in the category by record labels had dwindled to almost nothing," said Steffens. "Only 17 albums that met the basic requirements for inclusion were submitted, a third short of the requisite minimum of 25. When this happens, according to Academy rules the category is dropped."

Steffens, a respected reggae archivist who has written extensively on Bob Marley and The Wailers, says NARAS’ position is ominous. "If it is (dropped) it would be another signal of reggae’s slow slide into obsolescence and nostalgia," he warned.

Chris Wilson, an executive at Heartbeat Records in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is not surprised at NARAS’ stance. According to Wilson, "It’s been in danger for a while because there’s no interest in it (the reggae category). Companies like Shanachie, RAS and ourselves are not putting out as much releases as one time, and that I think that has cut down on nominations."

New York City’s Shanachie and RAS, based in Washington DC, picked up the slack for reggae when the major labels turned their backs on the music after Bob Marley died in 1981. While they rarely had hit songs, these companies maintained reggae’s presence in the U.S. marketplace. But in the past four years Shanachie has concentrated mainly on smooth jazz and folk music, while RAS’ releases have slowed to a trickle.

Shanachie, RAS and Heartbeat have each won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album with Bunny Wailer and Burning Spear. But none have had an album nominated in the category for some time – although not for want of trying.

"We do submit but the judges don’t seem to think our albums are worthy," said Wilson.

With these once prolific companies on the sidelines, some of the albums that have popped up in the Best Reggae Album category in recent years have puzzled pundits. This year’s batch was topped by "Jamaican E.T.", a little known album by Lee "Scratch" Perry, a man best known as a cutting-edge producer of hits by Marley and underground singers like Junior Byles.

"Jamaican E.T." was distributed by London-based Trojan Records, which has a reputation for distributing compilation albums featuring reggae from the 1960s and 1970s.

Last year’s nominees included a compilation from Hobo House On The Hill, a Hawaiian company that distributes reggae in the Pacific Rim.

Since it made its first bow at the Grammys in 1985, the Best Reggae Album has had its share of critics. One of them is Steffens, who has openly expressed frustration that most of the judges have very little knowledge of reggae, and that once a nominee is linked to Marley, that person is almost assured of winning.

Interestingly, it has been the major labels that have helped put reggae on the Billboard charts. In 2001, Virgin Records released Shaggy’s "Hot Shot" album, which eventually sold over 10 million units; however, it was not nominated for a reggae Grammy.

In 2002, Damian Marley, son of Bob Marley, won for his "Halfway Tree" set, which was a smash in Jamaica but made little impact, sales-wise, in the United States where it was distributed by the famed Rhythm And Blues company, Motown Records.

Sean Paul is the latest darling of the majors. His "Dutty Rock" album has been embraced by hip-hop fans and has sold over two million units. "Dutty Rock" is distributed by the dancehall powerhouse VP Records, which has a distribution deal with the major Atlantic Records.

With its massive appeal among the BET and MTV generation, "Dutty Rock" seems a sure thing for Best Reggae Album at the Grammys in 2004 â?" if NARAS decides not to drop the category.