Today I was stuck between writing about the statement finally made by Mr. Latibeaudiere regarding his firing and the nominations for the Reggae grammy awards. I then decided to go with the happier topic to kind of supplement all the angry and sad topics that I have been writing about. As we all know the Grammy awards are basically the pinnacle of awards that one can recieve as somebody in the music business. Once you win a grammy whether as an artiste, producer, writer or whatever,  you gain instant fame and also get to claim more money for your work as you can simply add grammy winner, to your title (similar to how people add their abbreviated degrees after their names), even a grammy nominee is able to command a higher paycheck as after all they were this close to winning that award.

As far as the Reggae grammy goes, while it isn't always shown on TV, Jamaicans are proud of the mere fact that there is a grammy available for the music which originated here and most Jamaican artists are always ready to brag about the fact that they have in fact won a grammy and will say it with as many chances as they get (I'm looking at you Beenie Man).

All previous grammy nominees are all artists with quite successful careers. People such as Burning Spear and Steel Pulse have been nominated for and have won quite a few grammys themselves, but other quite notable grammy winners are Shabba Ranks, Shaggy, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, and Damian Marley. I put Damian Marley last because I think he is one of the few artists who won a grammy who I think most of Jamaica can agree with. As a matter of fact, Jr. Gong has really put out some top quality albums (namely all of them) and I still find myself listening to even his first album Mr. Marley from time to time as I sit in awe at his lyrical skill.

Quite frankly I think that whoever are nominating and selecting these grammy winners are not Jamaicans and have also not asked for the opinion of Jamaicans over the years. I have seen some nominations for grammies that have caused me to cringe at the thought of them winning and how they definitely dont represent the thoughts of the people listening to reggae. Maybe I am wrong, maybe these people are getting major airplay abroad, but in Jamaica alot of them get none.

Anyway I wont bother ranting about this, its about the grammy nominees, and this year the nominees for the grammy are; Awake by Julian Marley; Mind Control (acoustic version) by Stephen Marley; Rasta Got Soul by Buju Banton; Imperial Blaze from Sean Paul; and Gregory Isaacs' Brand New Me.

Personally I think Mind Control is a shoe in for the grammy as I've listened to this album quite regularly and I must say I truly appreciate the work of Stephen Marley, but I also think there is a possibility that Buju's album will steal the title and even Sean Paul might have a say (though I really am not sure why), simply because Americans seem to somehow be drawn to his music and somehow think that all Jamaicans love it as well (a fact which is easy to refute).

Congratulations to all the nominees and I hope that the best album wins.