Spice page homage to the females who paved the way for her after copping her historic Grammy nomination.
The Recording Academy announced the 2022 Grammy nominations which includes the highly anticipated Best Reggae Album category. Among those listed for the coveted title is Spice for her debut album 10. The nomination is a huge milestone for Spice, who released her first album and collected her first Grammy nomination.
Spice, whose real name is Grace Hamilton, released the album in August this year. The project was ten years in the making hence the name, and was produced by superstar Shaggy.
The album has also performed well commercially and has among its hit songs the widely popular “Go Down Deh,” the lead song which features Sean Paul and Shaggy and is co-produced by Grammy nominee, Romanian singer/songwriter Costi Ionita and Shaggy.
The song has been one of the hottest songs on the dancehall scene and has topped several reggae charts – Billboard and iTunes, and YouTube in Jamaica. The album also peaked at number six on the Billboard Reggae Chart and was expected to be among the projects vying for the coveted Best Reggae Album award.
The nomination now means that Spice is the first hardcore female dancehall artist to be nominated for Best Reggae Album. In a message shared on her Instagram, Spice homage the women who were previously nominated in the category before her, including Koffee, Rita Marley, and Etana.
“Historic Moment in Dancehall . Ladies it’s possible Let’s goooooo we got this Big up my sisters who paved the way Rita Marley 1992, Judy Mowatt 1986, Etana 2018, Koffee 2019, Spice 2022,” she wrote while also thanking Sean Paul.
Meanwhile, Sean Paul also received his ninth Grammy nomination for Live N Livin.
Sean Paul, whose real name is Sean Paul Hernandez, previously won the Best Reggae Album award in 2004 for his chart-topping Dutty Rock.
In the meantime, Live and Livin, released in March, is the seventh studio album by the artiste and peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Reggae Chart.
Among the songs on the album that performed well were “Guns of Navarone” and “Everest,” featuring Skillibeng. Other artists featured on the project include Agent Sasco, Buju Banton, Busy Signal, Damian Marley, and others.
Jesse Royal’s ‘Royal’ also received a Grammy nod for the first time. The reggae artist has only produced two albums, but his ‘Royal’ album has done exponentially well and will no doubt put him more on the map with this nomination. Among his hit songs are “Rich Forever,” featuring Vybz Kartel.
Meanwhile, Etana is coming back strong with her 8th studio album Pamoja, bringing her second Grammy nomination.
The other nominees are ‘Beauty in the Silence’ by SOJA (Soldiers of Jah Army). The band is an American reggae band based in Arlington, Virginia, and they have snagged their second Grammy nomination.
‘Beauty in the Silence’ peaked at number two on the Billboard Reggae Chart and features songs like “Press Rewind featuring Collie Buddz and J Boog and “The Day You Came” featuring UB40 and Rebelution.
Positive Vibration by Gramps Morgan also received a Grammy nod for his first solo project. Morgan, a member of the Grammy-winning reggae band Morgan Heritage, is getting his first solo project recognized with the Grammy nomination.
The 64th GRAMMY Awards will take place on Jan. 31, 2022. This year, a record of 120 submissions were made for the Best Reggae Album. While some projects are strictly Reggae, some are classified as Dancehall projects.
Despite this fact, Grammy’s has not made a differentiation in the past.
