Veteran reggae artist and living legend, Freddie McGregor, knows a thing or two about reggae music and he definitely knows what is and isn’t great music. As far Ziggy Marley winning the 2017 Reggae Grammy Award, Mr. McGregor says it was “scandalous but not surprising”.
Ziggy’s self-titled winning album, Ziggy Marley, is little known within the reggae community and does not contain any great reggae songs but it beat out five other nominees to take the coveted and elusive award, an award that has slipped away from the grasp of many global icons in reggae music.
Greats like Sizzla, Beres Hammond, Chronixx, Dennis Brown, Third World, Gregory Isaacs, Yellowman, Barrington Levy, Marcia Griffiths, Etana, Vybz Kartel, Capleton and McGregor himself are yet to win a Grammy. This year marks the 11th win for the Marleys in the Best Reggae Album category since the awards started in 1985. A few weeks ago, McGregor was strident in his condemnation of the practices of the selection committee for the reggae Grammy. He lashed out at the awards, calling them “an embarrassment of indescribable magnitude to reggae music”.