The 53rd Grammy Awards: And the Nominees for "Best Reggae Album" are....

The Grammy nominations were announced last night in Los Angeles. And, for the first time, the announcements were accompanied by a concert at the Nokia Center. This year's nominees for "Best Reggae Album" are:


"Before The Dawn" - Buju Banton
"Isaacs Meets Isaac" - Gregory Isaacs & King Isaac
"Revelation" - Lee "Scratch" Perry
"Made In Jamaica" - Bob Sinclair and Sly & Robbie
"One Pop Reggae" - Sly & Robbie And The Family Taxi
"Legacy An Acoustic Tribute To Peter Tosh" - Andrew Tosh.


This is a great feat for Andrew Tosh who is definitely a new comer to an Award of this magnitude. Also, Buju Banton has proved his viability to Reggae for getting nominated for an album released while he was incarcerated....Talk about not going anywhere!


However, one couldn't help but scan through the nomination categories to see what category Damian Marley and Nas' "Distant Relatives" album would fall. To our surprise, the Grammy Academy has not selected the "Distant Relatives" album for an award and apparently did not think the album belongs in the Reggae or Rap category. Is it that the album was deemed a fusion of genres hence it could not be classified as Reggae, Contemporary or Rap? (Only the Grammy Academy can answer that question). 


The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place in Los Angeles at The Staples Center on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, and will air live on the CBS Television Network.


Congrats to all the Reggae nominees and may the best album win.