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Big honours for top entertainers - Voting in two categories closes tonight

Published:Friday | February 23, 2018 | 12:00 AMMel Cooke/Gleaner Writer
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Chronixx has two songs that have been Damian nominated for Song of the Year.
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Nadine Sutherland
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Bounty Killer will be awarded for mentorship.
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Big Youth
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Burning Spear
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Damian Marley's Medication has been nominated for Song of the Year.
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Protoje's Blood Money has been nominated for Song of the Year.
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Shenseea among the artiste nominated for Breaklthrough Act of the Year.
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At tomorrow's 2018 Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) Honour Awards, outstanding contributors to a wide range of the multifaceted entertainment business will be recognised at the Courtleigh Auditorium, New Kingston. With a standard position on the last Sunday of February each year, Mary Isaacs described the glitzy event as "the climax of Reggae Month".

"I know people are talking about it. Honourees are excited when they get the news. Every recipient I have spoken to is very happy," Isaacs said.

Save for two awards, which are being decided by public vote, the honourees have been announced. The Lifetime Achievement Award is going to Olivia 'Babsy' Grange for her long-term involvement in the business of Jamaican popular music, which preceded her current role as minister of gender, culture, entertainment and sport. Bounty Killer will be awarded for mentorship.

The Iconic Artiste (male) goes to Burning Spear and Big Youth, with Nadine Sutherland taking the female award. Bass guitarist Jackie Jackson and saxophonist Dean Fraser are the awardees in the Musician category, while Count Suckle and Klassique Disko are being lauded in the Sound System category. Among the other award categories are Group (the Tamlins), Band (Steel Pulse), Songwriter (Lovindeer), Posthumous (Brent Dowe) and Gospel (Sam Wisdom and Rondell Positive)

Isaacs, who sits on JaRIA's Honour Awards Selection Committee, said process of selecting winners "is very transparent". She said nominees in each category are carried over to the following year if they do not win. So there are honourees this year who have been nominated previously.

The two awards which are yet to be settled are Song of the Year and Breakthrough Act of the Year. The Song of the Year nominees are: Blood Money (Protoje), Medication (Damian Marley), Likes (Chronixx), Skanking Sweet (Chronixx) and We Pray (Dre Island featuring Popcaan). Nominated for Breaklthrough Act of the Year are Koffee, Dre Island, Samory I, Shenseea and Notis Heavyweight Rockaz. Voting via the internet is available atwww.jariajamiacmusic.com closes at midnight.

"Usually we have a good show," Isaacs said of the Honour Awards, describing how music, images and text come together in the presentation.