Grammy Awards entries close today

The annual Grammy Awards cycle is now in high gear.

Today, August 30, is the final day to submit entries for the 67th annual Grammy Awards. Albums that are eligible for entry in the 2025 Grammy Awards are those that have been released between September 16, 2023, and August 30, 2024, and this year, there is a tiered structure for entry fees, with even an "earlybird" price in the mix.

From July 17-July 31, the charge for members was $40 per entry; from August 1 to August 22 the cost was $75 per entry; and from August 23 to 30, the fee is $125 per entry.

Entry fees aside, the reggae and dancehall world is buzzing. Already, Julian Marley and artiste-producer Antaeus have announced that they are setting their sights on a new category: Best Remixed Recording in the Pop & Dance/Electronic Field, with their entry being The Jah Sees Them - Amapiano Remix. The duo won Best Reggae Album for Colors of Royal at the 66th Grammy Awards.

"For the Best Reggae Album category, dancehall is very prominent this Grammy year," marketer and record producer Sean 'Contractor' Edwards told The Gleaner. "Shenseea, Spice, Vybz Kartel, and Masicka have very strong albums ... and on the traditional reggae side, UB40, Etana, and Lee Scratch Perry are good contenders. Bugle’s album is also a contender along with several strong dancehall compilation albums, including Dancehall Diaries Vol 1, which includes songs from Buju Banton, Capleton and Ky-Mani Marley."

Of note is that Edwards' Contractor Music and Hook Slaya Records are the producer-executive producers for Dancehall Diaries Vol 1, and naturally, he has high hopes of breaking through the ceiling with this compilation and grabbing even a nomination.

In May, Shenseea released her sophomore album, Never Gets Late Here, and she has great expectations for the 14-track project, which was executive-produced by London on da Track. It features artistes such as Anitta, Coi Leray, Wizkid, and Masicka. Rvssian and Di Genius put their special touch on the production side, along with London and Supa Dups.

In an interview with People Magazine earlier this year, Shenseea was very vocal about her Grammy goal.

“One wish is to definitely get a Grammy. Even if it's just nominated. I always said that I want to win a reggae Grammy first before I win any other Grammy because it's where I'm from. I don't want to win just for myself, I want to win it for my country, I want to win it for my family, my friends, the people who grew up with me, my team,” the Trending Gyal artiste told People.

Earlier this month, Grammy-nominated dancehall artiste Spice dropped, to critical acclaim, her 25-track, third album, Mirror 25, a nod to her 25 years in dancehall. Spice received a Grammy nomination two years ago for her Shaggy-produced, VP Records album 10.

Last December, Masicka released his sophomore studio album, Generation of Kings. It was his first big rollout since his big label signing to Def Jam close to the start of 2023. In a press release shortly after signing to Def Jam, CEO Tunji Balogun said of the dancehall superstar, “Def Jam has always been the home for great artistes across the wide spectrum of black music, and Masicka is very much emblematic of that vision.”

UB40, acknowledged as the world's biggest-selling reggae group, released their 21st studio album, the 14-track UB45– a celebration of the band's 45 years in music– in April via SRG Records (Universal).

"Our 14-track release features seven brand-new songs, plus re-recordings of some of the band’s most beloved hits .... UB45 is on track to be our highest-charting album since Labour of Love III!" the band said on its website.

The Recording Academy has announced that first-round voting for the 2025 Grammy Awards runs from October 4 through October 15. Nominees will be announced on November 8. Final-round voting runs from December 12 through to January 3, 2025. The Grammys will be presented on February 2, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com.