Half the chart for J’can vocalists

In a context where the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart is often dominated by non-Jamaican performers, the listing valid up to Saturday, May 26 stands out with its high proportion of Jamaican vocalists.

Half of the top 10 entries feature the voices of persons from Jamaica although, strictly speaking, it is not a case that there are five albums stamped and certified 'from yard'. After all, one of the five is the chart-topping 44/876 by Sting and Shaggy, now in its fourth consecutive week in the number one spot. Then there is the number four Tropical House Cruises to Jamaica, down from number two last week. It does feature Sean Paul, Vybz Kartel and Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley, among other performers from Jamaica, but there are also Haitian-born Wyclef Jean and British Ed Sheeran.

The Junior Gong figures in more than one top five project, as his Stony Hill set nabs greatest gainer honours in stepping up to two from last week's fourth spot. The former number one has now spent 43 weeks on the listing. Rounding out the top half of the chart are Henricci's EP Sister Caro at number three and the fifth place Poetry in Motion by SOJA.

In the lower half of the listing, the Jamaican presence is at six and 10 in Chronixx's Chronology holding the former (up from nine in its 42nd week on the chart) and Romain Virgo's Lovesick at 10, down from number six last week. In-between them are The Green's Marching Orders at number seven, followed by the Get Soca 2018 compilation. The only new entry this week, Vantage Point by Sons of Zion, holds the number nine spot.