Fans Knock Squash’s Grammy Award Ambitions For New Album
Dancehall entertainer Squash has set his sights on winning a Grammy award for his upcoming debut album titled, ‘Mr Whittaker’, but some fans are not so sure.
In a recent interview with The STAR, Squash, whose real name is Andre Whittaker, said that he has taken a break from the spotlight to focus completely on his album, making sure that it’s up to the Grammy standard.
“That’s the whole aim of the album. We have diligently worked on this project for it to be up to Grammy standards”, he said. “We intend to submit this album and continue waving the flag of our culture and music. Dancehall or reggae, whichever they want to deem it, it represent Jamaica, it represent 6ix.”
Mr Whittaker is a joint venture between 6ix is Real Records and VP Records. The album will have at least 14-tracks, covering a variety of topics that will also appeal to the international market.
The prestigious Grammy award is a goal for many artists around the world as the award, though becoming controversial in recent years, represents the best of music. Though Jamaica has several musical genres, the Recording Academy only has one category which represents Jamaican music at the Grammys: Reggae.
This year, reggae superstar Koffee, became the youngest artist and first solo female entertainer to win the Reggae Grammy. She won the award for her monumental Rapture EP.
When asked if the Grammy Awards should consider a separate category for dancehall music, especially with its impact globally, Squash said, “Whether people want to call it dancehall or reggae or trap dancehall, tropical house of the Jamaican sound it represents work coming out of our island and that’s alright with me.”
It’s not far-fetched for a dancehall artist to win a reggae Grammy award. Since the introduction of the reggae category at the Grammys in 1985, there have been several dancehall artists that have snagged the award, including Shabba Ranks who won in 1992 and 1993, Shaggy who won in 1996, Beenie Man who won in 2001, Sean Paul who won in 2004 and Buju Banton who received the 2011 award. However, all these dancehall acts had significant international reach, prior to winning their awards.
As Squash dreams big, some dancehall fans are less than positive that he will be able to actually achieve this goal. Many dancehall fans, under The STAR’s Instagram post of his interview, knocked the artist’s ambition, saying his goal is unattainable.
“That nah go happen , that will neva happen u will neva live fi see that happen 😂😂😂😂”, read one comment.
“Did he say Grammy??with what music ??? It’s good to dream but in a real-world, his music barely gets out Jamaica so what Grammy is he talking about?? What music does he have to qualify for it ??” said another user, while another fan critiqued, “This idea, “I am going in the studio to make grammy album” start sound like a gimmicks”.
While many of the comments were negative, there were also hundreds of comments that praised Squash for his ambition and encouraged the artist to work hard to achieve his goals. “Smh. Life is all about believing in your self. Grammy u want bad man go fi that. The sky is never the limit big up @squash6iixboss man nuh need the negative energy”, encouraged one fan.
Other positive comments read, “Try yes yute who knows could be next to win it” and “Do you thing anything is possible”.
As much as fans are divided on the politics of the Reggae Grammy award, and whether Squash can deliver quality music deserving of a Grammy, one thing is certain: his goal is not an impossible one to achieve.