Shenseea, Vybz Kartel And Collie Buddz Among Nominees For 2025 Reggae Grammy
Collie Buddz’ Take It Easy, Shenseea’s Never Gets Late Here, the soundtrack Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By the Film, Vybz Kartel’s Party With Me, and The Wailers’ Evolution are the albums nominated for ‘Best Reggae Album’ at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
The announcement was made today (November 8) following the Recording Academy’s nominations live-stream event for the upcoming awards, which will be officially known as the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.
This is Collie Buddz’ second consecutive nomination, following his nod last year for Cali Roots Riddim 2023.
The Wailers are also celebrating their second nomination in this category, following their nod for the One World album back in 2021.
Shenseea was previously nominated for ‘Album Of The Year’ after her contributions to Kanye West’s album Donda.
First-time nominee Vybz Kartel had released the 8-track Party With Me in May this year, while he was still incarcerated. In August, he was released from prison after the UK Privy Council overturned his murder conviction and the appeal court declined a retrial.
The album Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By the Film is considered a top contender for the win this year as its tied to Reggae legend Bob Marley and his highly successful biopic. The 10-track album offers fresh interpretations of Marley’s iconic songs, performed by artists like Daniel Caesar, Kacey Musgraves, Wizkid, Leon Bridges, Shenseea, Farruko, Jessie Reyez, Mystic Marley, Bloody Civilian, and Skip Marley.
The Reggae category, which “recognizes excellence in albums of reggae music, including roots reggae, dancehall and ska music,” had a total of 75 eligible submissions this year. The category’s nominations and award are bestowed to “albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new reggae recordings,” according to the Academy.
The Academy stipulates that the albums’ featured artists, producers, and engineers are also eligible for nomination only if they contributed to more than 50% of playing time on the project.
This year, the Academy said in a news release that it also revised eligibility criteria for featured artists with less than 50% playing time. Now, all credited featured artists with less than 50% playtime on a nominated album will receive a Winners’ Certificate in all genre album categories.
Recording Academy members completed first-round voting in mid-October to select nominees. The final voting round will occur between December 12, 2024, and January 3, 2025.
The winners in each Grammy category will be announced on February 2, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The show will be broadcast on CBS and Paramount+, with the annual Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony preceding the event.
The upcoming ceremony will also debut the Academy’s Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award. The award was renamed this year to honor Belafonte, the late calypso star and civil rights icon with deep Jamaican roots.