A Grammy Win is a Celebration of Island Music now – iRADIO.tt Blog + Journal: Appraisal, Opinion, Information
An edited version of this article appeared in the March/April issue of Caribbean BEat magazine as “Caribbean Grammy glory“
Caribbean music has been recorded since the early 1900s — Lovey’s Original Trinidad String Band was recorded in 1912, five years before jazz was first recorded. Since that time, the industry of music in the islands, and the influence of music from these islands and its creators have made an impact on developing music genres in the Americas — jazz and hip hop figure prominently, as discussed in previous issues of Caribbean Beat. Many island musicians look for ways to gauge the success of their music, their unique craft that can signal to the world that the musical output of Caribbean people has and deserves accolades beyond chauvinistic passion. Music awards are more than simplistic symbols of external validation, but act as markers for the burgeoning island industries and those artists that acknowledge their Caribbean DNA in their music, and their influence in a global music marketplace. The Grammy Awards are one such marker.
The presenting body, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), was founded in 1957, just one year after Harry Belafonte’s Calypso album became the US’s first million seller outselling Elvis Presley that year, and changing the musical tastes of Americans forever, and the first Grammy ceremony was held in 1958. In the subsequent decades a range of regional genres have been recognised with golden gramophone statuettes within specialised categories.
Traditional and contemporary Spanish-language island music genres and styles — bachata and merengue from the Dominican Republic, salsa and Afro-Cuban music from Cuba — have the Best Tropical Latin Album Grammy as a target, while reggaeton, Puerto Rico’s gift to the world, has the recently-created Best Música Urbana Album Grammy earmarked as a favoured award. Multiple winners Puerto Rican Bad Bunny, Panamanian of St Lucian descent Rubén Blades, and Cuban Gloria Estefan, and more define island excellence. (Note that more than 50% of the Caribbean’s 46 million people have Spanish as their first language, and 90% of all native Spanish speakers globally live in the Americas.)
NARAS declares, “the Grammy remains the highest honour in music — bar none!” More recently it also noted that it “continues to embrace a truly global mindset and seeks to engage and celebrate the current scope of music from around the world.” Many Caribbean musicians take that sentiment to heart as annual music submissions towards nominations and awards increase, as well as new membership by Caribbean nationals grow. For example, in 2024, a “whopping” 75 projects were submitted to the Grammy voters for Best Reggae Album consideration, up from 65 the year before.
Beginning in 1985, NARAS gave an award for Best Reggae Recording, changing names in 1992 to Best Reggae Album for newly recorded original vocal or instrumental reggae albums, including roots reggae, dancehall and ska music. In the 40 years these awards have been given out, one of the children of legend Bob Marley has been a recipient as a solo artist, a group member or a producer. The family award chest is bursting with sons Steven (8 statuettes), Ziggy (7), Damien “Jr. Gong” (4) and Julien (1), and daughters Cedella and Sharon each having three statuettes as members of the Melody Makers, all making a statement about legacy. Legends Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear and Bunny Wailer and modern stars like Sean Paul and Koffee all won showcasing the breadth of recognition and the continuing well of reggae talent enriching the world.
In Trinidad and Tobago, there is an ongoing effort since 2021 to increase the membership of soca music producers regionally by carving out a space for submissions towards the new Best Global Music Performance Grammy, “reserved for performances with strong elements of global cultural significance that blend music forms and techniques found in pop, R&B, dance, rap, and folk with unique music forms, local expressions and techniques found among the global diaspora originating outside the United States.” Soca super-producer Kasey Phillips, a leader in the push to include soca music in the Grammys said, “if we don’t have people who rep the culture we can’t make it past the first hurdle or round…We now have a seat at the table and we now have a voice, we aren’t just members, we are voting members and it is important for local producers and creators to have that voice, it is a step in the right direction.”
Small steps, noting the history of native Trinidadian music presence at the Grammys. At the 14th Annual Grammy Awards in 1972, The Esso Trinidad Steel Band was nominated for Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording for their self-titled album released in 1971, a singular pioneering achievement for the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. Bahamian junkanoo band the Baha Men won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2001 with their cover of soca song “Who Let the Dogs Out” (non-winner Moby called it a “novelty” song, poor thing); composer and original singer Anslem Douglas from Trinidad was not eligible for a statuette. Neither was Trinidadian soca star Bunji Garlin who was one featured artist on the 2016 Best Dance/Electronic Album winner, Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü. Rules are rules, but persistence pays off.
Not everyone, however, is a fan of Grammys; some say “why do we need validation from abroad? We can have our own awards. We can celebrate our own genres beyond reggaeton, reggae and dancehall, including calypso/soca, konpa, bouyon.” Two iterations of a Caribbean Music Awards — initially from 1990-1995 and re-established in 2023 to present — begin to fill that critical void. Others observe that in the global competitive world of music they work in, a Grammy is a plus for any career. Islanders count Barbadian Rihanna’s nine awards, and Trinidadians Heather Headley’s and Billy Ocean’s single awards each, and also wonder when will the Queen of Rap, Nicki Minaj, win her first Grammy.
Theron Thomas of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands won the 2024 Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical Grammy award for his body of work on songs by Lil Durk, Tyla, Chloe Bailey, Ciara and Chris Brown, Cordae, Big Boss Vette and Jungkook. That momentous win, voted on by all NARAS members, made him a home-town hero with accolades from the Governor and Commissioners of the USVI. “I from the Virgin Islands, I got an accent to prove it.” That Virgin Island creole resonated widely as he ended his acceptance speech with the bold affirmation: “Virgin Islands in this mudda skunt, ayo done kno’ how we does go on!” Island brio at it’s best.
Thomas noted that, “Coming from St. Thomas we grew up with a non-genre radio…There’s no rhythmic, there’s no pop, there’s no urban format where we’re from. We grew up with hip hop, R&B, pop, reggae, calypso, country music – all on the same radio station! We never grew up thinking of genres. We just loved music. We were just like ‘Yo I like music, and I like that song’.” That diverse music choice of allowed him to sell his songs to Rihanna, Beyoncé, Lizzo, Adam Levine, and Miley Cyrus. Thomas follows in the legacy of Trinidadian-American songwriters Ralph MacDonald (1982 Best Rhythm and Blues Song for “Just the Two of Us”) and Angela Hunte (2011 Best Rap Song, “Empire State of Mind”) who had gone “beyond the confines of cultural heritage.”
The broader Caribbean presence outside of Latin music on the Grammy Awards stage is limited despite the input of many. The vast output of the varied Latin music styles that constitute the fastest growing music ecosystem in the world is a template to be followed. A kind of levelling of the playing field is sought by NARAS with its embrace of global sounds, and celebration of unique music cultures from these islands, beyond reggae and the Latin/Spanish-speaking categories. The Grammys remain a bellwether of artistic accomplishment for many regionally. The roll call and tally of Caribbean achievements in recorded music continues. That golden gramophone statuette is still a desired mark of music merit.
© 2025, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.
Addendum:
The 67th Grammy Awards were given out on February 2 in Los Angeles. The Caribbean presence and heritage was everywhere from Musical Theatre to Tropical Latin and Latin Jazz. Caribbean winners were Puerto Rican rapper Residente winning Best Música Urbana Album for his album Las Letras Ya No Importan, and the Best Reggae Album went to Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By The Film (Deluxe) performed by various artists including Puerto Rican Farruko and Jamaicans Shenseea, Skip Marley and Bob’s grand-daughter Mystic.
