Music ‘bible’, Billboard, lists Sean Paul as the reggae artiste of the year and decade, whilst Shaggy’s Hotshot was listed as the 15th most selling album of the 2000s.

Paul beat Matisyahu and Bob Marley & the Wailers for second and third respectively for 2009 artiste of the year based on just released chart data from Billboard, the US based music company.

For artiste of the decade the order of the runners-up was reversed with Marley taking second to Paul. In 2008, the late Bob Marley was the top act followed by Collie Buddz and Stephen Marley. Billboard stated that the top reggae artiste of the decade ranking was based on an artiste’s chart performance. During the year Sean Paul hit number one on the charts and sold slightly more copies than Matisyahu, however neither artiste surpassed 80,000 units in the US market.

Billboards also ranked the top selling albums of the decade using sales data from Nielsen SoundScan. It called that chart the Best Billboard Reggae Albums of the 2000s which included:

*Sean Paul’s Dutty Rock;

*Sean Paul’s Trinity;

*Damian Jr Gong Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock;

*Bob Marley’s Chant Down Babylon;

*Matisyahu Live at Stubbs;

*Soundtrack for 50 First Dates;

*Matisyahu’s Youth;

*Bob Marley and the Wailers’ One Love;

*Beenie Man’s Art and Life; and

*Kevin Lyttle’s self-titled album

Shaggy’s album Hotshots sold more than the above list combined, however it was not categorised as a reggae album. Hotshots was the 15th most selling album in North America in the 2000s selling more than albums released by popstars including Alicia Keys, 50 Cent and Linkin Park. Billboard did not disclose the actual sales but Hotshots is known to have sold upwards of six million copies in that market and more than 10 million worldwide.

N’Sync’s No Strings Attached was the top selling album of the 2000s, followed by Usher’s Confessions and Eminem’s The Eminem Show. Interestingly, Eminem was artiste of the 2000s, he was the only artiste that had two entries in the top 10 for albums with most sales in the 2000s.

The Billboard’s Best Reggae Albums of the 2000s complements a recent Observer compiled list which ranked reggae albums in terms of the number of weeks on the Billboard charts. Chart longevity indicated that the albums were not only popular but had that timeless quality as sales continued well beyond their release dates.

The Observer Top 10 reggae albums of 2000s were:

1. Shaggy’s Hotshots (MCA) which completely transcended the reggae charts and charted 84 weeks on Billboard 200 and peaked at number 1, it was produced by Jimmy Jam, Tony Kelly, Terry Lewis, Robert Livingston, Shaggy, Christopher Birch, Gordon Dukes and Shaun ‘Sting Int’l’ Pizzonia;

2. Matisyahu’s Live at Stubbs (Sony) which charted for 208 and 26 weeks on Reggae Albums and Billboard 200 respectively and was produced by Michael Caplan and Angelo Montrone;

3. Damian Marley’s Half Way Tree (Motown Records) which charted 158 weeks on Reggae Albums, produced by David Cole, Stephen Marley, Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley and Kid Nyce;

4. Mr Lover Lover: The Best of Shaggy, Part 1 (Virgin) which charted 130 weeks and was produced by Lynford ‘Fatta’ Marshall, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Robert Livingston, Collin ‘Bulbie’ York, Sting International and Shaun ‘Sting Int’l’ Pizzonia;

5. Sean Paul’s Dutty Rock (VP) which charted 105 and 85 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200 respectively;

6. Damian Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock (Tuff Gong) which charted for 105 and 34 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200 respectively, produced by Stephen Marley, Damian “Junior Gong” Marley;

7. Sean Paul’s The Trinity (Atlantic) which charted for 104 and 52 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200 respectively and was produced by Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden, Jeremy Harding, Marlon Cooke, Jason ‘Jigzagula Jason’ Henriques, Craig Parks, Donovan ‘Vendetta’ Bennett, Lionel Bermingham, Delano Thomas, Elijah Wells, Dwayne ‘Supa Dups”‘ Chin Quee, Omari Stines, Michael ‘Factor’ Jarrett;

8. Scrolls of the Prophet: The Best of Peter Tosh which charted for 104 weeks and was produced by Bruce Dickinson, Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd, Peter Tosh, Robbie Shakespeare;

9. Bob Marley’s Gold which charted for 104 weeks it was produced by Bob Marley, Steve Smith, Chris Blackwell, Errol Brown, Ingmar Kiang, Lee Scratch Perry, Alex Sadkin, The Wailers, Trevor Wyatt; and

10. The Very Best of UB40 1980-2000 which charted for 103 weeks produced by UB40, Ray Falconer, Howard Gray and Gerry Parchment.