Singjay Queen Ifrica captured nine nominations in the 29th annual International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA), and has gone where no other women had gone before in the history of IRAWMA. The official announcement was made exclusively on IRIE FM Radio and CVM TV in Jamaica at 7:15am, yesterday.

The IRAWMA Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday May 2 at the York College Performing Arts Centre, Jamaica, Queens, New York.

Queen Ifrica, who will also be performing at the awards ceremony on May 2, in New York, was nominated in the following categories: Recording Artiste of the Year, Best Female Vocalist, Best Song (Lioness On the Rise), Best album/CD (Montego Bay), Best Female Disc-Jockey/Rapper, Best Music Video, (Stay Far), Most Cultural/Educational Entertainer, Songwriter of the Year and the Community Service Award.

Other leading nominees include: Tarrus Riley with six nominations, Machel Montano and Gramps Morgan with five each, Julian Marley, Sean Paul and Macka Diamond with four nods, followed by Barbee, Beenie Man and Vybz Kartel with three nod each.

India.Arie received two nods, one for Therapy with Gramps Morgan and the other is the Martin’s International Award of Honour; several other entertainers were nominated in two categories.

Among the performers for the 29th IRAWMA, are Julian Marley, Machel Montano, Queen Ifrica, Tony Rebel, Alison Hinds, Gramps Morgan, Bar-bee, Dean Fraser, Winsome Benjamin and a host of other international reggae, and world music superstars.

Fans can visit www.irawma.com to vote for their picks best for the year 2009. The deadline for voting is April 15.