Popcaan is urging players in the entertainment fraternity to make more globally appealing music. His call came via social media yesterday.

“Let’s try to work harder to make our music more appealing to the wider audiences worldwide. We have so much talented artist on our island, but our problem is sometimes we have more ego than hits and it will never work,” he wrote in part.

The deejay’s message is quite timely, as this year marks the 50th anniversary of reggae.

“I see our music going so far in my visions and I am honestly going to make that vision a reality with the few artist them that actually trying to fight for our music the right way and working towards making more international music. Man them can always sing them bag a gun song them because it’s a part of the thing, I will still sing them too but don’t expect to see none on the Billboard,” he said.

Last year’s biggest selling reggae album was Sting and Shaggy’s collaborative effort 44/876. To date, the set has sold more than 53,000 copies. It also won Best Reggae Album category in Grammy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles last February.

The other nominees in the category were Reggae Forever – Etana; A Matter of Time – Protoje; As the World Turns — Black Uhuru; and Rebellion Rises — Ziggy Marley.

Popcaan tipped his hat to the artistes before him who were still keeping Jamaica’s flag high.

“And to the ones who fwd (forward) before me and still holding up, respect goes out in a major way,” he said. “God bless my island and my industry.”

Popcaan (given name Andre Sutherland) is a former member of Vybz Kartel’s Gaza Empire. The winner of two British MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards, he is known for songs including Clarks (with Kartel), Family, Firm and Strong, and Unruly.