Reggae singer Gramps Morgan is revelling in the critical acclaim of his Grammy-nominated solo project, Positive Vibration , and described the making of this album as the best experience of his musical career.

The album goes up against five other albums in the Best Reggae Album category at the Grammy Awards set for the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on January 31.

“Of course, it is a little different this time around. It’s my first time as a solo artiste. I have had nominations and win before with Morgan Heritage, as well as a songwriter and producer, so this time, to be out there solo is different but something that I am so thankful for,” he told the Jamaica Observer during a telephone interview.

“I want to tell you that this album came about out of pure innocence. This pandemic forced me to look into myself. I met songwriter Johnny Reid and he introduced me to the song People Like You and one song led to another song which led to a whole album and now it is nominated for a Grammy… I am so grateful,” Morgan continued.

Positive Vibration —recorded in Nashville, Tennessee; Toronto, Canada; and Kingston, Jamaica — skilfully blends reggae and other genres of Jamaican music with the likes of country music to produce what Morgan calls a harmonious blend.

“It’s great to be recognised by the academy. The truth is the Grammy Awards is not about the artiste’s popularity or album sales or how your video looks, as is the case with the MTV Music Video Awards, it’s truly about the quality of your body of work and this body of work is indeed special,” he said.

Morgan explained that for the first time in his career he allowed himself to be led, unlike previous projects in which he wrote and produced so many of the tracks.

“Not every artiste is a songwriter, and not every songwriter has what it takes to make it as an artiste. Working on this album was so incredible and inspiring. I could just forget about everything and focus on what I was there to do… just be the artiste and be produced. This is an experience I want to take back to my industry as I work with act as a producer. Then there was the quality of the production. In the past I was singing into a [US]$3,000 or $4,000 microphone. For this, I always had my ginger tea in studio, the air quality and temperature was perfect, plus I am singing into a $25,000 microphone and you hear the difference when compared to previous recordings done on a tour bus or hotel room,” said Morgan.

While disappointed that the pandemic has prevented him from performing for a live audience to promote Positive Vibration, he noted that the current global health crisis has presented some positives.

“If it wasn’t for the pandemic there would be no album. Morgan Heritage was booked for a five-month tour of Europe when this all happened and it was at that time that we said to each other let us use the time to work on projects that have been on the shelf for a while. So, in a way, it is a blessing, but I still can’t wait to hit the stage and sing for the people,” said Morgan.

Positive Vibration will compete alongside Etana with Pamoja, Sean Paul’s Live N Livin, Jesse Royal with his project Royal, Spice’s debut album 10, and Beauty in the Silence from American band SOJA.