SOJA marches off with reggae Grammy
VIRGINIA-BASED group SOJA won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album at the 64th ceremony at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in April.
The group won for Beauty in The Silence, over Spice (10), Gramps Morgan (Positive Vibrations), Sean Paul (Live N Livin), Etana (Pamoja), and Jesse Royal (Royal).
They became the first American act and second non-Jamaican artiste (after Steel Pulse) to win the Best Reggae Album category.
This was SOJA’s third nomination in the category. They were previously nominated for Live in Virginia (2017) and Amid The Noise, And The Haste (2015).
There were dissenting voices about SOJA’s historic win.
Cristy Barber, a Grammy-nominated producer and music industry veteran, feels SOJA — whom she has worked with for the past decade — deserved the win.
“I’m really shocked that people are shocked that SOJA got it. They’re a band that’s been around 25 years and they didn’t just pop up. This is a movement that’s been all over the world. I mean, reggae music is the most important genre in the world. We inspire nations, so it shouldn’t shock people that people of other religions and colours want to pay homage to this industry, which is what I’ve done for 30 years,” she said.
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