The announcement that dancehall artistes Vybz Kartel and Shenseea were shortlisted for the 2025 Reggae Grammy Award rehashed a decades-old, controversial argument among the masses.

Pundits believed that for a music industry as globally impactful as Jamaica’s, it was high time The Recording Academy dedicated a separate award to each genre.

Today, an international voice has joined the conversation as the 2026 Grammy Awards inch closer.

According to an article published by Billboard magazine last month, “[I]t’s beyond time for the Grammys to split this category into best reggae album and best dancehall album,” suggested the piece.

Outlining that the 2025 list of nominees came with Vybz Kartel’s shocker of a nod, Billboard said the 2026 shortlist could come with just as much surprise.

The international music magazine shared that not only is Vybz Kartel a repeat contender, but there have also been submissions from several other dancehall artistes, including Valiant, Skillibeng, Ding Dong, and 450.

Billboard shared that, of the submissions, Valiant and Skillibeng have the best shot at coming away with a nomination.

Valiant’s Prove Them Wrong album, as well as Skillibeng’s project dubbed International, stand the best chance after the former landed a spot on Billboard staff’s mid-year Best Albums of 2025 list, and the latter boasts the backing of RCA Records and the recent glow of Shake It to the Max.

Billboard’s article shared that, while Kartel’s submission this year lacks the immediate glow of his release from prison, the “Worl’ Boss” could earn his second nomination on just the merit of his name and globally endearing persona.

“Last year’s biggest story was Vybz Kartel finally earning his first Grammy nomination. This year, Worl’ Boss is contending with Heart & Soul, which lacks both a standout hit single and the immediate glow of his release from prison. Then again, it’s not like Party With Me, which earned him a nod here last year, had a massive hit either, but it’s hard to deny the magnitude of Kartel’s name,” the article read.

On the reggae side, Billboard taps Lila Ike (Treasure Self Love), Mojo Morgan (Jamaica Love), and Keznamdi (Blxxd & Fyah) as possible contenders.

The international music magazine said all three entertainers are gunning for their first individual nod and have each mounted strong campaigns. The source also shared that King Jammy, through his effort, King Jammy Unites the Nation with Dub and Niney the Observer, with his Niney the Observer project, could also earn their first nod. No Place Like Home by Jesse Royal has also been tapped by Billboard as a strong nomination contender.

An AI-assisted album could also make the shortlist interesting. According to Billboard, “Adrian Donsome Hanson’s Dem Can’t Stop My Joy (Rastafari Forever), a collaboration with AI-generated band Forever Rootz Band, is looking to write the next chapter in the Grammys’ relationship with AI.”

“At the most recent Grammys ceremony in February, The Beatles’ Now and Then, which used AI to ‘[clean] up some existing recordings’, won Best Rock Performance,” the article outlined, while also stating that, in 2023, ghost writers for an AI-generated song inspired by Drake and The Weeknd was deemed ineligible for consideration.

When the arguments for a dancehall Grammy was reignited earlier this year, Donna Hope, a professor of culture, gender, and society on the Mona campus of The University of the West Indies and a staunch advocate for Jamaica’s popular music, told the Jamaica Observer that the Grammys grouping of all genres of music coming out of Jamaica stirs controversy every year, but said she does not foresee The Recording Academy making any distinctions any time soon.

Vybz Kartel (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Lila Iké.

Jesse Royal in performance at Sizzla’s Rise to the Occasion. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

Entertainer Ding Dong (centre) and members of his Ravers Clavers group perform during the launch of his From Ding Dong to World Ding album at Romeich Entertainment’s headquarters in Kingston on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

Skillibeng.

Valiant.