The Canadian reggae community was shocked to learn that the Reggae Recording of the Year category will no longer be part of the annual JUNO Awards in 2025, according to the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).
Members of the JUNO reggae committee were privately informed of the news, which caused some uncertainty and anxiety.
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Sources who were privy to the communication said that while the statement was vague, it alluded to a variety of reasons for the choice, including dwindling streaming figures, lower sales, recurrent submissions, and the domination of the same artists year after year.
Several Canadian reggae artists to whom this reporter has sought out have declined to provide comments for the record.
As one past JUNO winner and music producer remarked: “It’s unfortunate; I don’t really have a proper comment to make.”
The Best Reggae/Calypso Recording category was first created by the JUNOS Awards in 1985, and it remained in place until 1991. 1992 and 1993 saw no awards given; during that period, reggae records were included in the newly created World Beat Recording category.
The category known as Best Reggae Recording was first presented in 1994 and was renamed Reggae Recording of the Year in 2002.
Carrie Mullings, a second-generation Jamaican living in Canada, remarked in an interview with a local newspaper: “I had the pleasure of being the chair for the reggae category for 12 years, a bit long, and I was on the committee for five years before that. So, I was involved 17 years in total.”
She gave notice of her resignation in 2022.
Mullings noted, “My resignation came about because of many reasons. I was in the position for 12 years and when trying to seek another chair to take on the position there were no volunteers, so I remained in the position. I had a mission while I was there, and that was to defend reggae and to defend our Canadian reggae artists.”
She continued by stating that the announcement of the JUNOS dropping the reggae category had caused a backlash across Canada. She had received calls from both musicians and leaders of black groups expressing their disapproval of the decision made by the Junos.
“I can’t even count the ways that this news has affected the community. To have the most prestigious award in Canada remove reggae is so disheartening. When we’re in a time of peace, love, and unity, in trying to raise a flag of consciousness across the world, in a time where people are suffering the most, we know that mental wellness can be achieved by the words and lyrics spoken and sung by reggae musicians and ambassadors in reggae music… to have that same conscious message that needs to resonate around the world, so it is affecting our community a great deal,” Mullings noted.
When asked how the Junos’ move had changed the neighborhood, Mullings responded as follows: “I can only speak on what may be affecting our community. And, out of the categories that have been removed, I understand that what is affecting our community the most are reggae and gospel.”
Nonetheless, Mullings believes that improved therapy might result from increased vocal cooperation within the fraternity.
“We need to come together, we need to organize, and we need to be a collective voice about the decision-making. We’ve spent many years involved in the JUNOS [and] we’ve also had many submissions. We have to learn to stop fighting one another. I’ve spent many years defending reggae and defending artistes; it’s time for us to do better, be better,” she noted.
It is acknowledged that Canada’s version of the Grammy Awards is the Junos. Leroy Sibbles, Nana McLean, Lenn Hammond, Blessed, Mikey Dangerous, Sonia Collymore, Humble, Exco Levi, Kairo McLean, and Kafinal are a few of the reggae artists that have won throughout the years.
