Kartel, Masicka and Chronixx lead the 2027 reggae Grammy race

The eligibility window closed with an unusually deep field — and the first round of voting starts this week.

The line-up for Best Reggae Album at the 2027 Grammys is one of the strongest in years. Vybz Kartel is in the running again with God & Time, the 14-track LP he put out on June 5 — a nomination would make it three in a row for the Worl’Boss, following Party With Me at the 2025 ceremony and Heart & Soul at the 2026 one.

Masicka’s Forever Reign may be the one to beat: it opened at No. 4 on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart, the highest debut there by a Jamaican dancehall act this year, and carries “Honor Roll” with Kraff and “1 Psalm” with Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. Chronixx is right there with him — Exile, out October 10, 2025, entered at No. 5 and picked up some of the best reviews of his career.

The veterans didn’t sit this one out. Buju Banton’s Too Too Bad gave him his first appearance on that chart in six years, Beenie Man brings the star-heavy Eminence, Shaggy submitted Lottery, and Protoje, Alkaline, Capleton and Ai Milly are all in consideration. One cruel twist: Malie Donn’s debut The Golden Child landed September 4, days past the August 28 cutoff, so it waits for next year instead. First-round voting runs October 12–22, with the nominees named November 16.

Source: DancehallMag · Photo: Chronixx at Reggeland 2025 — Wikimedia Commons