Leading the International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) nominations for the second year in a row is veteran deejay Buju Banton, who copped 11 nods for the 39th staging.
This year’s awards ceremony is set for Sunday, May 2, 2021, from Kingston, Jamaica. This will be the second virtual staging of the event.
Other reggae and dancehall artists nominated include Koffee, Popcaan, and Bounty Killer, all of whom scored nods in six categories.
Protoje, Beenie Man, and Skip Marley scored nominations in five categories, while Gramps Morgan, Tarrus Riley and Sevana received 4 bows. Other leading nominees for 2021 are Sean Paul, Shaggy, Shenseea, and Rvssian, each with 3 nominations.
The official revelation of the nominees was made at the virtual Media Launch on March 23rd, by Martin’s International President, Ephraim Martin.
At the launch, it was announced that this year’s Special Philanthropist Award will be given to Josef Bogdanovich and the 2021 inductee for the IRAWMA Hall of Fame/Lifetime Achievement Award will be Ziggy Marley for over 40 years of contribution to the reggae music industry.
The IRAWMA President said that the music industry has suffered a great loss, with well over 1000 entertainers as a direct result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Martin also said the reggae community has suffered its greatest loss of icons and foundation members in a single year since 1968.
“The 39th IRAWMA will dedicate a special segment of its broadcast celebration in memory of those icons we have lost since the start of the Pandemic. The Award for Most Cultural/Educational Entertainer will be named in the honor of Bunny Wailer. We have already named the Best Album/CD in Toots Hibbert’s honor and Best DJ/Rapper in the honor of U-Roy,” Mr. Martin stated.
More than 100 nominated reggae and world music industry members received nominations for this year’s awards.
The public voting to select the winners in all categories ends on April 20th at midnight. Visit www.irawma.com to see and vote for all the nominees.
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