The top 25 reggae albums for this decade — which ends December — was dominated by Shaggy but other dancehall artistes ranked highly, according to a list compiled by Splash.
Topping the list was Shaggy’s 2000 release Hot Shots which sold over ten million copies and was amongst the most sucessful albums of the decade. Matisyahu was second, but he also made the top 25 three times. Shaggy, Sean Paul, Sizzla, Beenie Man, UB40 and Damian Marley each made the list twice.
Music rankings are always controversial but Splash arrived at the findings, not by public opinion, but by analysing Billboard Reggae Album charts between 2000 to 2009 and ranked albums in order of weeks charted. Chart longevity indicated that the albums were not only popular but had that timeless quality as sales continued well beyond their release dates.
One caveat was that Billboard did not reflect the Jamaican pop charts, as such some breakthrough albums did not make the cut, including Vybz Kartel’s Up 2 Di Time, Baby Cham’s Ghetto Story, Lee Scratch Perry’s 2002 Grammy winning album Jamaican ET, Richie Spice’s Spice in Your Life and I-Wayne’s Lava Ground. Also missing from the top 25 was Kevin Lyttle’s gold-selling, self-titled album and Elephant Man’s Good 2 Go which ranked 27 and 28, respectively. The charts still gave insight into top albums of the decade due to the size of the North American market and its influence on global sales.
Ranking includes:
1. Shaggy’s Hotshots (MCA) which completely transcended the reggae charts and charted 84 weeks on Billboard 200 and peaked at number 1. It was produced by Jimmy Jam, Tony Kelly, Terry Lewis, Robert Livingston, Shaggy, Christopher Birch, Gordon Dukes and Shaun “Sting Int’l” Pizzonia;
2. Matisyahu’s Live at Stubbs (Sony) which charted for 208 and 26 weeks on Reggae Albums and Billboard 200, respectively and was produced by Michael Caplan and Angelo Montrone;
3. Damian Marley’s Half Way Tree (Motown Records) which charted 158 weeks on Reggae Albums, produced by David Cole, Stephen Marley, Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley and Kid Nyce;
4. Mr Lover Lover: The Best of Shaggy, Part 1 (Virgin) which charted 130 weeks and was produced by Lynford ‘Fatta’ Marshall, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Robert Livingston, Collin ‘Bulbie’ York, Sting International and Shaun ‘Sting Int’l’ Pizzonia;
5. Sean Paul’s Dutty Rock (VP) which charted 105 and 85 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200 respectively;
6. Damian Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock (Tuff Gong) which charted for 105 and 34 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200 respectively, produced by Stephen Marley, Damian “Junior Gong” Marley;
7. Sean Paul’s The Trinity (Atlantic) which charted for 104 and 52 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200, respectively, and was produced by Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden, Jeremy Harding, Marlon Cooke, Jason ‘Jigzagula Jason’ Henriques, Craig Parks, Donovan ‘Vendetta’ Bennett, Lionel Bermingham, Delano Thomas, Elijah Wells, Dwayne ‘Supa Dups”’ Chin Quee, Omari Stines, Michael ‘Factor’ Jarrett;
8. Scrolls of the Prophet: The Best of Peter Tosh, which charted for 104 weeks and was produced by Bruce Dickinson, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, Peter Tosh, Robbie Shakespeare;
9. Bob Marley’s Gold which charted for 104 weeks it was produced by by Bob Marley, Steve Smith, Chris Blackwell, Errol Brown, Ingmar Kiang, Lee Scratch Perry, Alex Sadkin, The Wailers, Trevor Wyatt;
10. The Very Best of UB40 1980-2000, which charted for 103 weeks, produced by UB40, Ray Falconer, Howard Gray and Gerry Parchment;
11. Matisyahu’s Youth (Columbia), which charted 96 and 19 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200 respectively. It was produced by Bill Laswell and Jimmy Douglass;
12. Beenie Man’s Art and Life (Virgin), which charted for 84 and 20 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200, respectively, and was produced by Tony Kelly, Salaam Remi, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo.
13. Stephen Marley’s Mind Control (Tuff Gong), which charted for 78 and 6 weeks on the Reggae Albums and Billboard 200, and was produced by Paul Fakhourie, Stephen Marley, Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley and Julian Marley;
14. Collie Buddz self-titled album (Columbia) which charted for 78 and 3 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200, respectively, it was produced by Tony Kelly, Screwface, Stephen McGregor, Curtis Lynch, Jr, Dwayne “Supa Dups” Quee, Collie Buddz and M. “Khan” Chin;
15. Ky-Mani Marley’s Radio (AAO Music) which charted for 78 weeks. It was produced by Winston Thomas, Mark Sparks, Ky Miller, Danny Schofield ‘Styles’, Larry ‘Kalid’ Chu, Jason ‘J Vibe’ Farmer and Alex ‘Lex’ Francis;
16. The Journey: The Very Best of Sizzla (Greensleeves), which charted for 76 weeks on the Reggae Albums chart and was released in 2008;
17. Shaggy’s Lucky Day (MCA), which charted for 69 and 13 weeks on the Reggae Albums and Billboard 200;
18. Skindred’s Babylon (RCA), charted for 67 and 3 weeks on the Reggae Albums and the Billboard 200, respectively. It was produced by Howard Benson, Jason Bieler, Skindred.
19. UB40 Greatest Hits (Virgin) charted for 61 weeks and was produced by UB40, Charlie Skarbek, Dan Armstrong, Ray Falconer, Howard Gray, Gerry Parchment and Danny Canaan;
20. Matisyahu’s No Place to Be (Epic) charted for 59 weeks and was produced by Bill Laswell, Robbie and Sly;
21. Mavado’s Gangsta for Life (Hardwax) charted for 58 weeks and was produced by Johnny Wonder, Bobby ‘Digital’ Dixon, Dane “Fire Links” Johnson, Michael ‘ZJ Liquid’ Brissett, Delroy ‘Delly Ranx’ Foster;
22. Beenie Man’s Tropical Storm (Virgin) charted for 56 and 9 weeks on the Reggae Albums and Billboard 200, respectively. It was produced by Dave Kelly, Sly Dunbar, Anthony Kelly, Matt Serletic, Irv Gotti, Stargate, The Neptunes, AC Burrell and W Passley;
23. Ziggy Marley’s Dragonfly (RCA Victor), charted 55 and 8 weeks on Reggae and Billboard 200, respecitively. It was produced by Ross Hogarth, Scott Litt and Ziggy Marley;
24. Sizzla’s Da Real Thing (VP), which included Thank you Mama and other classics, charted for 51 weeks. It was produced by Bobby Digital and Bobby Dixon; and
25. Buju Banton’s Friends for Life (Atlantic/VP) charted for 50 and 11 weeks on the Reggae and R&B hip hop charts, produced by Dalton Browne, Clevie, Sly Dunbar, Donovan Germain, Mark Myrie, S Stewart, Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden, Cleevie, Steelie, Jammy ‘Jam Two’ James, Cool & Dre.
Source - The Jamaica Observer
The mixtape is
aptly titled ‘So Suicidal’ which mirrors the sing jay’s track with the We The
Best label boss – Dj Khaled called Suicidal Thoughts which was the lead single
from Dj Khaled’s ‘Kiss the Ring’ album. The 26 track effort sees production
credits from some of the industry’s most talented production labels such as
DASECA, Big Ship and Chimney Records amongst others representing for the local
team. Jerry ‘Wonda’ Duplessis, the producer who helped shape Wyclef and the
Fugees’ Island-informed sound, is the man responsible for the guitar-laced
‘Souljah Girl’, other international production credits rest with Dj Khaled,
Boi-1da and T-minus. With guest
appearances from artistes such as Ace Hood, Chase Cross, Chipmunk, Meek Mill,
Buccaneer and Akon, it was of no surprise that the mixtape racked up thousands
of downloads within hours of being posted online on outlets like www.razznbiggy.com.
2012 has seen
Razz & Biggy being very busy both in the studio and in the streets, with
sold out tour dates both locally and overseas and other combination efforts
with artistes like Denyque and Bugle to their credit. In May 2012 the
critically acclaimed - ‘I am Super Girl; Denyque’s mixtape debut was dropped
and three months later in August ‘Psalms’; a strong mix of songs from the
talented Bugle was unleashed. This year has been exceptionally good to
Dancehall’s Dynamic Duo. With the end of the year fast approaching they reveal that their schedule remains just
has hectic; “the lord has really blessed us, so we just continue to do our best
in whatever we do, please the people and keep doing good work” Razz went on to
explain.
