THERE ARE PLENTY OF REGGAE/DANCEHALL ALBUMS, BUT FEW TAKERS!

Strictly Roots by Morgan Heritage won Best Reggae Album at the 58th Grammy Awards on February 15, but unlike their pop counterparts, it has not got a major sales boost.

Released on the group’s CTBC label, Strictly Roots has sold 6,005 copies in the United States. A week after the Grammys, the album sold 268 copies; last week, it moved an additional 128 copies.

The Morgan Heritage set is a reflection of continued downward sales for reggae and dancehall. The number one album on the Billboard Reggae Album Chart, Set in Stone by California dub band Stick Figure, sold 280 copies over the past week.

Released in November 2015, Set in Stone has to date sold 11,586 copies.

 

Theory of Reggaetivity, the third studio effort from Assassin aka Agent Sasco, was released digitally on February 19. It debuts at number three on the Billboard Reggae chart with sales of 233 copies.Atlantic Records artistes Kranium sold 43 copies over the past week for his debut album Rumors. Released last October, it has clocked 1,762 copies.

Of the top 50 reggae albums, only six other titles posted double-digit figures. Last year’s top reggae seller, Water For Your Soul by British soul singer Joss Stone, has so far sold 31,640 copies. It sold 209 copies last week.

Iration, another California band, released their fourth studio album Hotting Up in August. The set has so far sold 13,192 copies.

Jah Cure’s The Cure, released by VP Records in July last year, has sold 16,926 copies, while Easy Skanking in Boston 78 by Bob Marley & the Wailers has sold 17, 530.

Two of VP Records’ long-running compilations registered reasonable numbers.

Reggae Gold 2015 has sold 31,172, while Soca Gold 2015 has moved 17,362.

In contrast, there are dismal sales for Vybz Kartel’s Dancehall Hero Raw Deluxewhich was released on January 29. It has sold 49 copies, while soca star Machel Montano’s Monk Evolution, released a month ago, has sold 799 copies.