CHART WATCH ITUNES Seven of top 10 albums are by Jamaicans
IT HAS taken three 2017 releases to join four longstanding staples on the iTunes Reggae Albums Chart, but for the first time in many a moon, albums by Jamaican performers comprise the majority of the full-length sets on the listing. This was up to yesterday morning. Two of those performers – Damian ‘Jr Gong’ Marley and Bob Marley – are responsible for five top-10 albums between them, with reggae revivalists Jesse Royal and Chronixx weighing in with one each.
The younger Marley is top of the heap with this year’s Stony Hill, with the ever-present pair of Legend albums by Bob Marley and the Wailers in second and third, respectively, the Remastered Edition again ahead of the Deluxe packaging.
In fifth position is Chronixx’s 2017 set, Chronology, while the most recent release of the six albums, Jesse Royal’s Lily of da Valley, is in seventh spot.
In No. 8 is Damian Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock set, the Bob Marley and the Wailer’s Gold album in the 10th spot.
Completing the top 10 reggae albums listing is Stick Figures
Set in Stone at number four, the sixth-placed new release Solstice by THUNDER BODY and Landon McNamara’s A Dollar Short & A Minute Late in ninth position.
The consistent Til Shiloh ,by Buju Banton is 24th, just ahead of Popcaan’s Where We Come From, which has made a dramatic leap from the lower regions of the chart, where it has regularly placed previously. Shaggy and Chronixx, with the Boombastic Collection and Dread & Terrible, respectively, are in the 29th and 30th positions.
The Mhm hm Riddim EP ld by Vybz Kartel’s title track is in the No. 43 spot. Also on the EP is Ishawna’s Walking Dead, I Octane’s Ready When You Ready, and Bingi Banga’s Bad Before Raw.
Another new compilation, Reggae Jammin, Volume 4, is the 44th-placed set. Included on the various artistes set are Tarrus Riley’s Just the Way You Are, Jah Cure’s Pressure We Hard, Etana’s My Man, Aidonia’s Yeah Yeah, Christopher Martin’s Prettiest Thing, and Alaine’s Stronger.
Vybz Kartel’s Pon Di Gaza 2.0 is at No. 75, and, in its 20th anniversary year, Sizzla’s Black Woman and Child makes the listing at No. 81. Buju Banton’s