Title: Shaggy, Marley brothers earn Grammy nominations

Excerpt: Rather unfamiliar names head the nominees list for Best Reggae Album at the 54th annual Grammy Awards in February 2012.

Previous Grammy-Winning Dancehall/Reggae superstars, Shaggy as well as Stephen Marley and Ziggy Marley are three of the five contenders for the Reggae award at next year’s show. Stephen and Ziggy Marley are each vying for their third Grammy while Shaggy will look for his second award.

Title: No Reggae, No Rock?

Excerpt: Rock or reggae? That seemed to be the only question Wednesday night when Chris Rene, Santa Cruz’s latest “reality singing” phenom, competed in the Fox-TV's top 10 competition of The X Factor.

Excerpt: After the song, Judge Simon Cowell chastised L.A. Reid, Rene’s mentor in the competition, saying, “It would have been great if this week was reggae music.”

Excerpt: The Twitter audience seemed to side with Cowell, though, with tweets like this—“I’m ready for Chris Rene to go home” and “Chris Rene messed up one of the best songs ever by one of the greatest artists ever.”

Title: Right-handed people don't care for reggae

Excerpt: An Ohio researcher has found that people with a strong preference for using their right hand for most everything they do, seem to like popular types of music and tend to shy away from less familiar genres, especially bluegrass and reggae.

Excerpt: The research also found that people who are mixed-handed, meaning they use their non-dominant hand for at least two activities but it does not mean ambidextrous, reported broader musical interests. They showed greater "open-earedness," or a stronger liking of unpopular musical styles and more willingness to listen to them.

Excerpt: Still, those interests can expand. Christman advises strong-handed people to keep exposing yourself to new forms of music and listening to unfamiliar genres. "Give the music a little time, and you may find yourself developing a liking for it and rewarded by broader musical horizons."

Title: Sinead O'Connor goes reggae again

Excerpt: The single — a melodic anthem told from the female perspective — was produced by Jamaican Kemar 'Flava' McGregor, and will be included on his upcoming compilation of various artistes, Club Dance Riddim, which is scheduled to hit the digital market later this year.

Excerpt: O'Connor's new single represents the continuation of her longtime penchant for reggae music, as she plans to collaborate with McGregor to produce additional reggae tracks with her during 2012, McGregor said. The single tells the story of a woman's desire to speak freely about her lovemaking needs, and to openly celebrate the pleasures of the physical.
"The song is about how it is generally considered unseemly for women to express their desire for adult, consensual, respectful, and healthy sex, and how sex generally is a difficult subject for us all to discuss — yet underneath it all, we all want it, ideally with 'Mr or Mrs Right,' but there's nothing wrong with loving 'Mr or Mrs Wrong' while you're waiting," said O'Connor.