One of the artists whose works have been received for consideration for ‘The Best Reggae Album’ nomination at the 67th Grammy Awards, Taj Weekes has argued that Bob Marley is the greatest ever and does not need a Grammy to prove anything.
Taj Weekes asserts that Bob Marley is the greatest, everybody knows him and there will never be anybody as great as he was, so it is now time to do some other things and get the stories told in new ways for the new generation.
“Bob Marley is the greatest and he does not need a Grammy to prove anything. I think he has everything; the whole world knows him already and giving him another feather in his cap is never going to change anything” Weekes said in an interview with Blakk Rasta on the 3FM Urban Blend show in Accra on October 17 from his base in New York via zoom.
Taj is of the view that had it not been the nepotism and politics surrounding the Grammy Awards, he should have been counting a couple of Grammys to his credit.
“If it is truly about arts and not about nepotism and politics, I would have won six Grammys already. I am here to make art; I know I make good art, and it is not everybody who is going to get it but that doesn’t lessen the value of the art” he stressed.
He went on to say that as much as the Grammy elevates artists in the eyes of the people, he will rather be a Tony Morrison who he considers as an incredible writer but not so popular than being a Daniel Steel who makes popular music and makes millions from selling what he calls trash.
When asked how his music and personality is received by Jamaicans, Taj Weekes who hails from St. Lucia and based in New York mentioned that he does not lower himself to allow anybody to treat him as such, hence he doesn’t feel Jamaicans look down on him or his craft because he is not from Jamaica as some non-Jamaican reggae artists may have experienced.
He acknowledges that reggae music was created in Jamaica and remains thankful to Jamaica for creating such an incredible genre of music, but the music cannot be contained in one geographical location because it is not water.
“A seed was planted and the tree grew and branches of that tree grew over other fences, and its fruit dropped in those yards and grew into other trees. So even if I am three to six trees down the line, I am still from the original root because in the end all these boil down to African music, and we are all African people” Taj elaborated.
Taj Weekes’ album, ‘ Eye to See’ is contending for a Grammy nomination as ‘Best Reggae Album’ with Bob Marley’s ‘One love’ and Blakk Rasta’s ‘Salaga Soljah’ among seventy-two others.
Riding on the back of a highly successful biopic Bob Marley: One Love, the 10-track album titled ‘One Love’ performed by various artists like; Shenseea, Daniel Caesar, Kacey Musgraves, Bloody Civilian, Wizkid, Leon Bridges, Farruko, Jessie Reyez, Mystic Marley, and Skip Marley gives a refreshing interpretations to Bob Marley’s iconic songs making it a top Grammy contender for ‘The Best Reggae Album’ at the 67th Grammy Awards.
However, Taj says he deserves to win over Bob Marley and would be surprised if not nominated but won’t be surprised if he wins the Grammy.
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By Samuel Afriyie Owusu
