Music

Joss Stone named 'Reggae Artist of the Year' over Bob Marley

by Jesse Locke

From “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae” to Axl Rose to the ongoing existence of Magic!, there are plenty of baffling examples of reggae appropriation. However, Billboard‘s 2015 crowning of British singer Joss Stone as ‘Reggae Artist of the Year’ (beating out Bob Marley and the Wailers) has left fans shaking their heads.

Earlier this summer, Stone was encouraged by her former SuperHeavy bandmate Damian “Junior Gong” Marley to release the reggae album Water For Your Soul. It has gone on to sell over 27,000 copies (not bad by 2015 standards), beating out Bob Marley and The Wailers’ Easy Skanking In Boston ’78 live album, issued back in February. Billboard gave Stone’s album a 2/5 review, saying it “fell flat”, but still placed it at the top of their year-end list purely based on numbers.

It’s unclear whether listeners know sales are the deciding factor here, but the headline “Joss Stone, Reggae Artist of the Year” was enough to get them wailing. Here are a few of the funniest responses below:

[h/t Uproxx]