THE EDITOR, Sir:

According to the information posted on the website, www.grammy.com, "the Grammy Award is voted on by The Recording Academy's 11,000 voting members, which include singers, songwriters, producers, engineers and other industry professionals."

Now, tell me please, what do these 11,000 persons know about reggae? What qualifies them to be the judges of/the authority on reggae music? How do they know what makes for award-winning reggae music? Even if Jamaicans are included in this number (a handful, if any, I suspect) what do the other thousands of voters know about reggae music?

Wasn't it Jamaica who gave reggae to the world? So how is it that someone else is the judge of/authority on what makes for award-winning reggae music? This makes absolutely no sense to me. How can someone else be the authority on something that is the very essence of and indigenous to the Jamaican people? Imagine a foreigner coming to tell us how to speak Jamaican patois?

In the words of Tony Rebel: "Is not political act, is not coke or crack, is reggae put Jamaica on top." As such, the authority to judge what makes for award-winning reggae music should not be for anyone else to claim. At the risk of sounding 'cliché-ish' give credit where credit is due. We cannot and should not let this one go the way that our origination of 'deejaying' went.

Those who recall the days when sound systems began to appear on the scene in Jamaica, will remember the characteristic with which the selector would introduce the songs. It was this characteristic style that gave birth to 'deejaying', with King Stitch being one of the first Jamaicans, both in Jamaica and the world, to record this style on wax (vinyl). This style was later adopted and branded by the Americans as rapping.

Never should we allow or tolerate the watering down of Jamaica's synonymity with reggae (and dancehall) in any way conceivable, be it originating /making the music, singing the music or judging the music. We have, by far, too rich a musical heritage for this to be the case. Other persons have certainly realised this. Where else in the world do foreigners go to learn/study reggae music?

It is a fact that there are foreigners who freely capture our various styles of music and dancing on their cameras, camcorders etc. while going from place to place in Jamaica. They then proceed to either adopt the style or create their own productions of same for sale, no wonder why they can so gleefully say: "Jamaica, no problem mon". And, of course, one of the greatest testimonies to the richness of our musical heritage is the fact that it is now 26 years since Bob Marley's death, yet his legacy is as strong as ever.

So apt are the words of Wayne Chen, CEO of Super Plus Food Stores, when he recently declared: "JAMAICA IS A MUSICAL SUPER POWER. We may take it for granted, but foreigners love our music."

Interestingly, I had the opportunity to visit Amsterdam last year where I saw plastered on quite a few walls of a metro (electric railway) station, posters advertising an event entitled "DUTTYÉÉ." - the remaining words were in Dutch. Could this perhaps have something to do with dutty wine from Jamaica I wondered? Interestingly, the names of the artistes for the event did not resemble or amount to any of those from Jamaica as far as I could infer. What was more, when I stepped into some of the souvenir shops in Amsterdam, I swore that I was back in Jamaica but did not realise it, given the significant amount of Bob Marley souvenirs which were for sale. It certainly crossed my mind to enquire whether or not these souvenirs were being sold legitimately.

Big up to the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA, www.javaa.com.jm) for their noble efforts to protect and preserve Jamaica's rich musical heritage. Ziggy Marley yuh large! As Miss Lou would say: "oonu clap 'im!!!"

I am, etc.,

Tricia Chung