American Reggae Band SOJA sparked controversy across social media platforms on Sunday following the announcement of their Grammy win for the Best Reggae Album.

This marks the first win and third nomination for the eight-member Virginia-based Reggae band. In 2015 SOJA scored a Grammy nomination for SOJA: Live In Virginia, and in 2017 for Amid The Noise And Haste. They copped their first Grammy win for the 2021 Grammy award for Beauty In The Silence.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness on his official Instagram account, shared a picture slide of all the nominees which he captioned, “Jamaica gave the world Reggae, huge congratulations to our Grammy-nominated Reggae Artistes.”

The PM continued, “Congratulations to SOJA on their win and for acknowledging the huge influence of Jamaica on their craft.”

SOJA’s win sparked controversy among many Jamaicans across social media platforms with some arguing that the Grammys got it wrong. While others say it’s a slap in the face to Jamaicans and a disrespect to our music and culture, and some question how SOJA could win over Sean Paul, Spice, Jesse Royal, Gramps Morgan, and Etana.

Another user wrote, “if we don’t support the music, then situations like this will occur.”

Meanwhile, fellow Grammy-nominated entertainers Etana and Gramps Morgan have publicly congratulated SOJA on their Grammy win.

Etana tweeted, “Congratulations to @SOJALive on your Grammy win in the best reggae category.”

Gramps Morgan on Instagram wrote, “Yea mon we are still grateful. Go download my latest Grammy-nominated album and see why I was blessed to get a nomination. Support Reggae music. Thanks to my entire team we did it!!!”

He continued, “Congratulations to some hard-working brothers @sojagram it’s Ya’ll time. Enjoy your family and let’s hit the road!!”

Grammy nominee Jesse Royal in an Instagram post, shared, “#Reggae Music has taken us far, but there is still a long way to goo! Many more battles to fight in the war!!! Protect, Preserve, and Serve Reggae!”

Jesse Royal continued, “Maximum Respect to my team!!! Also Big Respect to all the Nominees and Winners! Time to get black to workkk!”

Fellow entertainer Anthony B in congratulating SOJA reminded Jamaicans that our music and culture are inspiring people worldwide.

SOJA, during their acceptance speech at the 64th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, said, “Jamaica, you’ve inspired us.”

The Grammy Award, or just Grammy, is an award presented by the Recording Academy to recognize “Outstanding Achievement in the music industry” specifically in the United States.