Dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel earned his eighth top 10 entry and 12th overall entry on this week’s Billboard Reggae Albums chart. First Week Out , a 12-track mixtape released on July 31, just hours after he was released from prison, debuted at #8. The project, which was released by 21st Hapilos Compilations, features the songs The Menace, Terror by Night, Unstoppable, Skillful, Giant, Beat Dem Bad, and Number One.
While Vybz Kartel has 12 entries to date on the Billboard reggae table, he ranks third for Jamaicans with the most entries on the chart. Bob Marley and the Wailers have 17 charted entries to date, including 12 #1s, while Beenie Man is second with 15 entries — six of those have topped the chart. Sean Paul has 10 entries and four #1 titles.
Here’s a quick rundown of Vybz Kartel’s Billboard entries: • King of the Dancehall – peaked at #2 in 2016 • Viking (Vybz is King) stalled at #3 in 2015 • Kingston Story — #7 in 2011 • Kingston Story (Deluxe edition) — #12 in in 2012 • Vybz Kartel: Roots & Culture: The Voice of the Jamaican Ghetto — #6 in 2013 • Kartel Forever: Trilogy — #11 in 2013 • Reggae Love Songs and Other Things — #7 in 2014 • Of Dons and Divas — #6 in 2020 • Born Di Dis (Prelude) — #9 in 2021 Back onto this week’s charts, Bob Marley and the Wailers are still on top with Legend , making it 239 non-consecutive weeks in the penthouse, while Sean Paul improves from #5 to #2 with Dutty Classics Collection . Best of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection by Shaggy dips to #3, while World on Fire, Set in Stone, and Wisdom by Stick Figure are #4, 5 and 6, respectively. UB45 by the British reggae outfit UB40 inches up to #7, while Burial Ground by Stick Figure remains at #9.
Courage to Grow , an album released in 2007 by Rebelution, re-enters the chart at #10. It peaked at #4. Veteran crooner Beres Hammond has taken over the #1 spot on the New York Reggae chart with a re-recorded version of his 1988 song Let Me Help You.
The original version was released via the Harmony House label; however, the new version, which was released in May, bears the VP Music Group imprint. Let Me Help You is an ode to a woman that Hammond wants to see smile again. Recognising that life has given her some difficult times, Beres lifts her burdens by lending a listening ear and complimenting her virtues.
The 68-year-old Hammond, who sang lead with the Zap Pow band in the mid-1970s, later embarked on a successful solo career which saw him scoring big on the local music charts with ballads such as One Step Ahead, I’m in Love, and If Only I Knew . His career saw a massive revival in the mid-1980s when he littered the charts with What One Dance Can Do, Groovy Little Thing, and Settling Down. Into the 1990s, Hammond’s fortunes improved with the hits They Gonna Talk, Can You Play Some More, Putting Up Resistance, Tempted to Touch, No Disturb Sign, I Feel Good, Rock Away, Come Down Father, and others.
In recent years, his hit streak continued with #1 songs on the South Florida Reggae chart, including Me Deh Ya Again with Wickerman, God is Good with Popcaan, I’m Alive, Land of Sunshine, Fight this Feeling with Shaggy, No Goodbye, and Not for Sale . Feeling Irie by Glen Washington débuts at #29. On the South Florida Reggae chart, singer Richie Stephens spends a second week on top with Family and Friends .
A remake of Caravan of Love by D Major débuts at #21, while Grateful by Etana is new at #23. Moving now to the Billboard Latin charts, producer Rvssian’s Santa, featuring Rauw Alejandro and Ayra Starr, inches up from #11 to #10 on Hot Latin Songs, while over on Latin Airplay the song rises from #31 to #28. On Latin Rhythm Airplay it steps up from #12 to #11.
Jump by Tyla, featuring Gunna and Skillibeng, holds firm at #4 on US Afrobeats Songs chart, but on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay it leaps from #28 to #23. On Hot R&B Songs, Jump remains at #11, while on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay it stays firm at #15. It inches up from #17 to #16 in its 13th week on Rhythmic Top 40 Airplay.
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