IRAWMAs to be rebranded

Next year, the 36th International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMAs) will piggyback on the 37th Annual Chicago Music Awards.

The decision was taken as the IRAWMA have endeavoured to nationally televise their ceremony. To allow for adequate planning, the awards' rebranding committee has pushed the reintroduction of the IRAWMA ceremony until 2019.

According to the official IRAWMA website, a rebranding committee was established to initiate a major change, to make the annual IRAWMA a national network TV broadcast event.

As a result, the 36th IRAWMA winners will be revealed in conjunction with the 37th Chicago Music Awards (CMA) in February 2018, instead of the previously announced date of September 30.

The rebranding committee is currently seeking the most appropriate venue to host the IRAWMA 2019. Jamaica, New York and South Florida are being considered.

Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley, Stephen Marley, Skip Marley, and Kevin Downswell have received nominations for the 36th IRAWMAs.

Jr Gong is up for both Entertainer of The Year and Best Album for Stony Hill, while his brother Stephen's summer hit Options, featuring bilingual rap star Pitbull, has been nominated for Best Crossover Song and Music Video.

Skip Marley was nominated for Most Promising Entertainer after having a breakthrough year with his singles Lions and Calm Down, and a collaboration on Chained to The Rhythm with international pop star Katy Perry. Downswell has been nominated for Best Gospel Entertainer.

Voting for the IRAWMA Awards is open to the general public at www.irawma.com and will close on January 31, 2018.