The first nomination was the charm. Keznamdi won Best Reggae Album at the 68th Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026, taking the trophy for Blxxd & Fyah on his very first Grammy nomination. The award was presented by Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the Kingston-born artist entered the night a nominee and left it a Grammy winner.

The category was an all-Jamaican field. Lila Iké’s Treasure Self Love, Vybz Kartel’s Heart & Soul, Mortimer’s From Within and Jesse Royal’s No Place Like Home rounded out the nominations. Lila Iké and Mortimer were also first-time nominees, while Kartel and Jesse Royal were each collecting their second nomination — a field that mixed the music’s established names with its next wave.

Accepting the award, Keznamdi said: “Reggae music has always been a music weh defend truths and rights, and African liberation and black man redemption,” adding, “We a represent Jamaican culture and Dancehall and Reggae.”

Blxxd & Fyah is a 13-track album released independently on August 22, 2025 through Keznamdi Music / Keznamdi Music Group, with guest appearances from Kelissa, Mavado and Masicka. The record leans into resilience, social justice and spirituality; Caribbean E-Magazine singled out “Serious Times” and “Pressure” as standouts and noted his signature blend of traditional reggae and conscious lyricism. Ahead of the ceremony, Grammy-winning engineer Alexx Antaeus had publicly called the album a frontrunner in the category — a call the voters confirmed.

The win has roots. Born Keznamdi McDonald in Kingston, he is the son of Errol and Kerida McDonald, who led the reggae band Chakula, and he was raised between Jamaica, Tanzania and Ethiopia — an upbringing that shaped the album’s roots-and-liberation themes. In a 2025 interview he described his album philosophy: a body of work should play “from track one… without skipping it,” like “a basket of fruits… something on there for everybody,” with Blxxd & Fyah framed as a “third world perspective.”

He joins a storied line. The Best Reggae Album category was introduced in 1985, when Black Uhuru’s Anthem won the first award; Stephen Marley holds the record with eight wins, and the Marley family has taken 15 of the category’s 41 awards. Keznamdi’s first nomination now stands in that history.

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