Our mission
To acknowledge and honor the accomplishments and contributions of entertainers in various categories of reggae and world music and to promote greater participation and acceptance of Reggae, Caribbean, African and other World Music internationally.
Sponsorship
Our missionTo acknowledge and honor the accomplishments and contributions of entertainers in various categories of reggae and world music and to promote greater participation and acceptance of Reggae, Caribbean, African and other World Music internationally.
Hon. Bob Marley Award for Entertainer of the Year Make Your Nomination Today
40TH IRAWMA NOMINATIONS BALLOT (DOWNLOAD)IRAWMA NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN: Peter Tosh to receive Special Award for his contributions to the legalization of Medical Marijuana, posthumously, as Best EP Recording, and Best IRAWMA Song categories are added to the milestone, 40th International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) Anniversary Celebration. The nomination period for the 40th Anniversary of the International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) hosted by Martin’s International, is now officially open to entertainment media and entertainment industry experts (i.e., artists, producers, promoters, songwriters, record labels, media, bloggers, managers, agents, and engineers, etc.). The nomination period is January 24, 2023, through March 1st, 2023 and during this time names can be submitted to vie for the trophies for the best of 2021/22. The public and fans will be able to vote to select the
Elise Kelly IRAWMA Award of Honor
Published in IRAWMA 38th Magazine Elise Kelly is the voice behind one of Irie FM’s top programs “Easy Skanking”. The veteran broadcaster has won many hats: senior producer, presenter, interviewer and actress over the past 30 years. Elise started out in media reading news segments at the Agency for Public Information (API). Years later she worked as a television producer/host at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), hosting along with Gary Neita and Diane Lewis, the award winning programme “Night View”. During
IRAWMA SPECIAL FREEDOM FIGHTER AWARDEE
Published in 38th IRAWMA Magazine Harry Belafonte is a singer songwriter, activist, humanitarian and actor. As one of the most successful Jamaican-American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the King of Calypso in the 1950s. His breakthrough album “Calypso” (1956) is the first million selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte is known for his recording of “The Banana Boat Song” with its signature lyric “Day-O”. He has recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes
Joseph Bogdanovich IRAWMA Philanthropist Award
Published in the 39th edition of the IRAWMA Magazine Los Angeles Native, Josef Bogdanovich began visiting Jamaica in the early 1990s before settling in Kingston in 1999. He started his Acid Jazz record label in 1992 ; a year later he founded Downsound Records and released music from an eclectic array of reggae and dancehall artists. The entrepreneur is a KLE Group shareholder, which operates Usain Bolt’s Tracks & Records, the popular Sports bar/restaurant co-owned by the celebrated Olympian. In 2016,
DR EPHRAIM MARTIN – THE UNSTOPPABLE FORCE BEHIND IRAWMA
Dr Ephraim Martin, a 65-year-old native of St Thomas, Jamaica, is best known as founder of the International Reggae and World and Music Awards (IRAWMA), and the Chicago Music Awards (CMA), which are just two of the many events that he has founded, and charted the course for, since 1980. In-fact on October 2, 2016, at the conclusion of the 35th IRAWMA, and his 100th annual entertainment event, set a world record as the only known person alive to have