Voting Station

SOJA

Please vote to see the next celebrity.

Musicians

The Resume

    (1997- )
    American Reggae band
    Based in Arlington, Virginia
    Acronym of Soldiers of Jah Army
    Members are Jacob Hemphill, Bob Jefferson, Ryan 'Byrd' Berty, Ken Brownell, Patrick O'Shea, Hellman Escorcia, Rafael Rodriguez, and Trevor Young
    Recorded albums 'Get Wiser' (2006), 'Born in Babylon' (2009), 'Strength to Survive' (2012), 'Amid the Noise and Haste' (2014), 'Poetry in Motion' (2017), and 'Beauty in the Silence' (2021)
    Won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album (2022)

Why they might be annoying:

    They covered a Sinead O'Connor song in Reggae style.
    They beat out Sean Paul, Etana, and Spice (who was favored to win) for the Grammy, angering fans and viewers.
    They're a predominately white band Virginia-based band that does Jamaican Reggae, leading to accusations of cultural appropriation.
    To make matters worse, the widespread consensus on Twitter was that the majority of Jamaican Reggae fans had no idea who they were prior to the win.
    They even admitted to having only even ever visited Jamaica for the first time as late as 2015.
    Their win marks the third time (as of 2022) that a non-Jamaican artist has won Best Reggae Album.

Why they might not be annoying:

    They built up an international following thanks to heavy touring and a series of indie releases in the early 2000s.
    Their 'Strength to Survive' album peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's reggae albums chart in 2012.
    Their follow-up album 'Amid the Noise and Haste' scored them their first Grammy nomination in 2015.
    Their 'Beauty in the Silence' album peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's reggae albums chart.
    Spice publicly called for her fans to stop attacking them over the win on Twitter.
    Contrary to reports, they're not an entirely white band and are multi-racial with black members.
    During their acceptance speech, manager Elliot Harrington took the microphone to say: 'To the founding fathers of reggae music and to the island of Jamaica, you inspired us all.'
    Frontman and guitarist Jacob Hemphill has been friends bassist Bob Jefferson ever since the first grade (Bob had just moved to the Arlington area with his family from Monrovia).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying