Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley has usurped deejays Matisyahu and Vybz Kartel to become third most popular deejay online, following the May release of his charting album.

Marley's search volume has been steadily climbing since 2010 which allowed him to beat Kartel in April and Matisyahu in May, according to data from US-based search engine Google analysed by the Observer. It indicates that more persons world-wide are searching for news and music from Marley--the son of reggae legend Bob Marley.

He was expected to receive a boost in Internet searches following his album release; in fact during the week of its release Marley actually beat Shaggy for a short time. Marley however still towers over Matisyahu so far, but may fade as his album ages. Last week, Distant Relatives, the joint album by rapper Nas and Marley out-charted the Rolling Stones to debut at five on the Billboard 200 album chart whilst also topping the Hip Hop and Reggae album charts.

During May, every 100 searches for Damian Marley saw a corresponding 54 searches for Matisyahu and 30 searches for Kartel; Marley however is far below the search activity of Sean Paul and Shaggy at 208 and 114 respectively. Contextually, trend data over a 12 month period shows that Kartel and Marley are statistically tied with Matisyahu receiving 50 per cent more hits than either artiste.

Google Trends analyses a portion of Google web searches to compute the quantity of searches for terms relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. Online search volume has significance as it reflects, in part, the fluctuations in online popularity of an artiste. The most popular Jamaican entertainers have the most online traffic -- these are Bob Marley, Sean Paul and Shaggy.

Over time online traffic can gauge the popularity of artistes. For instance, Mavado in 2008 was more searched for than rival deejay Vybz Kartel, reflecting the rise of the Gully God. Since 2009, however, Kartel has usurped Mavado, reflecting a barrage of singles, strong performances and a slew of controversial publicity stunts.

An artiste's online traffic usually jumps leading up to an album launch but also is affected by the release of news.

Artiste Buju Banton online presence spiked following his December 10 arrest in Florida, which also led him to re-chart on Billboard's Reggae Albums. Banton became the second most searched for Jamaican artiste, following Bob Marley, but prior to his arrest, Banton was less searched for than many of his peers. His trend data from Google had risen so fast that between December 13 to 18 he was twice as popular as Shaggy, four times more popular than Vybz Kartel and six times more popular than Sizzla and Mavado. By New Year's Eve, Banton's presence had waned.

Banton, born Mark Myrie, along with Ian Thomas, also called 'Yush' and Jason Mack, was held December 10 by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and charged with conspiracy and intent to distribute at least five kilogrammes of cocaine.

Source: Jamaica Observer