Reggae with an R&B ear: widening the audience or diluting the form?

What was argued

A recurring argument around Hezron's M.O.A.M., and around the wider run of reggae albums pitched at an international market. One reading welcomes the soul and blues colouring, the live band and the radio-facing production as the thing that carries reggae to listeners who would not otherwise arrive, a case the singer makes himself when he describes the album as a mission to restore the music to prominence. The other holds that smoothing reggae toward R&B trades away the roots character that gives it its identity in the first place. Stated neutrally; no verdict.