The Recording Academy of the Grammy Awards recently unveiled a ground-breaking addition to its prestigious awards program, much to the delight of music lovers around the world.
Afrobeats and African music now have their own category in the Academy, which was first reported to be under consideration.
The CEO of the Recording Academy, Harvey Manson Jr., visited Ghana on business in 2022 and reaffirmed the organization’s dedication to accurately representing African music. He emphasized the care with which they approached the task of accurately presenting the continent’s diverse musical landscape.
Three fascinating new categories will be added to the Grammy Awards in 2024. The first is the eagerly awaited “Best African Music Performance,” which is intended to honor outstanding recordings that include distinctive regional expressions from all over Africa.
The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic customs that differ across the continent will be honored in this category. Afrobeat, Afro-fusion, Afro-Pop, Afrobeats, Alte, Amapiano, Bongo Flava, Genge, Kizomba, Chimurenga, High Life, Fuji, Kwassa, Ndombolo, Mapouka, Ghanaian Drill, Afro-House, South African Hip-Hop, and Ethio Jazz are among the genres that are eligible for consideration.
The Recording Academy has expanded the range of genres recognized at the prestigious event by adding the “Best Alternative Jazz Album” and “Best Pop Dance Recording” categories in addition to this ground-breaking addition.
Following a thorough voting process, these new categories were approved during the Recording Academy’s semi-annual Board of Trustees meeting in May 2023. These modifications show the Academy’s dedication to actively hearing and acting upon feedback from the music community, according to grammy.com. The Recording Academy seeks to remain in step with the constantly changing musical landscape by accurately representing a wide variety of pertinent musical genres.
Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, expressed his pride in announcing these changes, stating, “By introducing these three new categories, we are able to acknowledge and appreciate a broader array of artists.” The move to relocate the Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year categories to the General Field ensures that all voters can participate in recognizing excellence in these fields. Mason added, “We are excited to honor and celebrate the creators and recordings in these categories while also exposing a wider range of music to fans worldwide.”
🚨BREAKING🏆🎶: @RecordingAcad to include Best African Music Performance as part of two other new categories for the 2024 Grammys.
“The category includes but is not limited to Afrobeat, Ghanaian Drill..”
More details in the second slide.
🦅🇬🇭 pic.twitter.com/doojLodCMz
— Ölele | Deep Throat Sauce👨🏾🍳🇬🇭 (@OleleSalvador) June 13, 2023
