Numerous Africans have expressed conflicting reactions to the Grammy Awards’ consideration of the popular Afrobeats genre as a category.
This revelation was made by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Grammy Academy, Mr. Harvey Manson.
Mr. Harvey Manson made this known during the weekend when addressing the media in Ghana at the just-completed Global Citizen Festival, which took place in Accra on Saturday night.
The CEO of Grammys arrived in Ghana Sunday night ahead of GUBA Awards slated for Thursday.
The Afrobeats genre, which started in Africa and is now popular around the world, is quickly expanding and is even starting to catch the attention of Westerners, which gives the Grammy Awards even more justification to include it and honor African artists.
Speaking about the genre, Grammy-winning artists like Chris Brown, Justin Beiber, Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, and a host of others have poured out their verses on it and agree that they enjoy it.
Will Afrobeats be added to Grammy Awards as a Category?
A journalist inquired as to whether the possibility of having an Afrobeats category for the Grammy Awards on the nights of the Global Citizen Festival.
Mr. Harvey Manson responding to the question announced that the Academy has begun the first process of creating an Afrobeats category for the Grammys.
Harvey claims that the academy met with Afrobeats creatives about a week ago, which includes musicians, producers, composers, and executives, to discuss the genre and its various subgenres.
“We just talked about what are the different sub-genres (of Afrobeats), the needs, the desires, and my goal is to represent all genres of music including Afrobeats at the Grammys but it has to be done properly,” He said.
According to him, he alone cannot take decisions in creating a category, but rather a collective effort which will have to do with the submission of requests which will later be looked at by the board and arrive at a given decision.
Watch Video of Harvey’s interaction with the Ghanaian press crew below as he speaks on the issue.
The Recording Academy is now considering an Afrobeats category at the annual Grammys ceremony 🏆
Harvey Manson Jr., the CEO of The Academy, revealed in an interview with the press in Ghana over the weekendpic.twitter.com/kZuXpMoCJS
— TurnTable Charts (@TurntableCharts) September 26, 2022
The Grammy Award, or just Grammy, is an award presented by the Recording Academy to recognize “Outstanding Achievement in the music industry” of the United States. The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone. The Grammys are the first of the Big Three networks’ major music awards held annually.
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