Grammy Awards: Africa finally has its own category – but at what cost?

WASHINGTON - Feb. 3, 2024 - PRLog -- By: Eric Charry, Wesleyan University

For the first time in its 65-year history the Grammy Awards in the US has introduced an African category, Best African Music Performance, which recognises the song of the year.

The Grammys is the most prestigious award in the largest music industry in the world. Its focus has always been US music styles in categories like pop, R&B, rap, country, jazz and classical.

As musical styles from abroad (or in Spanish) have moved into the US commercial market, the Grammy Foundation has tried to recognise them – beyond the generic "folk music" category it first used to put them in. So categories were established like Latin, Mexican, reggae, world music and global music.

Now Africa has its own best song category, the first continent with this distinction. This is clearly a nod to the growing popularity of African music in the US – notably Afrobeats from Nigeria.

Few African artists received Grammy nominations until 1992, when the Best World Music Album category was added. A diverse range of African music came to dominate this category. But "world music" was criticised for being outmoded. The award was renamed Best Global Music Album in 2021. The reasons given included:

The change symbolises a departure from the connotations of colonialism, folk and 'non-American'.

http://youtu.be/F62TfrZDwrA?si=oez8I3PyMAvQ2EZd



The new name came with a shift in which music received nominations. "World music" tended to recognise regional music styles released on small independent labels. "Global music" was seemingly more focused on more commercial music that was also reaching the US charts. It tended to reward Afrobeats and other popular electronic dance music that took creative cues from the US.

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https://theconversation.com/grammy-awards-africa-finally-has-its-own-category-but-at-what-cost-221663