Mr Harvey Mason Junior, the chief executive officer of Recording Academy, revealed this past weekend at a press conference in Ghana that the institution is considering the addition an Afrobeats category to next year’s 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
TurnTable Charts, a Nigerian chart analytics platform and magazine, tweeted a segment of the conference captured on video, in which Mason says he and other Recording Academy brass “just had a meeting literally about six or seven days ago with leaders from the Afrobeats community” to discuss the potential move.
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He had this to say, “We had a virtual listening session where we heard from Afrobeats creators and just talked about ‘What are the different subgenres? What are the needs? What are the desires?,’” he adds. “And my goal is to represent all genres of music, including Afrobeats, at the Grammys.”
Mason makes it clear in the video, however, that the decision is far from final.
“I don’t decide categories,” he explains.
“The categories are decided by proposals submitted by members.
The members can say ‘Harvey, I want an Afrobeat category…’ So that process has started now. I think the listening session last week was very important, very valuable, and a the step towards that path.”
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Watch the segment below.
https://twitter.com/TurntableCharts/status/1574369126247763969?s=20&t=wub4gGJ5ul-8Qe5zbr5rig
The Afrobeat music genre gained mainstream popularity in the late 2010s and early 2020s courtesy of the international appeal of musicians such as Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy. Some other notable names in the genre include- Fireboy DML, Rema, Adekunle Gold, among several others.
