Listing various genres in the new Grammy does not solve the problem. Musicians across genres will still be competing for one slot.
If the Grammys truly want to be seen as a global institution, there is no reason why music from non-Western societies should be homogenised and accorded only three slots. Even though the introduction of Best African Music Performance represents recognition of the growing influence of African music on the world stage, it still falls well short of what is required for the acceptance of the Grammys as a universal award winning institution.
The term Global Music itself is a recent creation. Before 2021, music generated in Africa and Asia, including the Middle East, were categorised as World Music by the Grammys. Criticism of the colonial or exclusionary undertones of ‘world music’ in the imagination of Western music consumers led to the adoption of the new name Global Music in 2021.
If you walked into a music store in Western cities before the emergence of music streaming platforms, which signalled the death of vinyls, cassettes and CDs, World Music had a special corner that distinguished it from the huge spaces occupied by Western music — the only music that was deemed important to be classified into various genres, such as pop, rock, country, classical, soul/R&B, reggae, hip hop, gospel and blues.
Like the Swedish Nobel Foundation that gives awards for excellence in various scientific fields, the American Grammys have positioned themselves as a universal body, honouring musicians from different regions of the world. Fourteen musicians from Africa have won Grammys, with Ladysmith Black Mambazo of South Africa and Angélique Kidjo from Benin topping the list with five and four awards respectively.
This kind of brazen anomaly encouraged promoters of African music at the global stage to advocate for a Grammy category that specifically addresses African music. The Nigerian creative industry entrepreneurs, Obi Asika and Adesegun Adeosun , founders of Afro Nation, led the way by getting the American Billboard 100 chart to launch a new billboard chart dedicated solely to Afrobeats in March 2022 , two years after it removed the reggae and dancehall billboard charts.
Listing these various genres in the Grammy announcement does not, however, solve the problem. Musicians specialising in any of these genres will still be competing for one slot. The category still homogenises Africa’s complex musical heritage.
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