Grammys considering Afrobeats category

Mason announced this to local press in Ghana on Monday following his arrival in the country to engage industry stakeholders. He explained that the Academy recently met with leaders of the Afrobeats community, including producers, songwriters and executives, to learn more about the genre.

“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 said. “And my goal is to represent all genres of music, including Afrobeats, at the Grammys.”

He added: “I don’t decide categories. 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 step towards that path.”

Mason also admitted to “infighting” within the Afrobeats community regarding “what the category should be called, what type of music should be honoured, and what should be acceptable and applicable to the category, and I said I acknowledge we have to realise there are a lot of other types of music.” 

Generally concentrated in the West African countries of Nigeria and Ghana, Afrobeats is founded on traditional African sounds like highlife with pulses from hip hop, R&B and electronic music.

Following the recent international explosion of the genre, with the likes of Nigerian artists Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy and CKay enjoying lengthy exposure on global charts and prompting regular collaborations between African popstars and their American counterparts, the Recording Academy has welcomed more Africans to its ranks  –  including Nigerian musicians Bankulli and DJ Spinall as well as British-Ghanaian DJ and producer Juls. 

Others include Nigerian acts Praiz and Laycon, A&R specialist Abiodun ‘Bizzle’ Osikoya, Boomplay Ghana general manager Elizabeth Ntiamoah-Quarshie, artist manager Kwame ‘Kwaps’ Obeng-Kwapong and Empire marketing manager for Africa and the diaspora Stephanie Adamu.

There have also been calls for more consideration of African music at the Grammys, whose last edition was roundly criticised by the Afrobeats community for snubbing the most talked-about genre in the world. 

“We want to fight for an African category, we want to fight for an Afrobeats category, we want to fight for all those things so that there can be some distinction,” Juls told Accra-based Hitz FM in July 2020.

Meanwhile, Mason’s trip to Ghana will see him learn more about the country’s music terrain, including its royalty system and monetisation.