Amaarae criticizes the Grammys for grouping African Music into a single category, considering it as a reduction
Ghanaian-American singer Amaarae has recently voiced her disappointment with the Grammy Awards, criticizing the Recording Academy for grouping all African music genres into a single category.
During an interview with Metro TV, she expressed her concerns about this approach, describing it as reductive and failing to recognize the diverse and impactful contributions made by African artists to the global music landscape.
“The idea of an African category is great in practice, but I think it is reductive. There are too many categories to just be placed under an umbrella of African music,” she disclosed
Amaarae, while appreciating the well-meaning intention behind the creation of an African category, argues that certain songs deserve consideration in broader categories such as pop, hip-hop, or R&B. Notably, she mentioned Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ featuring Selena Gomez and Burna Boy’s ‘Last Last,’ highlighting their significant global impact that extends beyond Africa.
According to Amaarae, these songs should have the opportunity to compete in categories that align with their musical styles, rather than being confined to the African category. She believes that confining such songs to a single category undermines the boundary-breaking accomplishments of African artists.
“So, I feel like a record like [Rema’s] ‘Calm Down’ with the remix with Selena Gomez, that should be able to compete in pop categories [at the Grammys],” Amaarae explained, “I feel like [Burna Boy’s] ‘Last Last’ should be able to compete in hip-hop, RnB or pop categories and not be relegated to just the African category because that’s reductive of the works that [African] artists have done to break boundaries.”
The Recording Academy has recently introduced three new categories for the 2024 Grammys, and among them is the ‘Best African Music Performance’ category. This inclusive category recognizes a range of African music genres, such as Afrobeats, Afro-pop, Amapiano, High Life, Fuji, Kwassa, Ndombolo, Mapouka, Ghanaian Drill, Afro-House, South African Hip-Hop, and Ethio Jazz.
Source –pulse.com.gh
