The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, has announced three new categories for the 66th GRAMMY Awards, which will be held in 2024.
Best Pop Dance Recording, Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Best African Music Performance are the categories, which have already sparked interest among African musicians.
According to the Recording Academy, this category “recognizes recordings that use unique local expressions from across the African continent.”
Its purpose is to promote regional melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic musical traditions.
Afrobeat, Afro-fusion, Afro Pop, Afrobeats, Alte, Amapiano, Bongo Flava, Genge, Kizomba, Chimurenga, High Life, Fuji, Kwassa, Ndombolo, Mapouka, Ghanaian Drill, Afro-House, South African Hip-Hop, and Ethio Jazz are among the genres included.
The Recording Academy’s most recent semiannual Board of Trustees meeting, held in May 2023, voted on and approved the category additions and amendments.
“By introducing these three new categories, we are able to acknowledge and appreciate a broader array of artists – and relocating the Producer Of the Year and Songwriter Of The Year categories to the General Field ensures that all our voters can participate in recognizing excellence in these fields,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. said.
“We are excited to honor and celebrate the creators and recordings in these categories, while also exposing a wider range of music to fans worldwide.”
The new categories, especially the Best African Music Performance, will amplify and expand the reach of African music and its creators.
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