African music, according to the Grammy CEO, has become “part of pop music” and will be recognised with its own category at this year’s prestigious Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Among the artists nominated are Davido, Burna Boy, Tyla, and Ayra Starr.
Despite the praise they receive for their work, some critics believe that a prize for African music ought to have been included long ago.
The CEO of the Recording Academy, Mr. Mason Jr., stated on the BBC’s Newsday show that the decision to include an award specifically for Africa stemmed from the fact that music from the continent is now “prevalent everywhere in the world”.
In 2021, he became the first African American to oversee the Grammy Awards, and since then, he has been striving to more accurately reflect the diversity of popular music.
Admittedly, he acknowledged that the Grammys, one of the biggest music honours, usually celebrated American music. He did, however, note that the awards are “fluid, adjusting, and pivoting” and that they are making an effort to incorporate music from other genres.
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Artists, producers, and songwriters will come together to honour the biggest songs of the previous year as the Grammy Awards take place this weekend.
Trevor Noah, who has been hosting the music award event for the past four years, will present the Recording Academy’s annual celebration of the best in music on February 4.
A stellar roster of artists and presenters will join Noah on stage. This year’s most nominated artist, SZA, will take the stage live with Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Olivia Rodrigo; Meryl Streep, Christina Aguilera, and Oprah Winfrey will assist in presenting the honours.
On Sunday, February 4 at 8 p.m. ET, the 66th Annual Grammy Awards will be televised live from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Most of the Grammys for the day will be given out at a pre-show premiere ceremony, which takes place before the main ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Starring songwriter-producer Justin Tranter as host, the ceremony begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and will be streamed live on the Recording Academy’s YouTube site and live.Grammy.com.
Starting at 8 p.m. ET, the Grammy Awards will be broadcast live on the CBS network.
The award show will stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ in addition to airing live on network television. According to the Grammys website, “Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers will be able to stream live via the service, as well as on demand in the United States, via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate.” The day after the special airs in the United States alone, Paramount+ Essential customers will have access to on-demand content but not live streaming.
