Interview: Here’s How The GRAMMYs’ ‘Best African Music Performance’ Category Will Work

A month ago, it was announced that the Recording Academy was adding three new categories for the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards. One of the new categories is the Best African Music Performance category which had African music fans, artists and all stakeholders excited.

But, the announcement also came with some questions. We reached out to the Academy for some answers, and a member of the Awards team gave us some. 

In the Q&A below, they clarify the criteria for entry and what effort goes into ensuring the credibility of the judging process.

What inspired the move to introduce the Best African Music Performance category? 

The Recording Academy has a responsibility to listen to our Academy members and ensure that our Categories represent and celebrate the music community that we serve. Every year, we accept proposals from our members, both music creators and professionals alike, to continue evolving the GRAMMY Awards to stay attuned to the ever-changing musical landscape. 

The dialogue surrounding the new category proposal started a few years ago and became very focused over the course of the past 18 months. We held a virtual listening session with key leaders from the African music community to learn more about the different subgenres coming out of the continent and their desire to be represented at the GRAMMYs. African music creators have been welcomed in the Global Music Categories for many years. The influence of African music is indisputable, now more than ever, and we are thrilled to honour the contributions of African music creators with this new Category. 

What are the criteria for the category? Like, what should artists consider if they want to submit?  

Entries submitted to the Best African Music Performance category must be a track or single that recognises recordings utilising unique local expressions from across the African continent. Highlighting regional melodic, harmonic and rhythmic musical traditions, the category includes but is not limited to the 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 genres.  

Artists should remember that the Product Eligibility Period for entries is Oct. 1, 2022 – Sept. 15, 2023. The GRAMMY Awards are open to new recordings released during the eligibility period. These recordings must be commercially released, nationally distributed within the United States via brick-and-mortar stores, third-party online retailers and/or streaming services, and available from any date within the eligibility period through at least the date of the current year’s Final Round voting deadline. African music creators and media companies interested in submitting their tracks or singles in this category must do so during the Online Entry Process (OEP) Access Period, July 17, 2023 – Aug 31, 2023. 

Are there any people that will be engaged on the ground where these genres originate? Like, say, will you have some South African representation when it comes to the Amapiano or SA Hip-Hop albums/songs? If not, how is the academy going about the process of judging the category?  

GRAMMY Award entries are submitted across 94 distinct Awards categories. Recording Academy Voting Members participate in a first round of voting to determine who the GRAMMY Nominees will be. Once nominees are announced, Voting Members participate in a second/final round of voting. The nomination which garners the most votes will receive the GRAMMY Award.  

Three years ago, we introduced the “10/3” rule to ensure that our Voting Members are voting in categories within their areas of peer-to-peer knowledge. Voters are given the opportunity to vote in up to 10 categories – based on genres in which each voter is actively engaged as a peer – on both the First and Final round ballots. The 10 categories must be within no more than three fields. This rule affirms the utmost integrity of the outcome and gives artists peace of mind, knowing that their peers in their field have the final say in the voting process. By establishing the Best African Music Performance Category, we are honoured to create an award for our Voting members and peers to celebrate African music.