“And the Grammy for best goes to…” Most artists, if not all, have at one point wished or wish to hear their name mentioned right after these words.
As an artist, there are diverse avenues to be celebrated and appreciated. From having your music streamed in the millions to playing the biggest shows, endorsement deals, and being awarded.
While all these routes are part of an artist’s path to fame, it is imperative that artists and their teams understand that not enjoying any one of these does not invalidate how good or successful they are. Out of all these paths, the one that seems to be shrouded in a lot of conversations and controversy is awards.
Why Awards?
Awards are often created to celebrate the works of artists over a period of time. While awards have been known to celebrate excellence, it is important to know and understand that excellence is very different from award to award.
While awards are meant to be a way to celebrate and appreciate artists, they are also a money-making venture for the organizers and, as such, may not necessarily be a tool to measure excellence as consumers may want.
Awards In Ghana…
Nonetheless, awards are motivators for artists on their path to fame. As such, anytime one receives a nomination, they hold it in high esteem. To win the award brings even greater joy. From Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA), 4Syte Music Video Awards, and 3Music Awards to Bass Awards, Ghana has seen award shows come and go, but the one that has stood the test of time and is considered by all the biggest and most prestigious of awards in the country is TGMA. With over two decades under their belt of celebrating and awarding artists for their immense work, TGMA has not always gotten things right.
As such, while this writer understands the importance of awards, the lack of it should not be blown out of proportion to warrant misinformation or ignorant lies. One award held in high esteem by artists around the world is the Grammy.
The GRAMMY Awards
Organized by the Recording Academy in the USA, the Grammy Awards is a ceremony held in the US to celebrate artists for their works within a period of time. While the Grammy is not the only US-based award ceremony that awards international acts, it is regarded by many as the most prestigious among the rest. The scheme’s expansion has seen it create its Latin American variant, “Latin Grammys,” which encompasses music from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the Latino population in Canada and the United States.
Africa And The GRAMMY Awards
While the Recording Academy has recognized African music and artists over the years with nominations and winners such as Youssou N’Dour, Angélique Kidjo, RedOne, Tinariwen, Miriam Makeba, and Burna Boy, among other African winners. We have gotten a much better spotlight and visibility at the awards in recent years. Its peak is the introduction of the Best African Music Performance category in 2024, with its inaugural winner being South Africa’s Tyla.
Photo: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
To make matters more interesting, there have been whispers of a potential expansion of the awards into Africa. While we wait for the actualization of this, the craze for Grammy recognition among African artists, especially in the West African region, is shrouded in a lot of misinformation.
In the past, disseminating such misinformation was easy. But at a time when access to information, especially one like this, should not be allowed to bear further fruit.
The desire and thirst for recognition in line with the Grammy have left many artists, their teams, media, and “learned’ industry people to peddle half-dozed narratives about the award scheme. On the one hand, it is a clear indication of misinformation, and on the other, the narratives can be laid on the doorstep of ignorance. Learned people of the industry should not fuel such ignorance. After all, they are the ones who should be correcting and educating people.
Over the last couple of years, the media has sat silently and, in some cases, urged this misinformation to swell the egos of these artists. In doing so, they have left windows of their integrity ajar, allowing lies and gross unprofessionalism in. If the thirst for Grammy recognition is so important, then it is only right that everyone involved does their due diligence and puts things where they should be. The over-fixation on Grammy awards is always exciting to see, especially during the misinformation Olympics that goes on between Ghana and Nigeria.
The Recording Academy has stated clearly who is a Grammy-eligible nominee or winner of an award.
The list of GRAMMY winners includes the Nominees on the winning project as well as other roles which are recognized with GRAMMY Award statuettes but are not GRAMMY nominated roles. These non-Nominee GRAMMY winners include eligibly credited producers, engineers and mixers who worked on more than 50% of the playing time of the winning albums in the genre album Categories (Best Rap Album, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best Comedy Album, etc.) After the GRAMMY telecast, a list of the eligible producers and engineers is compiled and audited to determine those GRAMMY winners.
A quick read on page 29 of the rule book document provides extra context on who is Grammy nominated or a Grammy winner.
It will surprise people to know that a number of artists and producers in the region parading themselves as Grammy-nominated or winners are not. Rather, they are participants who have contributed their talents to a Grammy-nominated or Grammy-winning project.
Concluding Thoughts..
It is very disappointing and embarrassing to see artists, their teams, and industry leaders either sit silently or participate in this lie-athon and national embarrassment just because some people want to protect the egos of some creatives. If you want to be recognized so badly, it will do you some good to do the right things instead of peddling lies. We should amplify and celebrate those who have actually been nominated and won the awards.
If you are ever in doubt regarding anyone’s status as far as the Grammy is concerned, just visit Grammy.com and search. Let us be honest in our dealings and protect the integrity of our artists and our growing industry. At the end of the day, your non-association with any awards scheme, including the Grammys, does not invalidate how amazing your craft is.
