Next year’s Grammys could see the arrival of a huge new change with the addition of an Afrobeats category. 

As per The Fader, Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s CEO, revealed the potential addition during a press conference in Ghana over the weekend.

TurnTable Charts, a Nigerian chart analytics platform and magazine, tweeted a clip of Mason’s conference speech, in which he could be heard saying he “just had a meeting literally about six or seven days ago with leaders from the Afrobeats community” to discuss the potential move (see below).

“We had a virtual listening session where we heard from Afrobeats creators and just talked about ‘What are the different subgenres? What are the needs? What are the desires?,’” he said. “And my goal is to represent all genres of music, including Afrobeats, at the Grammys.”

As Mason makes clear, though, the decision hasn’t been finalised yet. “I don’t decide categories,” he added. “The categories are decided by proposals submitted by members. The members can say ‘Harvey, I want an Afrobeat category…’ So that process has started now. I think the listening session last week was very important, very valuable, and a the step towards that path.”

The timing does make sense, with Afrobeats enjoying a huge rise in global popularity lately. Nigerian singer Wizkid has become an international superstar, with his last album, 2020’s Made in Lagos, cracking the Top 30 in both the U.S. and U.K.. He’s been nominated for Grammys before, including this year for Best Global Music Album (Made in Lagos Deluxe Edition).

He’s not the only Afrobeats artist impressing outside of Africa. Burna Boy’s sixth studio album, Love, Damini, reached number 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number two on the U.K. Albums Chart. The album featured guest spots from huge artists including Khalid, Blxst, J Balvin, and Ed Sheeran.

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Tems, meanwhile, has been working with everyone from Beyoncé to Drake, and features on the soundtrack for the upcoming Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

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