Following the recent inclusion of the Best African Music Performance as part of the two other categories – the Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Pop Dance Recording category by the Grammy Academy, Afrobeat singer Kuami Eugene says it will be difficult for Ghanaian acts to win the category if the industry doesn’t invest in musicians.
Speaking on Entertainment Guide on DGN hosted by Prudence, the ‘Monica’ crooner emphatically indicated that the categories introduced by the Grammy Academy were not introduced to please Ghanaians but to expand its award categories. Therefore, it behooves the music industry to work extra hard to secure the awards.
His comments are in response to the recent jubilation by some Ghanaian music enthusiasts following the announcement of the new categories which seek to recognise genres such as Ghanaian Drill, Highlife, Afrobeat, and more.
According to Kuami Eugene, the Grammy Academy is not favouring Ghanaians in the Best African Music Performance category because they have personal interests.
“The new category is making the job more difficult because highlife is not all about Ghana. Other African countries are doing highlife now. So currently it is not about who can do highlife but who can push highlife to the top and we don’t have the funds here in the country to champion the song,” he said.
Kuami Eugene also reiterated that the Ghanaian entertainment industry is still crawling to secure funding support from investors to support music and craft on the global stage.
Kuami Eugene has released his single ‘Monica’ off his ‘Love and Chaos’ album. The song has geared a lot of viewers on various digital music online platforms.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke