For all our positivity about the fact that the Nigerians who represented us at the 59th Grammy Awards lost out in their categories, when the facts are laid bare on the table, it shows that we came up short.
And to be honest, this is partly not our fault. We didn’t own the stuff that took us to the Grammys. We piggybacked on the works of others, by collaborating with them and going further than our country and continent’s limitations afforded us.
Wizkid and Kah-Lo had to collaborate with artistes in the US and UK respectively, to get a Grammy shot.
Wizkid was nominated as part of the crew who worked on Drake’s “Views” album, which was nominated for Album of the Year, while Kah-Lo came into the category of Best Dance Recording because she featured on British disc jockey, DJ Riton’s single ‘Rinse and Repeat’.
And that’s where most of the criticism directed towards our stars came from. We didn’t own our materials, or push them through to the Grammys. These nominations are not intrinsically ours, but we did add value to the projects. We joined forces with other artistes from these countries, who played at the highest level, and via their platforms and our talents, we got into the Grammy.
This is in stark contrast to the days of King Sunny Ade and Femi Kuti, whose personal project brought them into the fold, and had them gunning for that honour. They have both been nominated for the Best World Music Album.
Femi Kuti’s romance with the Grammys began in 2003, when he received his first nomination. He also got nominations in 2010, 2012, and 2013, but they failed to transform into a trophy.
The Grammy Award for Best World Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the world music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.
The award for Best World Music Album, reserved for international performers exhibiting "non-European, indigenous traditions", was first presented to Mickey Hart in 1992 for the album Planet Drum.
In 1996, Academy trustees attempted to solve the problem of "compressing 75% or more of the world's music into a single award category" by broadening the definition of "world music" to include non-Western classical music.
Nigeria still hasn’t won this, regardless of how much and how hard we try. So what can change for next year, and ensure that we get into the award show?
Nigerian pop music has steadily been growing over the past decade. We are on the cusp of history, with international focus on us all. The biggest record labels are making their way to Africa, and establishing business concerns here. Our biggest Nigerian stars, Wizkid, and Davido and more are with Sony Music Entertainment. Universal Music is also in Africa, and many more are looking to come in.
The music officially released under these labels and licensed in the US and Europe will be marketed in global markets as pop music, and using their extensive machinery, they will be distributed immensely. If they achieve mass acceptance, then we have an organic shot at the Grammys. Davido and Wizkid are 10 paces ahead of everyone else in this regard.
And for the rest of us, who make classic traditional music, e.g Femi and Seun Kuti, Gloria Ibru and co, we could tour more, generate better content, and submit them when calls are made by the Grammy Awards organisers.
Other than these two methods, we should also seek out new collaborations, with established acts, that would further drive our culture, and give us a shot at the Grammys.
This year was fun to be at. Next year, Nigeria deserves to win. Let’s bring back that golden Gramophone trophy to Lagos.