The Recording Academy has introduced three fresh categories for the 66th Grammy Awards, which will be held in February 2024, in an effort to be more comprehensive and inclusive. These bring the overall number of accolades to 94 and include Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Best Pop Dance Recording.
“These changes reflect our commitment to actively listen and respond to the feedback from our music community, accurately represent a diverse range of relevant musical genres, and stay aligned with the ever-evolving musical landscape,” Harvey Mason Jr, CEO, The Recording Academy, mentioned in a press statement.
Along with recognising and establishing a special area for African musicians, the Best African Music Performance category aims to capture “local expressions” from the continent. This category will also cover subgenres like “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”.
Jazz is the genre where performers continue to innovate both inside and outside of it, helping to pave the path for hip-hop. Jazz musicians have received increased recognition, with a total of six categories now covering the full range of this genre. The Recording Academy reflects on the Best Alternative Jazz category in their words as a “genre-blending, envelope-pushing hybrid that mixes jazz (improvisation, interaction, harmony, rhythm, arrangements, composition, and style) with other genres, including R&B, Hip-Hop, Classical, Contemporary Improvisation, Experimental, Pop, Rap, Electronic/Dance music, or Spoken Word.”
The Best Pop Dance Recording category contains the lively, easy-to-dance music that comes after pop arrangements. This category aims to bridge the gap between pop and dance music by highlighting the evolving music industry and the significance and effects of dance and electronic music inside the pop genre.
“We are excited to honor and celebrate the creators and recordings in these categories, while also exposing a wider range of music to fans worldwide,” further proposed Mason Jr.
Two categories, Songwriter of the Year (Non-Classical) and Producer of the Year (Non-Classical), have been moved to the general field, allowing voters to cast ballots for non-genre-specific categories. This is an interesting adjustment. In the past, the ‘Big Four’ awards—Best New Artist, Album, Record, and Song of the Year—were the only ones recognised in the general categories.
