Reggae musician cum broadcaster, Blakk Rasta
Renowned reggae musician Blakk Rasta has shared his insights on the Grammy Awards' move to Africa.
According to him, the awards are not coming to celebrate African music but rather to capitalize on it.
His comments come after the Grammy Awards announced its expansion into Africa with the launch of GRAMMY Africa.
This initiative aims to support African music creators through collaboration with local entities, educational resources, and advocacy for intellectual property rights.
It also promises to increase global recognition for African artistes and to celebrate and integrate African music into the international music scene.
However, speaking on the latest episode of United Showbiz on June 15, 2024, Blakk Rasta described the initiative as a "colonialist idea."
“Bringing the Grammys to Africa is a colonialist idea, they’re only bringing it here to celebrate white people, they don't know anything about music.
“When you look at all the music in the world, they were created by black people, from Samba music in Brazil down to Kalypso. They were all created by black people. All that white people did was to create the instruments to embellish our music. But for the creation of music, Africans are the custodians of music.
“This all stems from the fact that white people have been taking credit for the things innovated by Africans,” he told MzGee, the host of the show.
The musician stated that the Grammys' presence in Africa should not be seen as a favour and argued that Africa should take the opportunity to also showcase its rich musical heritage.
He called for a business-minded approach to the Grammys' expansion, suggesting that African artistes like King Paluta should demand fair compensation for their performances, equal to international stars like Beyoncé.
“They are not coming to Africa to do us a favour, they have exhausted their white music. They are coming to tap into African music. Almost all our genres have gone extinct because of wickedness, but thanks to Afrobeat, we cannot be ignored anymore.
“So let's not jubilate because the Grammys are coming to Africa, let's also go in with a business mindset. It's good because it would make our music go broader. Let's profit from them as well. If someone like King Paluta is to perform at their show, he should charge the same amount Beyoncé would charge because it's his time,” he said.
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