Lady Dentaa Amoateng, consultant to the Recording Academy’s CEO Harvey Mason Jr., has called for more Ghanaians to become members of the Grammy Recording Academy to strengthen the country’s chances at the prestigious awards.
Dentaa said Ghana’s prospects at the Grammys would remain limited unless more Ghanaians joined the Academy.
“The process of the Grammy Awards is that you have to be a member of the Recording Academy to vote. It is not voted by Harvey Mason Jnr. It is voted by producers, musicians, people in that industry. So, you have to be part of that. And it is in America. So, people that are voting, they don’t know your music. So more of us [Ghanaians] have to join the membership to be able to vote.”
Lady Dentaa Amoateng
When asked how one could join the Recording Academy, she said; “it’s easy. It’s on the website. It’s a very easy process.”
“You actually need two references, someone to verify that you are who you are: one that is already a member of the Academy and one that is not, so they can recommend that you are a producer, you are a musician.”
Lady Dentaa Amoateng
When asked about non-Africans being eligible for the African Music Performance category, she said the best way to address that concern was to increase African participation within the Academy.
“That is why we need Africans to be able to vote. If you are on the Board, you have voting rights. There are meetings that they go through the process, so if there are more of us on that platform, then you won’t get non-Africans infusing in that category too much. So, I think it is really important.”
Lady Dentaa Amoateng
Dentaa added that she would embark on a campaign to get more Ghanaians invited to join the Academy, which currently has over 16,000 members, including more than 13,000 voting members.
Voting members include recording artists, songwriters, composers, producers, engineers, mixers, mastering engineers, instrumentalists and arrangers.
The Academy also has professional members such as artist managers, publicists, label executives, music publishers, agents, entertainment lawyers, business managers and live event producers.
Another group, GRAMMY U, consists of university students studying music or related fields who aspire to work in the industry and gain mentorship opportunities.
Richie Mensah Joins Grammy Voting Academy
Meanwhile, Ghanaian music executive Richie Mensah has been appointed as a voting member of the Recording Academy.
The renowned music producer, singer, songwriter and Chief Executive Officer of Lynx Group of Companies announced his appointment by sharing an artwork from the Recording Academy confirming the news.
In a Facebook post, Richie wrote, “thank you Recording Academy for the honour.” His inclusion has been widely celebrated by Ghanaians, who see it as a major milestone for the local music industry.
Although a few Ghanaians are already part of the Academy but have chosen not to go public, many believe Richie’s appointment will help create more opportunities for Ghanaian artists.
Richie Mensah has produced several of Ghana’s top musicians under his Lynx Entertainment label, including Kuami Eugene, KiDi, Asem, Eazzy, MzVee, DopeNation, Zigi, and the late OJ Blaq.
Netizens reacted to Richie Mensah’s announcement.
roselynfelli stated: “That’s my brother, congratulations bro, so proud of you 👏👏❤️❤️❤️❤️.”
lemondegh stated: “Bless you, bro, a true pioneer of this music industry.. You remember when we did Ziggy’s music video at Ofankor barrier… 😂😂 times fly … I’m so proud of you 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿.”
mawuli_gavor stated: “When you’re big you’re big 👌🏾 Well deserved fam.”
dromeryda stated: “Awww! Congratulations Richyyy😍😍😍😍😍.”
ntimination stated: “Congratulations Chief. Well deserved 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌.”
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