Nigerian Hip Hop star, Ikechukwu Onunaku, has accused The Recording Academy, organisers of the Grammy Awards, of using his compatriots for cheap publicity.
He lamented over the fact that no Nigerian musician won an award at the 66th edition of the Grammys which held on Sunday night, February 4, 2024.
In a video he posted on his Instagram page, Ikechukwu slammed the Recording Academy, saying they exploited Nigerians for the purpose of enhancing the appeal of the Grammy Awards this year.
The rapper said the best thing to do was for Nigerian artistes to stop sending in their songs for Grammy consideration. He said Nigeria needs to create a fresh version of the prestigious award show in Africa.
A furious Ikechukwu, who noted that people had been complaining about the same thing, also accused the organisers of attempting to compartmentalize Afrobeats.
In his words; “We were just used, them use us the same way dem dey always use us, it’s not today that they started protesting and complaining about the Grammys. What I think we should do is stop sending in submissions and create our own Grammys.
We don’t even have to attach it to that name ‘Grammys’, we don’t need to prove to these people that we kill it. Look at what they did. They took all of us over there, utilised us, and then just betrayed us, compartmentalized us. It’s a shame.”
Watch him speak:
Davido’s ‘Unavailable’, Asake & Olamide’s ‘Amapiano’, Ayra Starr’s ‘Rush’, and Burna Boy’s ‘City Boy’ lost the Best African Music performance category to Tyla’s ‘Water’.
‘Pashto’ by Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer & Zakir Hussain Featuring Rakesh Chaurasia beat Davido’s ‘Feel’ and Burna Boy’s ‘Alone’ to win the Best Global Music Performance. While Burna Boy’s ‘I Told Them’ and Davido’s ‘Timeless’ also lost the Best Global Album to Shakti’s ‘The Moment’.
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