US ambassador to Kenya, Margaret ‘Meg’ Whitman, has backed Kenya to be made the capital of the African Grammy Awards.
Despite competition from three other African countries that have been proposed for the headquarters of the African Grammy’s, she has put her weight behind Kenya.
“Grammys is one of the most very important events in the United States, it’s the recording industry of the United States and you probably know they do the American Grammys. Well about ten years ago, they also started the Latin-American Grammys which is now the same size as the American Grammys. And recently they just announced they are doing the African Grammys.,” she stated.
November last year, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Science, organizers of the Grammy Awards selected regional hubs for future shows by tapping five cities namely; Abidjan, Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg and Kigali.
According to reports, the hubs will serve as creative centers that will provide essential infrastructure for artists ensuring they get paid for their creative work.
“So there are four founding countries of the African Grammys, Kenya is one of them, and you might imagine Nigeria is one of them. So now there is a battle royale as to who is going to get the headquarters of the African Grammys and if I have anything to say about it, it’s going to be Nairobi,” Meg added.
Several African leaders have been lobbying to secure the slot for their respective countries.
For the first time this year, African music had its own category at the Grammys.
The Recording Academy introduced three new categories for the 4th February 2024 awards which included the Best African Music Performance category.
