The prestigious GRAMMY Awards have long been a platform for celebrating exceptional talent across various musical genres. In a historic move, the Recording Academy has recognized the rich contributions of African music, alternative jazz, and dance pop by establishing dedicated categories for these genres. The eagerly anticipated additions will debut at the 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 66th GRAMMY Awards. The newly introduced categories are: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Best Pop Dance Recording. This momentous decision allows these vibrant genres to receive the recognition they deserve within the esteemed realm of the GRAMMYs.

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To facilitate greater inclusivity and engagement, the existing categories of Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical, and Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical will be relocated to the General Field. This significant change enables all GRAMMY voters to participate in honoring excellence in these non-genre-specific categories.

These progressive adjustments to the GRAMMY Awards were put forth and approved at the Recording Academy’s recent semiannual Board of Trustees meeting in May 2023. Demonstrating their commitment to embracing the feedback from the music community, accurately representing a diverse range of relevant musical genres, and staying attuned to the ever-evolving musical landscape, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. shared his thoughts on the changes. “The Recording Academy is proud to announce these latest Category changes to our Awards process. 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,” said Mason Jr.

Mason Jr. further elaborated on the significance of the new categories and the relocation of existing ones, stating, “By introducing these three new categories, we are able to acknowledge and appreciate a broader array of artists – and relocating the Producer Of the Year and Songwriter Of The Year categories to the General Field ensures that all our voters can participate in recognizing excellence in these fields. 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.” With these notable changes, the GRAMMYs are poised to celebrate and elevate the voices of artists within the African music, alternative jazz, and dance pop genres. This bold step will not only provide deserving recognition but also expose a broader range of music to fans around the globe. As the 66th GRAMMY Awards approach, anticipation mounts for an event that promises to be an extraordinary celebration of musical diversity.

Here’s a breakdown of the three new GRAMMY Award Categories:

Best African Music Performance

A track and singles Category that recognizes recordings that utilize unique local expressions from across the African continent. Highlighting regional melodic, harmonic and rhythmic musical traditions, the Category includes but is not limited to the 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.

Best Pop Dance Recording

Recognizes tracks and singles that feature up-tempo, danceable music that follows a pop arrangement. Eligible Pop Dance recordings also feature strong rhythmic beats and significant electronic-based instruments with an emphasis on the vocal performance, melody and hooks. Dance remixes are eligible in the Best Remixed Recording Category only and may not be entered in Best Pop Dance Recording.

Best Alternative Jazz Album

This Category recognizes artistic excellence in Alternative Jazz albums by individuals, duos and groups/ensembles, with or without vocals. Alternative Jazz may be defined 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, and/or Spoken Word. It may also include the contemporary production techniques/instrumentation associated with other genres.