International reggae artist Koffee is calling for more categories at the Grammy award to be included in the televised broadcast.
The singer who was the first woman to win the award for best reggae album in 2020 said in an interview with Pitchfork that,
“Winning it was special for me, and I was grateful, but I think every category should be televised.”
When she won she collected her trophy during the pre live show event.
According to Pitchfork she has been trying to nudge the Recording Academy to incorporate more genres into its broadcast.
Koffee also used the moment to give props to Sean Paul who she says set the way for her.
“People like Sean Paul set the example for all of us younger ones to follow.”
Koffee’s call to action for the Recording Academy comes against the backdrop of Grammy member Cristy Barber saying at the Jamaica National Reggae Forum that it is not likely that the Grammys will have separate categories for dancehall reggae.
“In the past people always asked for another category for us within our field. In the 90s, when I got involved with the Recording Academy, and in 2003 when I started this campaign, I put petitions in, and other people put petitions in to the academy to try to get another category,” she lamented.
She further explained, “Everybody wanted to do a Reggae category, a Dancehall category. Unfortunately, it never happened and I don’t actually ever see it happening for the simple fact that the Recording Academy – the main office is based in L.A. (Los Angeles).”
“It’s a very small staff of people and the Academy tends to take away fields, not put more fields in. Because the more fields you put in the more categories involved, the more work that has to be done. So, you tend to see things get condensed, some names get changed. It is very difficult for a field to get another category.”
Meanwhile The W rapper posted on Instagram story that on March 28, after the release of her upcoming album Gifted, she will be performing at the HMV Coventry in the UK.
“Hey it’s Koffee and I’m excited to announce that I’ll be coming to Coventry on March 28 for an intimate performance to celebrate my debut album,” she posted.
Koffee also recently recorded another intimate performance in Kingston, Jamaica. The performance was for an Amazon Music special and includes songs from the album as well as tunes from her Grammy winning Ep Rapture.
The RCA records artist’s debut album will be available for download and streaming platforms on March 25.
